Abstract
AbstractAre idioms stored in memory in ways that preserve their surface form or language or are they represented amodally? We examined this question using an incidental cued recall paradigm in which two word idiomatic expressions were presented to adult bilinguals proficient in Russian and English. Stimuli included phrases with idiomatic equivalents in both languages (e.g. “empty words/пycтыe cлoвa”) or in one language only (English—e.g. “empty suit/пycтoй кocтюм” or Russian—e.g. “empty sound/пycтoй звyк”), or in neither language (e.g. “empty rain/пycтoй дoждь”). If idioms are stored in a language-specific format, then phrases with idiomatic equivalents in both languages would have dual representation, and should therefore be more easily recalled than phrases with idiomatic meaning in only one language. This result was obtained. As such, the findings support the dual-coding theory of memory and are also compatible with models of the bilingual lexicon that include language tags or nodes.
Highlights
Figurative language refers to expressions ranging from metaphors and idioms to jokes, proverbs, or multiword formulaic utterances, that is expressions in which the intended meaning of a phrase is not fully recoverable by considering the literal meaning of its constituent parts
As noted by Cieślicka (2006, p. 119), “The abundance of L1 idiom processing studies has been accompanied by a regrettable lack of comparable research into the representation and processing of idiomatic expressions by second language learners” or by bilinguals, we might add
The present study The present study examined whether memory for two word idiomatic expressions, such as “blue moon” is represented in a language-specific format or in an amodal, conceptual form
Summary
Figurative language refers to expressions ranging from metaphors and idioms to jokes, proverbs, or multiword formulaic utterances, that is expressions in which the intended meaning of a phrase is not fully recoverable by considering the literal meaning of its constituent parts (see Wray, 2012, for a review). There is an extensive body of work on figurative language processing in single language users 119), “The abundance of L1 idiom processing studies has been accompanied by a regrettable lack of comparable research into the representation and processing of idiomatic expressions by second language learners” or by bilinguals, we might add. Motivated by the need for more studies on idiom processing in users of multiple languages, the present research sought to contribute to emerging scholarship in this field (Carrol & Conklin, 2015; Heredia & Cieslicka, 2015; Lopez, 2015; Vaid, 2000; Vaid, López, & Martínez, 2015). The particular question of interest in our study was how collocations with fixed, idiomatic meanings in both languages are represented relative to those with idiomatic meaning in only one of the bilingual’s languages
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