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Language switching constraints: more than syntax? Data from Media Lengua*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 April 2016
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between intra-sentential codeswitching restrictions after subject pronouns, negative elements, and interrogatives and language-specific syntactic structures. Data are presented from two languages that have non-cognate lexicons but share identical phrase structure and syntactic mechanisms and exactly the same grammatical morphemes except for pronouns, negators, and interrogative words. The languages are the Quichua of Imbabura province, Ecuador and Ecuadorian Media Lengua (ML), consisting of Quichua morphosyntax with Spanish-derived lexical roots. Bilingual participants carried out un-timed acceptability judgment and language-identification tasks and concurrent memory-loaded repetition on utterances in Quichua, ML, and various mixtures of Quichua and ML. The acceptability and classification data show a main effect for category of single-word switches (significant differences for lexical vs. interrogative, negative, and for acceptability, pronoun) and repetition data show significant differences between lexical vs. interrogatives and negators. Third-person pronouns (which require an explicit antecedent) also differ significantly from lexical items. Logical-semantic factors may contribute to code-switching restrictions.
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- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016
Footnotes
Supplementary material can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1366728916000468
I am grateful to Gabriel Cachimuel, José María Casco, Rafael Cacuango, Marisol Calapaqui, Antonio Maldonado, Enrique Pijal, Francisco Otavalo, and their families for assistance and friendship during the data collection and experimental procedures. Pieter Muysken's pioneering scholarship inspired me to pursue the study of Media Lengua, and Jorge Gómez Rendón helped me establish my first contacts in the region. Giuli Dussias and Mike Putnam offered many helpful suggestions to improve this study, and the anonymous BLC reviewers provided immensely useful feedback and challenges. Any issues that remain unresolved are my responsibility alone. The real heroes are the dozens of Imbabureños who have graciously shared their homes and their languages with me. Diusilupai / Yupaychani.
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