Abstract

Recent work argues that a bilingual linguistic system is fully integrated in one competence system and does not consist of two separate, autonomous systems as is commonly assumed (see Goldrick et al 2016, Grimstad et al 2014, López 2020, Riksam 2017). Here, we explore the organization of the lexicon within the integration hypothesis using data based on idioms and code-switching. The working hypothesis is that if the lexicons of a bilingual person are integrated in the sort of grammatical architecture presented in López (2020), one should be able to code-switch within the idiom and retain the idiomatic meaning. After a pilot study with a community of Papiamentu-Dutch bilinguals, we tested this hypothesis with two communities of bilingual code-switchers: Basque-Spanish, English-Spanish. The task consisted of choosing a meaning out of three choices for a range of sentences, some of which included code-switched idioms. Our results, by-and-large, confirm the hypothesis that code-switching does not destroy the integrity of the idiom.

Full Text
Paper version not known

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

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.