Language Contact Phenomena Research Articles

From language mixing to fused lects: The process and its outcomes

Objectives: In this introductory article, we advance a unified framework for analysis and interpretation of transfer of overt linguistic structure in language contact situations. Our goal is to demonstrate that fusion, a process whereby results of bilingual practices become grammaticized and conventionalized (see Auer 1999, 2014), is a gradient phenomenon, which applies to a large spectrum of language contact phenomena. Our additional objective is to situate the contributions to this special issue in the context of this approach. Design: The article defines fusion as a central concept underlying the proposed framework, identifies the basic dimensions of fusion and showcases its various outcomes by reviewing extensive contact linguistics literature and the contributions to this special issue. Data and Analysis: In our analysis of contact linguistic phenomena, we draw on available linguistic descriptions of pertinent contact varieties and bilingual practices. We examine these phenomena in terms of fusion and in relation to its three basic dimensions. Findings: This article shows that fusion, being a gradient multifaceted phenomenon, should be analyzed along the following dimensions: (a) the amount of structure affecting the receiving language, (b) the degree of sedimentation of bilingual patterns, (c) the degree of fusional compartmentalization. Significance: The present article identifies and describes manifold outcomes of fusion in terms of three basis dimensions. These dimensions enable one to distinguish fused lects from language mixing and other bilingual phenomena and need therefore be incorporated in future linguistic descriptions and analyses of fused lects.

Plurilingualism and Language Contact in Friuli Venezia Giulia: The State of the Research

As a crossroads between Eastern and Western Europe, throughout its history Friuli Venezia Giulia has always been a strategic political and economic site and has had several rulers (German patriarchs, Venetians, etc.). Consequently, the language of the ruling classes usually differed from that of the common people. Friulian was mostly considered the language of the lower classes and restricted to non-official and familiar circumstances. This attitude still persists today towards Italian, the official language, and some people feel uncomfortable using Friulian on official and formal occasions. Friulian speakers can, however, be considered bilingual speakers of Italian and Friulian. In fact, the use of Friulian, also in official contexts has always been an outstanding cultural and social issue which has raised very strong feelings both in favour of and against it. This essay presents and discusses plurilingualism and language contact in Friuli Venezia Giulia and focuses on the relations among the Friulian language and the other historical minorities (such as the Slovene and the German idioms) and the ‘new’ minorities (the so-called immigrant languages). It also describes the important language contact phenomena between Friulian and Italian which constitute an interesting sociolinguistic reality since the two languages are not always in opposition. The aim is to present a sociolinguistic study which wants to be a useful tool for measuring and assessing the state of languages in the Friulian community. It can also provide crucial information to those who are concerned with linguistic policy and planning, by offering hints that will enable them to develop appropriate actions within this protected territory.

Hybrid Hashtags: #YouKnowYoureAKiwiWhen Your Tweet Contains Māori and English.

Twitter constitutes a rich resource for investigating language contact phenomena. In this paper, we report findings from the analysis of a large-scale diachronic corpus of over one million tweets, containing loanwords from te reo Māori, the indigenous language spoken in New Zealand, into (primarily, New Zealand) English. Our analysis focuses on hashtags comprising mixed-language resources (which we term hybrid hashtags), bringing together descriptive linguistic tools (investigating length, word class, and semantic domains of the hashtags) and quantitative methods (Random Forests and regression analysis). Our work has implications for language change and the study of loanwords (we argue that hybrid hashtags can be linked to loanword entrenchment), and for the study of language on social media (we challenge proposals of hashtags as “words,” and show that hashtags have a dual discourse role: a micro-function within the immediate linguistic context in which they occur and a macro-function within the tweet as a whole).

Revisiting phonetic integration in bilingual borrowing

This article investigates whether speakers marshal phonetic integration as a strategy to distinguish language-contact phenomena. Systematic comparison of the behavior of individuals, diagnostics, and language-mixing types (code-switches, established loanwords, and nonce borrowings) reveals variability at every level of the adaptation process, providing strong evidence that bilinguals do not phonetically distinguish other-language words, nonce or dictionary-attested, in a uniform way. This is in striking contrast to the community-wide morphosyntactic treatment they afford this same material when borrowing it: immediate, quasi-categorical, and consistent. This confirms that phonetic and morphosyntactic integration are independent. Only the latter is a reliable metric for distinguishing language-mixing types.

Discourse as a language contact phenomenon: evidence from Mexican-American bilinguals

This article is the result of a study conducted within the theoretical framework of ethnography of communication. One of the main purposes of this study was to examine discourse strategies among Mexican-American bilinguals residing in the Los Angeles area. The examination of strategies used in oral and written conversations demonstrates the existence of numerous stylistic features. Mexican-American bilingual discourse is characterized by the use of code-switching, culturally-motivated borrowings from English and, in general, the dominance of the English language in conversation. Undoubtedly, these discursive phenomena stem from socioeconomic and cultural forces and the prestige of English as the dominant linguistic system of the American society.

Bilingualism and the Serbo-German Bilingual Community of Serbs in Ingolstadt

In this study we represent the bilingual language situation in the ethnolinguistic community of Serbs in Ingolstadt, recorded over the period of time from 2010 until 2013. The paper also addresses the occurrences of bilingualism and diglossia in the context of contact linguistics, their classification, as well as the samples of bilingualism in the researched corpus, with the accompanying phenomena of language contact. The obtained cross-section of the sociolinguistic and linguistic situation of the researched ethnolinguistic community, as well as the research results, refer to the specific community and specific corpus. Nonetheless, obtained results with certainty allow introspect into the life cycle dynamics tendency for the Serbo-German bilingual communities. Reflecting upon the research results we may conclude that our investigated sample, which can expand onto the entire research corpus, can be regarded as being almost in the second last phase of the language change process. A rather significant part of the corpus in the further development of the language change process would certainly be the third generation of working migrants. Further direction of the bilingual community development will most likely be dependent upon this generation, as well as other accompanying factors.
 In the researched sample we can observe different percentual representation of balanced bilinguals and dominant bilinguals, as well as passive and receptive bilinguals. The fact that there is a significant percentual presence of passive and receptive bilinguals among the third group of migrants explains the situation that one part of the second generation of working migrants in the researched community is powerless before the pressure of social networks, economic and social relations that we find in the social majority group. They abandon teaching their children the Serbian language, and they perceive the German language as the capital asset through which those who belong to the third generation of working migrants can gain top positions in the education system and in the market as well.
 In the language practice of bilingual speakers there is the phenomenon of language contact from the first to the third generation, specifically in the occurrence of transference (mixing of two language systems on the basis of phonetics, morphology, syntax) or in code switching (mixing of two languages from the communicative aspect). Transference, as a phenomenon in the direct and indirect language contact, may have multiple results which will be considered in future papers on the issue of language contact phenomenon.
 Finally, under the environmental effect (standard German language, German dialects), as well as the effect of different language community dialects the members of the first generation of working migrants come from, a new language is developed. This new language cannot be called the Serbian language spoken by the Serbs in the homeland but namely we propose a new term Serbian diaspora language in Germany. This language as such is then transferred onto the new generations and/or its use declines in one and sustains in other domains. Ultimately, at the end of this process, as many contact linguistic researches have illustrated, an inevitable situation may occur where a life cycle of the bilingual community might come to an end and there might be a complete language change of the minority with the majority community.

The impact of language contact in a bilingual translation class

This effort focuses exclusively on the realization of the phenomenon of language contact and the impact it has on the language behavior of users. Each two languages, or more, by one way or another may get into a contact situation when they are alternately used by the same person. Among the situations where both languages would be exposed to contact that of the translation class covered by this study. The present effort highlights the example of French and Arabic languages used alternatively by university level translator-learners, specifically by third year students.
 After having shown the aspects of bilingualism related to the subject, and following a corpus elaborated to trace the source of the problem, being the realization of the contact of languages in the class concerned, we notice that the phenomenon is actually realized and that negative impacts are seen in the production of the translator-students as to the translating activity. In this respect, all the gaps in the pedagogical situation are identified and effective solutions are therefore proposed in order to cope with the linguistic problems which hinder any progress made by the translator-students. It is a matter of establishing measures to avoid, or at least reduce, the negative impact resulting from the meeting of two different linguistic systems, which affects the performance of translators in the process of learning.

A Fourth Circle of English

AbstractThis paper identifies a Fourth Circle of English, fueled by technology and outsourcing, and exemplified by the Indian speech community known as ‘youngistan.’ A variety of data are examined, including YouTube and other online advertisements, social media posts and exchanges, texts, as well as secondary data. To ensure a comprehensive and empirical account, the data are analyzed using applicable frameworks of critical discourse analysis, including Braj Kachru's world Englishes model premised on the notions of context‐specific, geographic interpretations through the tripartite constructs acceptability, comprehensibility, and intelligibility. In the case of the interactive exchanges examined, conversational analysis was employed, as well. In addition to the researchers’ assessment, the interpretations of undergraduate students in a Business Writing Course taught by the professor at Morgan State University, a historically black college and university (HBCU) are shared. The paper ends by discussing the implications of the types of language contact phenomena observed, before outlining directions for future research.

Severed Language Contacts: Two Examples from the History of English

The phenomenon of language contact is generally viewed as establishing or maintaining relationship by speakers of different languages. As far as the English language is concerned, especially its contemporary status, it is its global reach and influence that is discussed, as well as the influence it exerts on other languages. The present text deals with a reverse phenomenon, that is the cessation of contact, which results in a change of the linguistic situation. This is exemplified with the 16th-century English Reformation, to be more precise: the establishment of the Anglican Church, and the independence of the United States in the 18th century. With these two events, the author attempts to present how the breaking of contact influenced the further development of the linguistic situation in the external history of the English language.

The acquisition of Spanish and English as two first languages through the analysis of natural interpreting in bilingual children

Abstract Research on the acquisition of two first languages from birth (2L1A) has focused, among other issues, on how the grammars of the two languages being acquired interact (e.g. Bhatia & Ritchie, 2012; De Houwer, 2009; Deuchar & Quay, 2000; Döpke, 2000; Köppe & Meisel, 1995). A case in point is natural interpreting which evidences how bilingual children exposed to two languages from birth deal with the grammatical properties of the two languages and how this leads them to potentially convey the same message in either (or both) of these languages. More specifically, as part of the simultaneous processing of their two L1s, 2L1 bilingual children have been reported to often translate between their two L1s (Álvarez de la Fuente & Fernández Fuertes, 2012, 2015; Cossato, 2008; Harris, 1980a, 1980b; Harris & Sherwood, 1978), a phenomenon that has been called natural interpreting (Harris, 1977, 2003). In this respect, natural interpreting can be included with other language contact phenomena, such as interlinguistic influence or code-switching, as a typical defining property of 2L1A. Therefore, in this study we aim to offer an analysis of the way in which Spanish-English bilingual children use natural interpreting in their 2L1A process by focusing on the Spanish-English bilingual corpora freely available through the CHILDES project (MacWhinney, 2000).

Classifying Language Contact Phenomena: English Verbs in Texas German

While the transfer of English nouns into Texas German has received substantial scholarly attention, there currently exist no detailed studies on the transfer of English verbs into Texas German in particular and German-American dialects in general. This paper therefore discusses English verbs that are code-switched and loan-translated into Texas German from both a synchronic and diachronic perspective, using data collected by the Texas German Dialect Project since 2001. The analysis serves two purposes. The first is to provide an overview of English verbs used by Texas German speakers: how these verbs are integrated into German structures, and whether they have become established in the Texas German lexicon. The second goal is to show how analyzing verbal transfers in contact situations underscores the dynamic, interactive nature of language contact and structure. This part of the analysis is motivated by Backus & Dorleijn’s (2009) discussion of loan translation, which emphasizes that existing classifications of language contact phenomena must be rethought, as many instances of transference are not clearly captured by existing categories. Thus, this study goes beyond a lexical analysis of English verbs in Texas German by discussing how lexical transfer interacts with morphology, semantics, and syntax.*

Why changes go unnoticed: The role of adaptation in translation-induced linguistic change

Although adaptation is widely recognised by contact linguistics as an important mechanism of language change, previous studies examining the relationship between translation and language change in the target language normally ignore its role. The present study aims to address this gap and expand the application of the Code-Copying Framework (Johanson, 1993, 1999, 2002b) to the study of translation as a language contact phenomenon by examining how the frequential copy of the passive voice reporting verbs in Greek popular science has been combinationally adapted regarding word order. By examining the role that adaptation plays in translation-induced change, we can gain a complete understanding not only of the complex mechanisms that govern the relationship between translation and language change, but also shed light on the nature of the translation activity. The paper provides a strong argument that translation can be understood using existing concepts of contact linguistics, most notably the Code-Copying Framework.

Contact de langues en Guadeloupe et acquisition du français standard

This paper deals with the great level of linguistic variation in Guadeloupe and its educational implications, especially relating to the acquisition of standard French. Among all the forms of linguistic variation, we will focus in particular on the phenomena of language contact. One of the aims of this paper is to examine how the different school actors perceive non-standard forms of French, especially when these forms are resulting from the contact with Creole. Moreover, in order to illustrate the difficulties of teaching standard French in such a situation, we will describe the lesson of a teacher, focusing on linguistic interferences. By analyzing this lesson, we will also address the uses of different norms of French by pupils and highlight some didactic proposals.

Linguistic Consequences of Evangelization in Colonial Peru: Analyzing the Quechua Corpus of the Doctrina Christiana y Catecismo

The article deals with the analysis of phenomena of language contact between Spanish and Quechua, found in the Doctrina Christiana y Catecismo para instruccion de los Indios (1584). These phenomena include primarily loanwords, loan blends, shifts of meaning and morphosyntactic calques, encountered throughout the Quechua version of the Doctrina Christiana y Catecismo, a profound ecclesiastical work, which influenced greatly the process of evangelization of the Andes. In addition, the article concerns other issues, like the early adaptation of Quechua to writing and phonological conundrum associated with this process, origins of the verb iñiy and the use of Quechua evidential markers in dcc . The analysis is intended to understand better the influence of evangelization on Quechua language, both in terms of diachronic linguistics and corpus planning.

Očuvanje hrvatskog jezika u Kanadi

Očuvanje hrvatskog jezika u Kanadi

Lexical Borrowing in the Speech of First-Generation Hungarian Immigrants in Australia

This article reports findings of a sociolinguistic project which investigated language contact phenomena in the speech of first-generation Hungarian Australians living in Sydney. The research aimed to identify and analyze English lexical items borrowed into the spoken Hungarian of first-generation Hungarian–English bilinguals. This research had a mixed methods approach including a quantitative element (count of lexical manifestations by categories such as part of speech) and a qualitative element in which the various lexical manifestations have been subjected to a linguistic analysis. The Hungarian National Corpus was used as a reference guide to determine the status of these phenomena in the lexicon of Standard Hungarian. The data were collected through semi-structured sociolinguistic interviews with 22 Hungarian Australians living in Sydney. The findings demonstrate that (a) first-generation Hungarians are highly creative language users and integrate a large number of English lexical items into their speech. Most lexical borrowings belong to the derivational blends with the highest proportion of the nominal group. Lexical borrowings from English are morphologically integrated with Hungarian-derivational suffixes and inflectional case markings. This research provides original empirical data to better understand the various inter-language lexical manifestations in Hungarian–English bilingual contexts. The study adds to the relatively small body of research on Hungarian–English bilingualism in diasporic context and contributes to understanding lexical borrowing from a contact linguistic perspective.

Fenòmens de contacte lingüístic en el lèxic disponible català de Lleida

This article aims to analyse the influence of Spanish on the lexicon available in Catalan. For this purpose, we examine to what extent the Catalan lexicon contains elements of Spanish and what value these units have within the data available. We have also classified language contact phenomena and we have specifically analysed the instances of loans in our corpus. In order to carry out this research, we have mainly focused on the data from the province of Lleida, obtained from 240 pre-college informants who filled out an associative survey regarding 17 centers of interest.

Indefinite markers, grammaticalization, and language contact phenomena in Chinese

Grammaticalization and language contact are often treated separately, suggesting that these are two distinct, divergent phenomena (Heine & Kuteva, 2003). This however, is known not to be the case. The grammaticalization of an indefinite marker, for instance, can occur due to language contact or be hastened by it (Moravcsik, 2013:200). Contrary to assumptions of many grammarians working in Chinese linguistics, recent work on Standard Chinese (e.g. Chen 2003, Huang 1999) argues that Chinese makes use of determiners. However, few explanations have been given as to why this development has taken place. I suggest that contact with English has encouraged the grammaticalization of the indefinite marker, yi ‘one’ + CLASSIFIER. More specifically, the translation of English texts into Chinese has contributed to the development of an indefinite marker in Chinese (Hsu 1994).

Language contact and translingual literacies

ABSTRACTIn this essay we examine the notions of language contact phenomena such as borrowing, codeswitching, codemixing, codemeshing, and translanguaging. We also explore the concepts of translingualism and translingual literacies. We discuss how the notions of bilingualism and multilingualism are differentiated from translingualism and translingual literacies, and how these concepts came into existence according to different theoretical positions. We also introduce the contents of the other articles included in this special issue, and highlight their key points, framing them in the context of research on translingual literacies. The following six areas from around the world are covered: (1) negotiating voice in translingual literacies, (2) Amerindian and translingual literacies, (3) translingual and transcultural practice in a rural classroom, (4) translingual and transcultural navigation among immigrant children and youth, (5) créolisation and the new cosmopolitanism, and (6) translingual practice among African immigrants in the USA. Last but not least, we include two book reviews related to translingual literacies, and we also provide some conclusions on the topics discussed, as well as some suggestions for further directions in future research.

Algerian Modern Colloquial Arabic Speech Corpus (AMCASC): regional accents recognition within complex socio-linguistic environments

The Algerian linguistic situation is very intricate due to the ethnic, geographical and colonial occupation influences which have lead to a complex sociolinguistic environment. As a result of the contact between different languages and accents, the Algerian speech community has acquired a distinctive sociolinguistic situation. In addition to the intra- and inter- lingual variations describing day-to-day linguistic behavior of the Algerian speakers, their speech is characterized by the presence of many linguistic phenomena such as bilingualism and code switching. The study of automatic regional accent recognition in such a type of environment is a new idea in the field of automatic languages, dialect and accent recognition especially that previous studies were conducted using monolingual evaluation data. The assessment of the effectiveness of GMM-UBM and i-vectors frameworks for accent recognition approaches through the use of the Algerian Modern Colloquial Arabic Speech Corpus (AMCASC), which is a linguistic resource collected for this purpose, shows that not only the recording conditions mismatch, channels mismatch, recordings length mismatch and the amplitude clipping which have a non-desirable effect on the effectiveness of these acoustic approaches but also language contact phenomena are other perturbation sources which should be taken into consideration especially in real life applications .