This paper investigates the strategies involved in gender assignment in Spanish-Basque mixed Determiner Phrases (DPs) with a gendered Spanish determiner (el M /la F) and a Basque ungendered noun.... Show moreThis paper investigates the strategies involved in gender assignment in Spanish-Basque mixed Determiner Phrases (DPs) with a gendered Spanish determiner (el M /la F) and a Basque ungendered noun. Previous studies on Spanish-Basque mixed DPs have revealed conflicting results regarding the determining factor affecting gender assignment, namely, phonological ending vs. analogical gender. We designed a forced-switch elicitation task in order to elicit mixed DPs with a Spanish determiner and a Basque noun (controlled for both phonological vs. analogical cues). Thirty highly proficient Spanish-Basque bilinguals with different profiles and sociolinguistic backgrounds participated in the study. Three cues were significant in the selection of the Spanish M/F determiner: the analogical gender and two phonological cues, the word ending and the root ending of the Basque noun. Further statistical analyses revealed participants’ L1 as a strong factor in the variability attested: bilinguals with Spanish as (one of) their L1(s) rely predominantly on the analogical criterion, whereas speakers with only Basque as L1 follow mainly the phonological criterion. Overall, this study provides an explanation for the previous conflicting results and highlights the fact that bilinguals may use different strategies depending on their bilingual profile and the morpho-phonological properties of the languages in contact. Show less
Balam, O.; Lakshmanan, U.; Parafita Couto, M. 2021
Por medio de una tarea de elicitación, esta investigación examina el género en español en dos grupos de niños bilingües español-neerlandés que comparten las mismas lenguas pero difieren en la... Show morePor medio de una tarea de elicitación, esta investigación examina el género en español en dos grupos de niños bilingües español-neerlandés que comparten las mismas lenguas pero difieren en la lengua de herencia: un grupo de 10 niños hablantes de herencia de español (edad entre 8 y 10 años) y un grupo de 10 niños hablantes de herencia de neerlandés (entre 8 y 11 años). Estos dos idiomas tienen un sistema de género gramatical binario: mientras que el español diferencia masculino y femenino, el neerlandés diferencia común y neutro. Los resultados muestran que los niños hablantes de herencia de neerlandés no cometieron ningún error y que los niños hablantes de herencia de español tendieron a extender la forma masculina y a tener más problemas con los sustantivos femeninos y no canónicos. Este estudio corrobora que el input y el contexto lingüístico son factores importantes en la adquisición de rasgos lingüísticos, en este caso el género gramatical. Show less
Objectives:Spanish and English contrast in adjective–noun word order: for example, brown dress (English) vs. vestido marrón (‘dress brown’, Spanish). According to the Matrix Language model ( MLF)... Show moreObjectives:Spanish and English contrast in adjective–noun word order: for example, brown dress (English) vs. vestido marrón (‘dress brown’, Spanish). According to the Matrix Language model ( MLF) word order in code-switched sentences must be compatible with the word order of the matrix language, but working within the minimalist program (MP), Cantone and MacSwan arrived at the descriptive generalization that the position of the noun phrase relative to the adjective is determined by the adjective’s language. Our aim is to evaluate the predictions derived from these two models regarding adjective–noun order in Spanish–English code-switched sentences.Methodology:We contrasted the predictions from both models regarding the acceptability of code-switched sentences with different adjective–noun orders that were compatible with the MP, the MLF, both, or none. Acceptability was assessed in Experiment 1 with a 5-point Likert and in Experiment 2 with a 2-Alternative Forced Choice (2AFC) task.Data and analysis:Data from both experiments were subjected to linear mixed model analyses. Results from the 2AFC task were also analyzed using Thurstone’s law of comparative judgment.Conclusions:We found an additive effect in which both the language of the verb and the language of the adjective determine word order.Originality:Both experiments examine adjective–noun word order in English–Spanish code-switched sentences. Experiment 2 represents a novel application of Thurstone’s law of comparative judgements to the study of linguistic acceptability which yielded clearer results than Likert scales. We found convincing evidence that neither the MLF nor the MP can fully account for the acceptability of adjective–noun switches.Implications:We suggest that advances in our understanding of grammaticality in code-switching will be achieved by combining the insights of the two frameworks instead of considering them in isolation, or by espousing a probabilistic model of code-switching. Show less
