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Word Formation and Language Contact: A Formal Perspective
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Word Formation and Language Contact: A Formal Perspective

A special issue of Languages (ISSN 2226-471X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 20365

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Artemis Alexiadou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of English and American Studies, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
2. Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS), Schützenstraße 18, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Interests: syntax; morphology; heritage languages
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Terje Lohndal

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Language and Literature, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
2. Department of Language and Culture, UiT-The Arctic University of Norway, PO Box 6050, Langnes, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
Interests: syntax; morphology; multilingualism

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

While the study of word formation processes from a comparative perspective has gained the interest of morphologists, there is comparatively little work on word formation processes from the point of view of language contact, e.g., the contributions to Callies and Stolz (2016), Alexiadou and Lohndal (2018), Riksem et al. (2019), and Alexiadou (2020). Studying word formation processes where properties of more than one language is involved offers a unique window onto the basic word formation mechanisms. Furthermore, it allows scholars to address a fundamental question regarding the nature of the lexicon in multilingual speakers: Do they have one integrated lexicon or two separate lexicons?

In this Special Issue, we invite papers dealing with word formation processes, focusing on inflection, derivation and compounding in language contact settings and employing the tools of current morphological theories to analyze them. An explicit objective is to investigate what data from different types of language contact settings may tell us about formal models of word formation. We invite scholars representing different formal frameworks to explore their implications for word formation and language contact, either through case studies, comparative studies, or comparing multiple frameworks and their different implications for a set of data.

Authors should submit abstracts of 400–600 words to the Languages guest editors by 31 March 2021 for a preliminary assessment and selection. Submission of papers will be done through the Languages online submission system (after the abstract is accepted) before 31 August 2021. Authors should follow the Instructions for Authors found on Languages. Publication of the Special Issue is planned for December 2021.

References

Alexiadou, Artemis. 2020. Compound formation in language mixing. Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 11.

Alexiadou, Artemis and Terje Lohndal. 2018. Units of language mixing: a cross-linguistic perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 9.

Callies, Marcus and Christel Stolz. Eds. 2106. Word-formation. Language contact, language contrast and language comparison. STUF, Language Typology and Universals 69: 4.

Riksem, Brita Ramsevik, Maren Berg Grimstad, Terje Lohndal and Tor A. Åfarli. 2019. Language mixing within verbs and nouns in American Norwegian. Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 22: 189-209.

Prof. Dr. Artemis Alexiadou
Prof. Dr. Terje Lohndal
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Languages is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • word formation
  • language contact
  • inflection
  • derivation
  • compounding
  • formal grammar

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 616 KiB  
Article
Lexical Borrowing Targets Spans
by Deniz Tat
Languages 2022, 7(4), 289; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7040289 - 11 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2191
Abstract
In this study, I revisit the claim that nominals denoting complex events must derive from discernible verbal stems and must be headed by an overt nominalizer. I show that Turkish has a set of nominals, crucially of foreign origin, which provides counter-evidence to [...] Read more.
In this study, I revisit the claim that nominals denoting complex events must derive from discernible verbal stems and must be headed by an overt nominalizer. I show that Turkish has a set of nominals, crucially of foreign origin, which provides counter-evidence to both claims. From the perspective of Turkish grammar, they are morphologically noncompositional, manifesting neither a detectable verbal basis nor an overt nominalizer although they are categorically complex event nominals. Since (zero-)derived nominals of Turkic origin do not allow argument structure, the puzzling makeup of underived complex event nominals in question boils down to their loan word nature. I show that their behavior is different from both derived nominals as well as gerundive nominals in important ways. I claim that they are defective nominalizations lacking an nP representation. After reviewing previous accounts of these nominals, I consider three syntactic approaches to word derivation, which differ in their theoretical assumptions only in granularity, and conclude that the Spanning approach of Bye and Svenonius provides us with a conceptually superior account. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Word Formation and Language Contact: A Formal Perspective)
19 pages, 3037 KiB  
Article
A Late-Insertion-Based Exoskeletal Approach to the Hybrid Nature of Functional Features in Creole Languages
by Yushi Sugimoto and Marlyse Baptista
Languages 2022, 7(2), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7020092 - 6 Apr 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3094
Abstract
The goal of this paper is to further our understanding of the nature of functional features in Creoles while focusing on how the functional exponent is morphologically realized, assuming a late-insertion-based exoskeletal model in the language mixing scholarly literature. In language mixing, it [...] Read more.
The goal of this paper is to further our understanding of the nature of functional features in Creoles while focusing on how the functional exponent is morphologically realized, assuming a late-insertion-based exoskeletal model in the language mixing scholarly literature. In language mixing, it is observed that words are mixed within a certain syntactic domain (e.g., DP-NP, VoiceP/vP-TP, etc.). For example, in the nominal domain, a determiner D may be from one language, and N (or a stem, e.g., root + categorizer) may originate from another language. Grimstad and Riksem propose that the functional projection FP intervenes between D and N, and both D and F are from one language and N from another language. The phonological exponent of the functional features (e.g., D and F) are assumed to be language-specific (i.e., from one language), subject to the subset principle. Closer to the case that concerns us, Åfarli and Subbarao show that through long-term language contact, functional features can be reconstituted, and the functional exponent can be genuinely innovative. In our study, we propose that functional features can be themselves recombined and that Creole languages can provide evidence for feature recombination either by virtue of their hybrid grammar or through the congruent functional categories they display, using a late-insertion-based exoskeletal model. That is, functional features are not individually inherited from one language or another but can be recombined to form new functional features, allowing a novel functional exponent. To show this, we use synchronic empirical data focusing on the anterior marker -ba from Cabo Verdean Creole (CVC), Manjako (one of CVC Mande substrates), and Portuguese (CVC lexifier) to show how the recombination may operate, as CVC -ba recombines the features it inherited from its source languages while innovating. In sum, the purpose of this study is to show that feature recombination targeting the functional categories of Creole source languages can lead to innovation and that a late-insertion exoskeletal model can best account for the novel functional exponents that result from feature recombination in Creole formation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Word Formation and Language Contact: A Formal Perspective)
25 pages, 598 KiB  
Article
Why Is Inflectional Morphology Difficult to Borrow?—Distributing and Lexicalizing Plural Allomorphy in Pennsylvania Dutch
by Rose Fisher, David Natvig, Erin Pretorius, Michael T. Putnam and Katharina S. Schuhmann
Languages 2022, 7(2), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7020086 - 2 Apr 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3574
Abstract
In this article we examine the allomorphic variation found in Pennsylvania Dutch plurality. In spite of over 250 years of variable contact with English, Pennsylvania Dutch plural allomorphy has remained largely distinct from English, except for a number of loan words and borrowings [...] Read more.
In this article we examine the allomorphic variation found in Pennsylvania Dutch plurality. In spite of over 250 years of variable contact with English, Pennsylvania Dutch plural allomorphy has remained largely distinct from English, except for a number of loan words and borrowings from English. Adopting a One Feature-One Head (OFOH) Architecture that interprets licit syntactic objects as spans, we argue that plurality is distributed across different root-types, resulting in stored lexical-trees (L-spans) in the bilingual mental lexicon. We expand the traditional feature inventory to be ‘mixed,’ consisting of both semantically-grounded features as well as ‘pure’ morphological features. A key claim of our analysis is that the s-exponent in Pennsylvania Dutch shares a syntactic representation for native and English-origin roots, although it is distinct from a ‘monolingual’ English representation. Finally, we highlight how our treatment of plurality in Pennsylvania Dutch, and allomorphic variation more generally, makes predictions about the nature of bilingual morphosyntactic representations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Word Formation and Language Contact: A Formal Perspective)
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24 pages, 2226 KiB  
Article
Compound-Internal Language Mixing in American Norwegian
by Ragnhild Eik and Brita Ramsevik Riksem
Languages 2022, 7(2), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7020085 - 31 Mar 2022
Viewed by 2375
Abstract
This paper investigates cases of compounding in the heritage language American Norwegian (AmNo), where elements from Norwegian and English are mixed word-internally, e.g., hoste-candy ‘cough candy’, where the Norwegian item hoste ‘cough’ is combined with the English item candy. Norwegian and English [...] Read more.
This paper investigates cases of compounding in the heritage language American Norwegian (AmNo), where elements from Norwegian and English are mixed word-internally, e.g., hoste-candy ‘cough candy’, where the Norwegian item hoste ‘cough’ is combined with the English item candy. Norwegian and English create compounds in similar ways, but with certain important differences, e.g., the use of linking elements. Based on data from the Corpus of American Nordic Speech, we investigate the encounter of these two languages within one word and find that both Norwegian and English lexical items occur as both left-hand and right-hand members of mixed compounds. Moreover, these mixed compounds are generally accompanied by Norwegian functional items. Hence, we argue that the overall structure of mixed compounds in AmNo is Norwegian, and English lexical items may be inserted into specific positions. This is successfully analyzed in a DM/exoskeletal model of grammar. We show that our results are in line with what we expect based on previous accounts of AmNo language mixing and Norwegian compounds, and our specific focus on compound-internal mixing provides a novel perspective and new insights into both the structure of compounds and the nature of language mixing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Word Formation and Language Contact: A Formal Perspective)
24 pages, 478 KiB  
Article
Interactions of Nasal Harmony and Word-Internal Language Mixing in Paraguayan Guaraní
by Katherine Ruth Russell
Languages 2022, 7(1), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7010067 - 14 Mar 2022
Viewed by 3665
Abstract
Words containing morphemes from multiple languages offer a unique look into the grammatical systems that constrain word formation. In this paper, I introduce novel data from nasal harmony patterns in contexts involving word-internal language mixing between Paraguayan Guaraní and Spanish, collected with native [...] Read more.
Words containing morphemes from multiple languages offer a unique look into the grammatical systems that constrain word formation. In this paper, I introduce novel data from nasal harmony patterns in contexts involving word-internal language mixing between Paraguayan Guaraní and Spanish, collected with native speakers of Guaraní. I provide the first full formal constraint-based analysis of nasal harmony in Paraguayan Guaraní, then show that nasal consonants within Spanish roots trigger nasal harmony in Guaraní affixal morphology, providing evidence for an emergent case of long-distance nasal harmony in the language. I demonstrate that this data supports an analysis in which a single phonological system has access to two different strata based on language of origin, countering predictions made by some previous approaches to the phonology of language mixing. My analysis combines Cophonology Theory and Agreement by Correspondence with phase faithfulness: a root is first evaluated according to the phonological grammar associated with its lexical stratum, and is then subject to faithfulness to that output. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Word Formation and Language Contact: A Formal Perspective)
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23 pages, 4035 KiB  
Article
The Internal Structure of Spanish–German Verbalizations and the Sophistication of Bilinguals’ Linguistic Knowledge
by Antonio Fábregas and Jason Rothman
Languages 2021, 6(4), 167; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6040167 - 14 Oct 2021
Viewed by 2547
Abstract
The present article reassesses some available data regarding word-internal language mixing (Spanish–German) involving verbs and nouns. The empirical generalization is that Spanish roots can be combined with German verbalizers, but not vice versa. Data of this type highlight the sophisticated knowledge of the [...] Read more.
The present article reassesses some available data regarding word-internal language mixing (Spanish–German) involving verbs and nouns. The empirical generalization is that Spanish roots can be combined with German verbalizers, but not vice versa. Data of this type highlight the sophisticated knowledge of the underlying representations that code-switching bilinguals must have of both contributing grammars and, in turn, how these contribute to the formation of the grammar that underlies their rule-governed systems for amalgamating them. Despite agreeing with the general conclusions of González-Vilbazo and López’s 2011 study regarding what the data tell us about code-switching more generally, we refine their analysis to better capture the patterns. Our proposal is that these mixtures are the only instances where the structural and lexical properties of verbal exponents used in both languages overlap, parting ways with previous analyses based on the possible zero nature of Spanish verbalizers or the absence of conjugation classes in German. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Word Formation and Language Contact: A Formal Perspective)
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