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Unidirectional Multilingual Convergence: Typological and Social Factors
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Yakpo, Kofi – International Journal of Multilingualism, 2023
Suriname represents an interesting case of unidirectional multilingual convergence in a linguistic area. The multilingual ecology of Suriname is hierarchical. The Germanic language Dutch exerts structural and lexical influence 'downwards', but other languages do not do so 'upwards' to the same degree. This study analyses the development of word…
Descriptors: Multilingualism, Language Classification, Indo European Languages, Foreign Countries
Substantive Learning Bias or an Effect of Familiarity? Comment on Culbertson, Smolensky, and Legendre (2012)
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Goldberg, Adele E. – Cognition, 2013
Typologists have long observed that there are certain distributional patterns that are not evenly distributed among the world's languages. This discussion note revisits a recent experimental investigation of one such intriguing case, so-called "universal 18", by Culbertson, Smolensky, and Legendre (2012). The authors find that adult learners are…
Descriptors: Language Classification, Adult Students, Grammar, Artificial Languages
A Large-Scale Cross-Linguistic Investigation of the Acquisition of Passive
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Armon-Lotem, Sharon; Haman, Ewa; de López, Kristine Jensen; Smoczynska, Magdalena; Yatsushiro, Kazuko; Szczerbinski, Marcin; van Hout, Angeliek; Dabašinskiene, Ineta; Gavarró, Anna; Hobbs, Erin; Kamandulyte-Merfeldiene, Laura; Katsos, Napoleon; Kunnari, Sari; Nitsiou, Chrisa; Olsen, Lone Sundahl; Parramon, Xavier; Sauerland, Uli; Torn-Leesik, Reeli; van der Lely, Heather – Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 2016
This cross-linguistic study evaluates children's understanding of passives in 11 typologically different languages: Catalan, Cypriot Greek, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, German, Hebrew, Lithuanian, and Polish. The study intends to determine whether the reported gaps between the comprehension of active and passive and between short and…
Descriptors: Language Research, Form Classes (Languages), Language Processing, Language Acquisition
Lexical and Clause-Linkage Properties of the Converbal Constructions in Sakha (Yakut)
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Petrova, Nyurguyana – ProQuest LLC, 2011
This thesis is a comprehensive study of lexical and clause-linkage properties of converbs in an underdescribed language, Sakha (aka Yakut). Following Haspelmath (1995b) a converb is defined as a non-finite verb form which mainly indicates an adverbial subordination. Converbs are attested in diverse languages of the world, but are used extensively…
Descriptors: Sentences, Semantics, Phrase Structure, Form Classes (Languages)
A Grammar of Sierra Popoluca (Soteapanec, a Mixe-Zoquean Language)
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de Jong Boudreault, Lynda J. – ProQuest LLC, 2009
This dissertation is a comprehensive description of the grammar of Sierra Popoluca (SP, aka Soteapanec), a Mixe-Zoquean language spoken by approximately 28,000 people in Veracruz, Mexico. This grammar begins with an introduction to the language, its language family, a typological overview of the language, a brief history of my fieldwork, and the…
Descriptors: Phonology, Verbs, Nouns, Syntax