scholarly journals Codeswitching as Projection of Bilingual Lemmas in Contact

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. p40
Author(s):  
Longxing Wei

Unlike most previous studies of Codeswitching (CS) focused on describing surface configurations of switched items (i.e., where CS is structurally possible) or the switched items (i.e., what items from another language can be switched), this paper explores formulation processes of bilingual speech and the nature of the bilingual mental lexicon and its activity in CS. More specifically, it applies the Bilingual Lemma Activation Model (Wei, 2002, 2006b) to the data drawn from various naturally occurring CS instances. It claims that the mental lexicon does not simply contain lexemes and their meanings, but also lemmas, which are abstract entries in the mental lexicon that support the surface realization of actual lexemes. Lemmas are abstract in that they contain phonological, morphological, semantic, syntactic and pragmatic information about lexemes. It further claims that lemmas in the bilingual mental lexicon are language-specific and are in contact during a discourse involving CS at three levels of abstract lexical structure: lexical-conceptual structure, predicate-argument structure, and morphological realization patterns. The CS instances described and analyzed in this paper provide evidence that the bilingual speaker’s two linguistic systems are unequally activated in CS, and CS is an outcome of bilingual lemmas in contact.

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. p81
Author(s):  
Xuexin Liu ◽  
Longxing Wei

Most previous studies of difficulties in learning a second/foreign language focused on sources of learner errors caused by cross-linguistic differences in various levels of linguistic structure, but most of such studies remain at a rather superficial level of description. This study explores sources of learning difficulties at an abstract level by studying the nature and activity of the bilingual mental lexicon during interlanguage production. The bilingual mental lexicon is defined as the mental lexicon containing abstract entries called cross-linguistic “lemmas” underlying particular lexeme. This study claims that it is language-specific lemma which drives interlanguage production at three levels of abstract lexical structure: lexical-conceptual structure, predicate-argument structure, and morphological realization patterns. It further claims that it is cross-linguistic lemma variations in abstract lexical-conceptual structure which result in not only inappropriate lexical choices but also errors in interlanguage production of target language predicate-argument structure and morphological realization. Naturally occurring interlanguage production date for the study include several native and target language pairs: Japanese-English, Chinese-English, and English-Japanese. Some typical instances of language transfer involving other language pairs are also cited in support of the argument that the lexical-conceptual approach to interlanguage production is fundamental in any study of the nature of learner errors in interlanguage development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. p43
Author(s):  
Longxing Wei

There have been numerous studies of first Language (L1) transfer in second Language (L2) learning. Various models have been proposed to explore the sources of language transfer and have also caused many controversies over the nature of language transfer and its effects on interlanguage. Different from most previous studies remaining at a surface level of observation, this study proposes an abstract approach, which is abstract because it goes beyond any superficial observation and description by exploring the nature and activity of the bilingual mental lexicon in L2 learning. This approach adopts the Bilingual Lemma Activation Model (BLAM) (Wei, 2006a, 2006b) and tests its crucial assumptions and claims: The bilingual mental lexicon does not simply contain lexemes but abstract entries, called “lemmas”, about them; lemmas in the bilingual mental lexicon are language-specific; language-specific lemmas in the bilingual mental lexicon are in contact in L2 learning, lemmas underlying L1 abstract lexical structure may replace those underlying L2 abstract lexical structure. Lemmas in the bilingual mental lexicon are about three levels of abstract lexical structure: lexical-conceptual structure, predicate-argument structure, and morphological realization patterns. The typical instances of L1 lemma transfer in L2 learning are discussed and explained in support of the BLAM.


2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Massam

AbstractThis paper outlines the argument properties of Haitian Creole verbs, including intransitive, transitive, and ditransitive verbs, within a lexical framework which includes a level of Lexical Conceptual Structure and a level of Predicate Argument Structure. There is assumed to be a relatively free mapping relation between these two levels in order to explain the many possible variations in argument structure that most verbs exhibit. We see that there are at least two detransitivizing operations in Haitian Creole: one which operates freely and one which must be adverb-licensed. Transitive and ditransitive verbs are classified in terms of which of these operations they may undergo. The paper presents a description of Haitian Creole verb-types in Government and Binding theoretical terms and highlights several problems which Haitian Creole poses for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. p1
Author(s):  
Longxing Wei

This study explores the nature of interlanguage (IL) in terms of bilingual abstract lexical structure and its role in the formulation and development of IL as learners’ developing linguistic system. Adopting the Bilingual Lemma Activation Model (BLAM) (Wei, 2002, 2003), it assumes that IL is a composite developing linguistic system because at different times different linguistic systems are in contact, such as learners’ first language (L1), the developing IL, and the target language (TL), and each contributes different amounts to the developing system of IL. The important claim of this study is that the mental lexicon contains abstract entries, called “lemmas”, which contain pieces of information about particular lexemes, and the bilingual mental lexicon contains language-specific lemmas, which are in contact in IL speech production. The other important claim of this study is that IL is fundamentally driven by bilingual abstract lexical structure, which contains several discrete but interacting subsystems: lexical-conceptual structure, predicate-argument structure, and morphological realization patterns, and such an abstract lexical structure in IL may have different sources, such as those from learners’ L1 and/or the TL. The typical instances of learner errors discussed in this study offer some evidence that IL is a composite developing linguistic system.


2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-97
Author(s):  
Simon Van de Kerke

AbstractThe aim of this article is to give an account of the characteristics of the Quechua verbal affixku. It addresses the question of whether constructions that are reputed to be cases of syntactic NP-movement in other languages can be analyzed in the same way in Quechua. It is claimed that Quechua does not allow the external position to remain without a theta-role in Predicate Argument Structure, in that way excluding syntactic NP-movement. The effect ofkucan be described as: co-index an internal argument with the external position in the mapping from Lexical Conceptual Structure to Predicate Argument Structure. In that way the projection of verbs, that in other languages subcategorize for an empty external position, is licensed.


2009 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 5-30
Author(s):  
Longxing Wei

This paper explores the nature of interlanguage (IL) as a developing system with a focus on the abstract lexical structure underlying IL construction. The developing system of IL is assumed to be ‘composite’ in that in second language acquisition (SLA) several linguistic systems are in contact, each of which may contribute different amounts to the developing system. The lexical structure is assumed to be ‘abstract’ in that the mental lexicon contains abstract elements called ‘lemmas’, which contain information about individual lexemes, and lemmas in the bilingual mental lexicon are language-specific and are in contact in IL production. Based on the research findings, it concludes that language transfer in IL production should be understood as lemma transfer of the learner’s first language (L1) lexical structure at three abstract levels: lexical-conceptual structure, predicate-argument structure, and morphological realization patterns, and IL construction is driven by an incompletely acquired abstract lexical structure of a target language (TL) item.


Author(s):  
Koichi Takeuchi

The goal with this chapter is to discuss the possibility of language resources in determining the states, actions, and change-of-states of characters in narratives. An overview of previous work on linguistic theory and language resources is given then the Predicate-Argument Structure Thesaurus (PT), a Japanese language resource constructed based on the extended framework of the Lexical Conceptual Structure (LCS), is proposed. The PT provides hierarchical clusters of synonyms for 11,900 predicates and 22,000 example sentences annotated with semantic role labels. Each concept has an abstracted LCS, and example sentences are attached to each concept. By virtue of the structure, a correlation of the arguments between other clusters can be determined. The semantic structure of the PT is investigated to enrich generated texts of narratives, and the high possibility of lexical semantics contributing to narrative processing is revealed.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-107
Author(s):  
Alexandra Soares Rodrigues

The aim of this paper is to analyse the constraints that govern the formation of Portuguese converted deverbal nouns (‘CDNs’). To this end, we have analysed a total of 1323 converted deverbal nouns. The first type of constraints investigated are those found at the prosodic level: these deal with the configurational formatting of the minimal root. We will focus on the relationship between these constraints and the semantic and phonological identification of the lexical item in perceptual terms. The second level of constraints may be characterised as morphophonological-pragmatic. Many verbs contain morphological units that block the formation of CDNs because their [+Latinate] character has a certain stylistic effect in terms of pragmatic usage. The third level of constraints pertains to lexical-conceptual structure combined with argument structure.We will show that (i) the constraints on the bases of CDNs are not exclusively founded on morphological incompatibilities between derivational affixes and other morphological units with which they join. Thus, a derivational mechanism that does not involve affixation, such as conversion, is also ruled by restrictions on the bases. (ii) Structural constraints – based on argument structures and on prosodic, morphological and lexical-semantic structures – are interwoven with processing and pragmatic conditions. (iii) Word formation is organised in structures that have interfaces with each other.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. p352
Author(s):  
Xuexin Liu

As frequently observed in second or foreign language learning, the Japanese light verb “suru” may course much learning difficulty. Most previous studies focused on the surface description of “suru” in terms of its role in some particular Japanese lexical structure or verbal formation in a particular syntactic environment. This paper assumes that the light verb “suru” drives certain particular Japanese lexical-conceptual structure, and language-specific lexicalization patterns must be learned as such. It offers a linguistic analysis of the sources of the light verb “suru” in structuring particular verbalization patterns and relates this analysis to potential sources of learning difficulty in second or foreign language learning. Instances of cross-linguistic influence or learner errors in learning the Japanese lexical-conceptual structure driven by “suru” are from some early stage American students learning Japanese as a foreign language. This paper implicates a lexicon-driven approach to teaching Japanese lexicalization patterns.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Longxing Wei

<em>Different from most previous studies of language transfer phenomena in second language learning which remain at an observational and descriptive level, this study proposes that the major source of language transfer is the interference of first language abstract lexical structure. It assumes that any interlanguage system, like other linguistic systems, has an abstract lexical structure containing several discrete but interacting subsystems: lexical-conceptual structure, predicate-argument structure, and morphological realization patterns. Unlike abstract lexical structures in other linguistic systems, the abstract lexical structure in second language learning has different sources. This study claims that any abstract lexical structure in second language learning contains more abstract elements than surface configurations of language, that is, language-specific lemmas underlie lexical entries, and such language-specific lemmas are in contact in second language learning, which can be split and recombined in novel, yet constrained ways in constructing the developing interlanguage system. Some typical instances of language transfer indicate that parts of the abstract lexical structure from first language lexical entries may influence that of the incompletely acquired L2 lexical entries. Thus, successful second language acquisition is driven by the complete acquisition of the abstract lexical structure underlying second language lexical entries.</em>


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