Search Results (1,939)

According to recent estimates, France is home to approximately 700,000 individuals of Turkish origin, encompassing first-, second-, and third-generation immigrants. Scholars have extensively investigated the language practices, maintenance, and shift, as well as the cultural practices and identity construction, of Turkish migrant families in France, employing both sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic approaches. However, the majority of these studies have examined family members in isolation, focusing separately on young children, adolescents, or parents. The present study aims to investigate language use, choice, and maintenance, as well as identity construction, across three generations of Turkish immigrants in France. Data were collected from two Turkish families, one in the Rouen region and the other in the Paris region: the first family consists of a father, his daughter, and his granddaughter, while the second family includes a mother, her daughter, and her granddaughter. To do this, we used questionnaires and semi-structured interviews tailored to each of the three generations. The data were subsequently analyzed through content analysis. The paper addresses the following interconnected research questions: (i) What intergenerational differences exist within the same family regarding language use and choice, as well as linguistic competence in L1 (Turkish) and L2 (French)? (ii) How do bilinguals’ language choices and usage relate to the construction of family members’ identities? (iii) Is there evidence of language attrition among third-generation immigrants? (iv) Is there evidence of an ongoing language shift toward L2 within Turkish families? The findings indicate robust maintenance of Turkish, even among the third generation. While the first generation predominantly uses Turkish, both the second and third generations identify themselves as bilingual and exhibit positive attitudes toward both languages. Full article

We propose a new account of the change from -Vsis, -Vzis to -Vi̯s in Modern Lesbian, as well as of related changes in other Northern Greek dialects, arguing that they are special cases of the loss of unstressed high vowels. Our analysis depends on the new understanding of the nature of sound change that nonlinear phonology and Optimality Theory jointly make available. Full article

The Greek dialects of Lesvos and Adrianople (present-day Edirne) during the time of the Ottoman Empire have much in common. Both are northern dialects and show considerable influence from Turkish; moreover, both were documented in the early 20th century, before the fall of the Ottoman Empire, by Kretschmer, in 1905, for Lesvos and by Ronzevalle, in 1911, for Adrianople. A comparative look at the two dialects reveals deep penetration of Turkish into their respective lexicons, with consequences for their phonology, and for Adrianople, into aspects of its grammar too. I focus here on a phonological matter, namely the conditions under which voiced stops (D) occur. Kretschmer’s song recordings from Lesvos show D only after full nasals (N), i.e., in ND clusters, while later documentation, Newton 1972, shows no nasality, with only D as the realization, even in words with ND earlier. Adrianople Greek shows intervocalic D but also ND clusters, only in Turkish loans and always matching the consonantism of the Turkish source; such is the case too in ND/D variation in rebetika songs from Istanbul. This suggests that the issue really involves a kind of dialect mixing, and it is argued that this holds even for Lesvos, and even for sociolinguistically coded variation. Thus, bringing Adrianople Greek into consideration clarifies the nature of voiced stop realizations in Lesvos phonology. Full article

This article analyses how three leading female figures of the European far right—Marine Le Pen (France), Giorgia Meloni (Italy), and Alice Weidel (Germany)—construct populist discourse on X (formerly Twitter) during recent high-stakes election campaigns. The analysis is based on a corpus of 1053 posts published in the month preceding the 2022 French presidential elections, the 2022 Italian general elections, and the 2025 German federal elections. Methodologically, it combines content analysis (operationalised through a codebook developed in Atlas.ti v23), Critical Discourse Analysis, and comparative analysis to identify dominant issues, campaign strategies, and underlying discursive structures. Adopting a corpus-pragmatic perspective, the study undertakes a pragmatic examination of implicit meaning—presupposition, implication, and implicature—to show how meaning is conveyed in authentic, digitally mediated political data. The findings reveal a shared populist communicative matrix centred on polarisation, simplification, and emotional mobilisation, alongside important national variations. Le Pen and Meloni primarily construct an “internal traitor” among political elites, linking economic and social grievances to elite failure. In contrast, Weidel recentres migration and security, portraying migrants as a direct threat and mainstream parties as responsible for citizens’ insecurity. The article highlights the need for further research on gender and leadership in the contemporary European far right. Full article

This paper focuses on historical and new linguistic minorities in educational contexts in Italy. It argues that, despite increasing multilingualism, the Italian educational system remains shaped by a persistent monolingual ideology. Drawing on data from two research projects, La classe plurilingue (2018–2020) and MinEdu—Supporting Minority Languages in Educational Contexts (2023–2026), it examines how different forms of multilingualism, both of which can be framed within a heritage language profile, are managed across educational settings. The analysis highlights a fundamental asymmetry: while historical minority languages are institutionally recognized but internally contested (particularly with respect to standardization), languages associated with migration are largely marginalized. The paper argues that both phenomena can be understood within a broader ideological framework described as “monolingualism within multilingualism”, and calls for a rethinking of language education policies in Italy. Full article

Language vitality scales are commonly used in language documentation, yet assumptions behind labels such as “threatened” and “endangered” are often taken for granted. This study adopts a computational-based approach to disciplinary discourse analysis, examining how linguists deploy “threatened” and “endangered,” terms that appear on vitality scales, across scholarly discourse. We compared vocabulary and thematic content in “threatened” and “endangered” texts using TF-IDF, topic modeling, and similarity metrics, with other linguistic terms providing contextual benchmarks. Keyword analysis shows that “threatened” and “endangered” index related but distinct orientations within linguistic research. Writing on “endangered” languages more frequently centers on documentation, archiving, and institutional research practices, while writing on “threatened” languages places greater emphasis on language vitality and ongoing sociolinguistic change. The magnitude of their difference is contextualized by contrasting “threatened” and “endangered” with other conceptual pairs within linguistics and beyond. The findings suggest that “threatened” and “endangered”, which are consecutive labels on the Language Endangerment Index, are more closely related than distinct theoretical constructs but less related than near-overlapping linguistic terms. Overall, the results demonstrate that these terms, as deployed in disciplinary practice, capture systematic distinctions in how linguistic situations are understood. Methodologically, this paper shows how computational analysis can be used as a reflexive research tool that enables us to better understand disciplinary discourse. Full article

Can listeners whose native language lacks contrastive lexical stress identify stress in an unfamiliar language? We addressed this question with native Mandarin Chinese listeners, whose L1 marks lexical contrasts with tone, and European Portuguese (EP), whose stress system relies mainly on vowel-quality and durational cues. Twenty listeners with no knowledge of Portuguese heard 30 trisyllabic EP words and indicated, for each word, which syllable sounded most prominent. Overall accuracy was modestly but reliably above chance (46.9%; chance = 33.3%), but it was carried almost entirely by words with initial (antepenultimate) stress, and responses showed a strong overall preference for the initial syllable. Once this positional bias was modeled explicitly, relative duration was the only reliable acoustic predictor of listeners’ responses, with an additional contribution of syllable weight, whereas F0 and intensity showed no independent effects; the durational effect was robust to controlling for intrinsic vowel duration. These findings indicate partial, but clearly non-native-like, sensitivity to EP prominence: listeners recruited duration, a prominence cue productive in Mandarin and the main lexical cue remaining in EP for listeners who cannot exploit vowel-quality contrasts, while apparently disregarding F0, which their L1 binds to lexical tone. The results bear on the debate about prominence in Mandarin and show, methodologically, that positional response biases must be modeled before cue weighting can be interpreted. Full article

This study examines the use of function words in adult individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) compared to typically developing (TD) speakers, focusing on spontaneous speech in Catalan and Spanish. The aim is to assess both quantitative and qualitative aspects of function word production and to explore whether WS is associated with distinct grammatical processing patterns. The corpus consisted of 20 five-minute transcripts, equally divided by language (Catalan/Spanish) and group (WS/TD). Analyses included counts of function word categories, error types, and mean length of utterance in morphemes (MLUm). Statistical procedures (t-tests, ANOVA, Mann–Whitney tests, and MANOVA with bootstrapping) were applied depending on distributional assumptions. Results showed significant differences between WS and TD groups in several categories, including prepositions, conjunctions, definite articles, numerals, adverbs, and relative pronouns, with large effect sizes in some cases. MLUm was also significantly lower in the WS group. In contrast, no significant effects of language or interaction between language and group were found. These findings indicate that WS has a robust impact on grammatical usage, particularly affecting function words, independently of language. On the whole, the results support the view that WS is associated with atypical linguistic profiles and contribute cross-linguistic evidence from Romance languages, highlighting the need for further research on language processing in this population. Full article

This paper investigates variation on the level of lexis in Austrian German across registers with an apparent-time approach, drawing on data from a large-scale online survey of lexical variation conducted across Austria between 2021 and 2023, comprising 45 lexical concepts elicited from over 1900 respondents. We utilize Shannon entropy as a proxy to model lexical diversity across different registers in young and old speakers and investigate the influence of area, age group, phenomenon and register. We use ANOVA, multi-dimensional scaling and generalized additive modelling and find that the lexical concept under investigation exerts by far the strongest influence on lexical diversity, followed by a small but significant regional effect—one that, however, disappears when modelled at the level of individual localities rather than aggregated regions. While area influences lexical diversity, we do not find evidence of clearly distinguished lexical isoglosses in our data but rather broad east–west distinctions. While we find more diversity in older speakers in their nonstandard, we observe more pronounced east–west distinctions in younger speakers. We interpret this as a levelling of standard and nonstandard forms in younger speakers but along broader regional lines. This is corroborated by the reduced diversity in younger speakers in nonstandard varieties but slightly higher diversity in standard registers, pointing towards a levelling process. Full article

LENA Start^TM is a community-based parent education program designed to promote early language development in children from birth to 3 years of age. In this study, the contributions of three intervention components—home recordings, individualized feedback, and parent education—were examined over 10 weeks across three groups: LENA Start^TM program (n = 347), Recordings + Feedback (n = 66), and Recordings Only (n = 51). Linear mixed-effects models were used to examine change over time, group differences, and group differences in trajectories while accounting for baseline values and child characteristics. There were improvements in child language, as measured by the parent-reported LENA^® Developmental Snapshot, across measurement periods for all groups, whereas parent-reported confidence and knowledge survey scores increased only for families participating in the LENA Start^TM program. Families receiving feedback (LENA Start^TM and Recordings + Feedback) reported greater increases in reading time than families completing recordings alone. After accounting for baseline values, no overall group differences or differences in trajectories were observed in the number of adult words, conversational turns, or child vocalizations as measured by LENA^® recordings. These findings suggest that different components of LENA-based interventions may influence distinct outcomes and underscore the importance of evaluating parent language interventions using multiple measures, extending beyond quantitative indicators of parent–child talk. Full article

Adults, when talking to infants, adjust their communication across several dimensions, including acoustic, linguistic, and gestural characteristics. However, our knowledge of how these dimensions covary in this register adjustment remains limited. Our objective was to analyze the linguistic elements, gestures and acoustic features (speech rate, vowel space, prosody) of storytelling directed to 6-month-old infants in a multidimensional way. The storytelling of 92 mothers to their own children was investigated and compared to their communication with other adults. We analyzed the acoustic features, gestures, and the linguistic construction of their storytelling. Our results have shown that pointing and showing gestures were more common in infant-directed storytelling, just as interactive expressions unrelated to the story were. The correlation tests across dimensions revealed that infant-directed communication is multidimensional. The cross-dimensional analyses demonstrated that infant-directed communication, compared to adult-directed communication, exhibited more systematic multidimensional coordination. Mothers who used more gestures and interactive elements in their infant-directed communication also tended to modify the acoustic characteristics of their speech to a greater extent relative to their adult-directed speech. Full article

This article examines heritage language transmission within Chinese migrant families in Italy, focussing on the role of Family Language Policy and the interplay between standard (Putonghua) and non-standard local varieties (fangyan). Drawing on semi-structured interviews with six families and the primary school teachers of their children (aged 6–8), the study adopts a multi-perspective design to explore how reported language practices, beliefs, and attitudes interact across family and school domains. Findings indicate a predominant shift towards Putonghua as the primary heritage language, often at the expense of fangyan, which tends to be marginalised by parents or reported as being retained only as passive competence among children. This shift reflects practical considerations and evaluative orientations related to prestige, usefulness, and standardisation. Variation across families shows that alternative orientations persist, with one family valuing fangyan for intergenerational continuity. Teachers’ perspectives further suggest a limited awareness of internal linguistic diversity within the student population. The convergence of family-driven shifts and school-based perceptions may contribute to processes of increasing standardisation in the representation and transmission of heritage varieties. This article contributes to research on heritage language maintenance by offering contextually situated insights into how the interplay between social actors and contextual factors may shape linguistic diversity within diasporic communities. Full article

This study investigates the use of the discourse marker cioè in the Italian speech of first- and second-generation migrants living in Naples, focusing on frequency, phonetic realization, pragmatic functions, and syntactic position. While previous research on discourse markers in Italian as a second language has primarily addressed their functional development, their phonetic realization—especially in contact with regional varieties—remains largely unexplored. The analysis is based on a corpus of sociolinguistic interviews collected within the HELLO Campania! Project and includes Sri Lankan and Filipino speakers, compared with a control group of native Neapolitan speakers. Quantitative analyses reveal clear generational differences: first-generation speakers show low frequencies and limited functional range, whereas second-generation speakers display native-like frequency and distribution. Crucially, results show that migrants not only acquire cioè at a functional level but also reproduce locally salient phonetic variants, including variety-specific patterns of phonetic reduction, i.e., [tʃɛ] and [ʃɛ]. These findings suggest that linguistic integration operates across multiple levels and that discourse markers are sensitive sites of sociophonetic accommodation. The study contributes to research on Italian L2 and language contact by highlighting the role of regional phonetic patterns in shaping the acquisition of high-frequency pragmatic items. Full article

This paper is concerned with a peculiar asymmetry between single and multiple argument ellipsis in Japanese: ellipsis of a single argument is sensitive to syntactic constraints and LF interpretive effects, whereas multiple argument ellipsis is not. We point out that argument ellipsis and topicalization are parallel in this respect: while single topicalization obeys syntactic constraints and exhibits LF interpretive effects, multiple topicalization does not. Following Agbayani and Ishii’s (2023) proposal that multiple topicalization involves prosodic topicalization at PF, we argue that while single argument ellipsis involves syntactic topicalization followed by topic deletion (Fujiwara, 2020, 2022; Mizuno, 2025), multiple argument ellipsis involves prosodic topicalization. We then propose the Universal Uniqueness Principle, which enforces “uniqueness” for any application of movement, and demonstrate that this principle, coupled with the Earliness Principle (Pesetsky, 1989), accounts for asymmetries with single and multiple argument ellipsis/topicalization in relation to the levels where topicalization occurs. We argue that cross-linguistic differences in “uniqueness” phenomena result from different properties of the syntax–prosody mapping, not from a “uniqueness” macro-parameter (Fukui, 1999), providing support for the Uniformity Hypothesis (Chomsky, 2001) and the Externalization Parameter (Chomsky, 2010; Berwick & Chomsky, 2011). Full article