Abstract
The relation holding between words and syntax is at the core of a lively debate. Two competing proposals have been advanced: the lexicalist view, claiming that the lexicon and the syntax are distinct modules of the grammar, and what we shall refer to as the constructionist view typically represented by models like Distributed Morphology, advocating for the redundancy of a notion such as the lexicon and arguing for no divide between syntax and word formation. By facing the debate from the privileged point of view of the mixed production of bimodal bilinguals (Italian – Italian Sign Language), namely users of a sign and a vocal language simultaneously produced, we discuss the interaction of the two grammars at play with respect to their word order, morphology and phonology and draw some consequences relevant to the debate.
Highlights
There are at least two possible views on the relation between words and syntax
The data discussed so far are clearly relevant for the discussion we introduced in the first part of the paper, and confirm our expectation that the suspension of the articulatory filter proper of bimodal bilingualism makes the mechanisms underlying language mixing directly visible
The aim of the paper was to look at the mixed production of bilinguals in search of evidence relevant for the lexicalism/antilexicalism debate
Summary
There are at least two possible views on the relation between words and syntax. Under the Lexicalist hypothesis originating from Chomsky (1970) and Halle (1973), the processes of morphology, producing complex words, and those which construct phrase-level units constitute distinct modules of the grammar – the lexicon and the syntax respectively. A consequence of this sharp divide is what has been formulated as the ‘Lexical Integrity Principle’ (Di Sciullo & Williams 1987), whereby syntactic processes can manipulate members of lexical categories (‘words’) but not their morphological elements This Principle expresses the traditional view that words are the basic building blocks of syntactic structure. Bimodals do not necessarily switch from one language to the other in mixed production; they can rather produce both of them simultaneously, in what has been called blending (Emmorey et al 2005) This exceptional circumstance, suspending usual articulatory constraints and avoiding the inhibition process that is usually at play in bilinguals, makes code blending an extraordinary window into the bilingual competence and the interaction of the two grammars at play.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
