Languages

In Brazilian Veneto (a heritage variety of Veneto spoken in several areas of Brazil), a stem alternation targets the plurals of masculine nominals ending in a consonant. While nominals with a word-final rhotic or nasal are pluralized by adding the masculine plural suffix $/-\mathrm{i}/ ([\mathrm{b}\mathrm{i}\text{'}\stackrel{{\displaystyle ̑}}{\mathrm{t}\int }\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}]\to [\mathrm{b}\mathrm{i}\text{'}\stackrel{{\displaystyle ̑}}{\mathrm{t}\int }\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{i}]$ ‘glass’), pluralization in nominals with a final lateral involves deletion of the consonant (e.g., $[\mathrm{n}\mathrm{i}\text{'}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{l}]\to [\mathrm{n}\mathrm{i}\text{'}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{i}]$ ‘bedsheet’). I argue that these differences stem from word-final laterals having a distinct representation from rhotics and nasals: while the latter are represented as codas, the former are represented as onsets of empty-headed syllables. Based on a corpus analysis, I show that (a) speakers’ productions of these plurals are stable, and (b) other patterns of pluralization (namely, in monosyllables and words with final stress on a CV syllable) are consistent with the proposal. In addition, the behaviour of laterals with respect to resyllabification, metaphony and intervocalic consonant deletion further suggest that laterals are represented as onsets word-finally. Full article

One characteristic of multilingual speakers is that in everyday life, they may integrate elements from their languages in the same sentence or discourse, a practice known as code-switching. This paper examines code-switching at the interfaces, in particular as related to information structure. Despite the fact that a core question of modern linguistic theory is how syntactic and information-structural theories interact in accounting for licensing of different grammatical phenomena, there has been relatively little literature on code-switching and information structure. In this paper, we provide an overview of the available literature on code-switching across different language combinations, focusing in particular on subject pronoun–verb switches, ellipsis, light verbs, topic/focus particles, and code-switching between sign languages. We argue that the study of the interplay between information structure and code-switching sheds light on our understanding of multilingual grammars and language competence more generally. In this regard, we discuss theoretical and methodological considerations to guide future studies. Full article

The present study analyses the production rates of stop-unrelease amongst advanced French learners of English before and after training. Although stop-unrelease may be regarded as a minor issue in English pronunciation teaching, it has received some attention in recent years. Earlier studies showed that amongst “phonetically naive English listeners”, the lack of release of /p/, /t/ and /k/ leads to lower identification scores. The present study analyses the speech of 31 French university students majoring in English to measure the efficiency of an awareness approach on the production of stop-unrelease. The experiment comprised three phases with a test and a control group. During Phase 1, both groups were asked to read pairs of words and sentences containing medial and final voiceless stops. We chose combinations of two identical stops (homorganic) or stops with different places of articulation (heterorganic), as well as stops in utterance-final position. Namely, wait for me at that table over there, that pan, or I like that truck. In Phase 2, one group watched an explanatory video to increase awareness on stop-unrelease in English before reading Phase 1 words and sentences a second time. The remaining group was the control group and did not receive any training. Among the participants, 17 read a French text containing pairs of stops in similar positions to those in the English one, which served as an L1 baseline. In total, six students continued until Phase 3 (reading the same stimuli a month later; three in the control group and three in the test group). The results showed that sentence-final stops were overwhelmingly released (above 90%) in both English and French in Phase 1. Training had a significant impact on sentence-final stop-unrelease (p < 0.001), which rose from 9.65% to 72.2%. Progress was also visible in other contexts as in heterorganic pairs of stops. Based on these results, we strongly recommend the combined use of spectrograms and gestures to raise awareness in a classroom or for online learning so as to reach multiple learner profiles and further increase efficiency in pronunciation learning. Full article

The literature shows that word frequency data obtained from corpora (corpus frequency, CF) and L1 speaker estimation (subjective frequency, SF) are substantially correlated. However, little is known about languages other than English and the frequency estimation of different types of bilingual speakers. We address both issues and compare the correlation coefficients of the CF and SF for 49 Russian verbs as well as SF data between four groups of Russian speakers: monolinguals (MOs), late bilinguals (LBs), heritage speakers (HSs), and foreign language learners (FLs). We gained SF data from a frequency estimation study with 447 participants and found that despite the reduced exposure to Russian in the three bilingual groups, their SF data were correlated with the CF at the same level (moderately) as the monolinguals’ SF. Interestingly, the correlations between the SF of the MOs, LBs, and HSs were very high, indicating that the SF is extremely stable over different speaker groups and that HSs do not differ from other L1 speakers in this respect. Furthermore, in absolute terms, HSs judged the verbs consistently lower than LBs and MOs, demonstrating that speakers have a finely adjusted ability to estimate the frequency with which they encounter words. The learners, on the other hand, were a clearly distinguished group, with only moderate correlations with all groups of L1 speakers. Full article

Recent work found a correspondence between consonant clustering probability in monosyllabic lexemes and the three vowel types, short and long monophthong and diphthong, in German dialects. Furthermore, that correspondence was found to be bound to a North–South divide. This paper explores the preferences in consonant clustering of particular vowels by analyzing the PhonD2-Corpus, a large database of phonotactic and morphological information. The clustering probability of the diphthongs is positively correlated with frequency while the other vowels showed particular preferences that are not positively correlated with frequency. However, all of them are determined by a threefold pattern: short monophthongs prefer coda clusters, diphthongs onset clusters and long monophthong are balanced. Furthermore, it was found that this threefold pattern seems to have evolved from an originally twofold pattern (short monophthong prefers coda clusters and long monophthong and diphthong prefer onset clusters) in Middle High and Low German. This result is then further considered under the aspect of the compensation of the syllable weight and moraicity. Furthermore, some interesting parallels with the syllable vs. word-language typology framework are noted. Full article

This study explores dual language acquisition according to three interrelated factors which have been found to account for individual differences in bilingual development. These are child-internal, proximal and distal factors. This five-year longitudinal case study investigates the complex interplay between language exposure, language skills and language and cultural identity construction in three French-English bilingual adolescents (from age 10 to 14), from three different home language backgrounds (French dominant; English dominant; both French and English), attending the same bilingual programme in France. Data were collected annually. Parent questionnaires provided information on the children’s exposure to French and English from birth, within the family and in school and other social environments. Semi-structured interviews with the children explored their current language exposure and their language practices with close family and friends, and in language-based activities, such as reading. Language skills were assessed in both languages through (1) a narrative task evaluating lexical diversity and grammatical accuracy, and (2) a standard receptive vocabulary task. Identity construction was explored through semi-structured interviews and a language portrait activity. Our findings showed, first, that higher exposure to a language at home and school did not necessarily align with higher level skills in that language. High-level skills were also observed in the language where exposure was quantitatively lower, but qualitatively rich. Secondly, despite higher exposure to one language, children sometimes identified more with the language and culture they were exposed to less. We highlight the importance of exploring children’s exposure and language biographies in depth to distinguish the sources and types of exposure received from birth. We also show the impact of children’s agency on their language investment and language development. Full article

Made in languaging aims to help ecolinguists with recrafting ideation and human practices. Inspired by Alexander and Stibbe, I turn to how ecolinguistic expertise can favour life-sustaining relations. In approaching normative goals, I start with how knowledge is made, self-sustains and is disseminated. Ecolinguistic analysis of languages, discourse and narratives can thus be enriched by tracing how practices inform languaging. In turning to epistemic agency, I emphasise the following: (1) building corpora popularia, organised bodies, in order to enhance life-sustaining relations; (2) illuminating life from the inside; and (3) developing bioecological awareness. I contend that, while all living beings use coordinative activities to bring forth what appears to us, humans also use wording types and practices. As we use the already known, languaging enables subjecthood, a person’s little worlds, and a group’s common realities. Hence, what appears as (and to) experience is made in languaging. When linked to normative concerns, the resulting middle worlds also offer means of putting knowledge to work. As in social epistemology, one might regard ‘wealth and well-being’ as a marker of public good. Yet, critical work shows, appeal to these values is anthropomorphic. In order to encompass nonhumans and the biogenic, one can reject market orientatation by tracing languaging, and knowing, back to living. In showing benefits of so doing, I contrast two evolving wording types. The case of growthism, I suggest, attests to praxis and contrasts starkly with the ideational value of life-sustaining relations. Yet, in both cases, languaging meshes practices, happenings and the effects of action. The move shows how one can challenge the hypostatisation of ideology by pursuing how epistemic agency can contribute to the future of evolution. Full article

The communicative approach to language learning, a teaching method commonly used in second language (L2) classrooms, places little to no emphasis on pronunciation training. As a result, mobile-assisted pronunciation training (MAPT) platforms provide an alternative to classroom-based pronunciation training. To date, there have been several meta-analyses and systematic reviews of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) studies, but only a few of these meta-analyses have concentrated on pronunciation. To better understand MAPT’s impact on L2 learners’ perceptions and production of targeted pronunciation features, this study conducted a systematic review of the MAPT literature following PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Potential mobile-assisted articles were identified through searches of the ERIC, Educational Full Text, Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstract, MLI International, and Scopus databases and specific journal searches. Criteria for article inclusion in this study included the following: the article must be a peer-reviewed empirical or quasi-empirical research study using both experimental and control groups to assess the impact of pronunciation training. Pronunciation training must have been conducted via MALL or MAPT technologies, and the studies must have been published between 2014 and 2024. A total of 232 papers were identified; however, only ten articles with a total of 524 participants met the established criteria. Data pertaining to the participants used in the study (nationality and education level), the MPAT applications and platforms used, the pronunciation features targeted, the concentration on perception and/or production of these features, and the methods used for training and assessments were collected and discussed. Effect sizes using Cohen’s d were also calculated for each study. The findings of this review reveal that only two of the articles assessed the impact of MAPT on L2 learners’ perceptions of targeted features, with results indicating that the use of MPAT did not significantly improve L2 learners’ abilities to perceive segmental features. In terms of production, all ten articles assessed MPAT’s impact on L2 learners’ production of the targeted features. The results of these assessments varied greatly, with some studies indicating a significant and large effect of MAPT and others citing non-significant gains and negligible effect sizes. The variation in these results, in addition to differences in the types of participants, the targeted pronunciation features, and MAPT apps and platforms used, makes it difficult to conclude that MAPT has a significant impact on L2 learners’ production. Furthermore, the selected studies’ concentration on mostly segmental features (i.e., phoneme and word pronunciation) is likely to have had only a limited impact on participants’ intelligibility. This paper provides suggestions for further MAPT research, including increased emphasis on suprasegmental features and perception assessments, to further our understanding of the effectiveness of MAPT for pronunciation training. Full article

Multilingualism has become the norm in families all over the world. These families need to juggle their children’s linguistic identity and integration in their contexts. They may also need professional advice about which language(s) they should use at home, especially when children present with developmental disorders. There is a dearth of studies addressing the role parental views play in home-language maintenance with children with developmental disorders. This study is conducted in Spain, where Spanish is the national language, along with local languages in certain regions, as well as foreign languages. This qualitative study aimed to deepen our understanding of the views about language choice of multilingual families whose children have either typical language development or a developmental disorder in Spain. We recruited 26 parents of multilingual children aged between 5 and 10 years, from different linguistic backgrounds. Semi-structured online interviews were conducted. The data were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis. The findings illustrate the complexity and nuance of parents’ views and decisions regarding language choice in their contexts. The themes included identity and belonging, as well as the influences of external advice on parental decisions. It is important that professionals such as speech–language therapists understand these views to enable them to deliver family-centered care. Full article

Although Italo-Greek is characterized by a general retreat of infinitival complementation, it partly preserves the infinitive in restructuring contexts: a handful of functional auxiliaries—in an overt or covert form—allow for infinitival complements, with which they enter in a monoclausal union. Such a preservation also triggers consequences for finite complementation. Indeed, those predicates that still select for infinitival complements may lack finite complementation, resulting in only the lexical embedded verb surfacing instead of the complex sentence AUX + na + finite verb: δen du ékame típote ‘he could not do anything to him’ (lit. ‘he did not do anything to him’). I claim that such an absence—which gives rise to a semantic or even a syntactic gap—depends on the effects of the restructuring rule, which creates a high level of dependency and interlacing between the matrix and embedded verbs. When finite complements gradually replaced infinitival ones, though only sporadically, some predicates stopped selecting for finite complements, ultimately depriving the sentence of modal and other functional specifications. Full article

Causal relations allow a very detailed insight into the narrative skills of children from various backgrounds; however, their contribution has not been sufficiently studied in bilingual populations. The present study examines the expression of causal relations and the linguistic forms used to encode them in narratives of bilingual children speaking Russian as the Heritage Language (HL) and Hebrew as the Societal Language (SL). Narratives were collected from 21 typically developing Russian–Hebrew bilingual children using the Frog story picture book and were coded for frequency and type of episodic components, and for causal relations focusing on enabling and motivational relations. Results showed that the number of episodic components was higher in Hebrew than in Russian. An in-depth analysis showed that more components were mentioned in the first five episodes, particularly at the onset of the story. Causal relations were similar in both languages but were differently distributed across the languages—more enabling relations in Russian stories and more motivational relations in Hebrew stories. Production of episodic components and causal relations was affected by language proficiency but not by age of onset of bilingualism (AoB). In terms of language forms, lexical chains (e.g., search~find) were the most frequent means for inferring relations. Syntactic and referential cohesion were used in dedicated episodes to convey relations in both languages. Finally, a higher number of significant correlations between narrative productivity measures, episodic components, and causal relations were found in SL/Hebrew than in HL/Russian. The study results underscore the need to understand how language-specific abilities interact with knowledge of narrative discourse construction. Full article

This study examines attitudes and ideologies associated with the Finnish language and identity among successive generations of Finnish Americans in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Northern Minnesota, where Finnish is a postvernacular heritage language (HL). Employing ethnographic approaches including participant observation, narrative interviews, and the study of material analyzed using thematic analysis, I describe prevailing ideologies shaping perceptions of Finnishness. My findings highlight a pronounced pride and attachment to Finnish identity, which discursively and ideologically shape a sense of belonging and serve as a foundation for Finnish American identity formation. However, tensions emerge, particularly regarding the perceived pronunciation of Finnish words such as “sauna” and Finnish last names, indicating ideologies related to authenticity and purity. The evolution of terms like “Finlander” suggests generational change and reflects a history of friction with individuals not identifying as Finnish within the studied postvernacular speech communities. Full article

Intonational plateaus exist in Chilean Spanish in contexts in which they do not exist in any other variety of Spanish. Mapudungun, which has been in contact with Chilean Spanish for centuries, also has plateaus in similar contexts, although for years, the possibility of any influence of Mapudungun on Spanish has been largely dismissed. The present study examines the discourse contexts in which intonational plateaus occur in both Chilean Spanish and Mapudungun and finds that their pragmatic function is similar, with the vast majority of cases highlighting information based on the subjective communicative desire of the speaker rather than falling into established syntactic or pragmatic categories such as narrow focus. However, while the pragmatic function is similar between the languages, Mapudungun has a wider use of the plateaus, indicating a likely longer presence in this language. Based on the similarities in pragmatic function, the absence of such plateaus in any other variety of Spanish, and the wider use of plateaus in Mapudungun, this paper argues that the Chilean Spanish plateaus originate from Mapudungun due to their centuries-long history of intense language contact. Full article

This paper discusses the inflections of Latin proper names in the Old English translation of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica. Whereas most common Latin loans are integrated into the Old English system as far as inflections are concerned, proper names, like scientific loans, can retain Latin inflections in some contexts. The analysis of the more than 700 tokens in this text reveals that the prototypical paradigm of Latin proper names results from a mixture of Latin and Old English patterns. The choice of inflections seems to be chiefly conditioned by grammatical case. While the nominative and accusative are modeled after Latin with very few exceptions, the dative and genitive are influenced by Old English paradigms as well. Both Latin and Old English inflections are evenly distributed in the dative. However, marking on names seems to be secondary and determined primarily by additional morphosyntactic means such as determiners or prepositions. As for the genitive, the predominant inflection, thematic vowel plus -s, results from the fusion of the inflections in both languages grounded in phonetic or spelling similarities. Full article

This study examines the correspondence between the borrowability indices from the Loanwoard Typology (LWT) project and Castilianization indices from the Atlas Lingüístico Galego (ALGa) across seven semantic fields. To this end, we identified all Castilianisms in the ALGa and conducted a quantitative analysis to compare these indices. Results obtained indicate a mismatch between the rankings of the LWT project and the ALGa. For example, the field ‘The body’ has the highest level of Castilianization according to the ALGa but the lowest borrowed score in the LWT project. Moreover, Castilianization levels in the ALGa show greater dispersion than borrowability levels from the LWT project. In fact, in each semantic field, many concepts (52.2%) have low levels of Castilianization, between 0% and 10%, and only a few concepts have high levels. A more detailed analysis of three semantic fields (‘The body’, ‘Agriculture and vegetation’, and ‘The physical world’) suggests that explanations based solely on semantic criteria (such as the existence of an unalterable central lexicon) are insufficient; other factors such as prestige, urbanization, cultural modernity, frequency of word usage, and perhaps other intralinguistic factors should be taken into account. Full article

This study attempts to investigate the disagreement strategies that are used by American speakers of Arabic with a view to identifying which disagreement strategies they use in equal and non-equal status situations. In addition, it aims to see whether variables like gender and social status affect the linguistic choices and disagreement strategies that they use. The subjects of the study are 28 (14 male and 14 female) American speakers of Arabic who were learning Arabic and were residing in Jordan at the time of data collection. The researchers analyze their interactional recorded responses to a set of stimuli included in an oral (recorded) discourse completion task (ODCT) prepared for this purpose. The ODCT comprises six scenarios in which the respondent is requested to disagree with two peers, two higher-status interlocutors, and two lower-status interlocutors. The findings of the study show that the American speakers of Arabic use two main disagreement strategies, non-confrontational and confrontational disagreements, which are in turn divided into sub-strategies. Further, they employ the non-confrontational strategies slightly more than the confrontational ones, as the percentage for the former is 51% while for the latter is 49%. Interestingly, the study suggests that the topic of discussion significantly influences the choice of strategy, sometimes resulting in women being more confrontational than men, which contrasts with common perceptions reported in the literature about gender-based communication styles. Full article

The climate crisis, migration and urbanization may appear as three separate crises, but under Sheller’s paradigm of Mobility Justice, they become part of a coherent whole that should be tackled as a single, complex and interconnected predicament. This paper observes rhetorical strategies employed in texts about the climate crisis, about cycling advocacy and about the “climate lockdown” conspiracy theory, which developed in Oxford, UK, in 2023. The metaphors, deictic pronouns and identity categories used are the main discourse features analysed through a qualitative approach, showing how mobility-related issues are often discussed through spatial metaphors, while deictic pronouns play a central role in the creation of identities. The findings are employed to contribute to the beneficial reframing of mobility-related discourses, whether global or local, and to react to climate inaction. The overall aim of this approach is to reveal the links between discourses about the climate crisis on a global scale and those on a local, urban scale concerning urban mobility policies. The prism through which both global and local discourses are observed is that of space and access to mobility. The aim of this investigation is to identify new patterns of language that can help us finding “new stories to live by”. Full article

The paper explores the pivotal role of mothers in maintaining the Lithuanian language within the Lithuanian diaspora, drawing upon Spolsky’s family language policy theory and Curdt-Christiansen’s dynamic family language policy model. Analyzing data collected in 2011–2013 and 2015–2017, the study investigates various factors shaping family language policy, with a particular focus on the mother’s influence. It examines the interplay between the mother’s role, emigrants’ language ideology, Lithuanian identity, language acquisition, proficiency, and language usage across different domains and emotional dimension of language attitudes. Quantitative analysis, considering respondents’ parents’ ethnicities, reveals that respondents with Lithuanian mothers exhibit stronger connections to Lithuanian identity, more frequent acquisition of Lithuanian as their first language, higher proficiency, and increased usage of Lithuanian within the family and as an inner language. Moreover, positive language attitudes towards the heritage Lithuanian language are more pronounced among those with Lithuanian mothers. However, emotional attitudes towards language did not significantly differ based on parental ethnicity. The paper concludes by discussing the heightened responsibility of mothers in language maintenance within the diaspora and the challenges they face in fulfilling this role. Full article