In search of stability Pieter Muysken Centre for Language
Studies Radboud University Nijmegen
Slide 2
Contact-induced language change Languages change when their
speakers also speak another language However: A.Some languages
change faster than others B.Some components of language change
faster than others
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Stability What factors contribute to the Stability of
languages? Stability of components of language?
Slide 4
Why study stability? Links language change to cross-linguistic
priming Allows potential insight into deep time relationships
Slide 5
With thanks to the Languages in Contact group
(www.ru.nl/linc).www.ru.nl/linc Suzanne AalberseMargot van den Berg
Joshua BirchallBob Borges Rik van GijnHarald Hammarstrm Pablo
Irizarri v. SuchtelenSimon van de Kerke Gerrit Jan KootstraOlga
Krasnoukhova Linda van MeelNeele Mller Loretta OConnorKofi Yakpo
Francesca Romana MoroHlya Sahin Ana Vilacy
Slide 6
Sponsors and partners Radboud University Nijmegen European
Research Council Netherlands Organization for Research (NWO) Royal
Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW) Max Planck Institute for
Psycholinguistics Museu Goeldi Belem Leiden University Lund
University
Slide 7
LevelSpaceTimeSourceDisciplineScenario Locus Person Bilingual
individual 0-50 yrsRecordings, tests, experiments Psycho-
linguistics Brain connectivity Micro Bilingual community 20-200 yrs
Recordings, fieldwork observations Socio- linguistics Specific
contact scenarios Meso Geographical region 200- 1000 yrs
Comparative data; historical sources Historical linguistics Global
contact scenarios Macro Larger areas of the world Deep time
Typological dataAreal typology Vague or no contact scenarios
STUDIES ON CONTACT: Convergence of disciplines and scenarios?
Slide 8
Scenario the organized fashion in which multilingual speakers,
in certain social settings, deal with the various languages in
their repertoire Maintenance, shift, creation,... (Thomason &
Kaufmann)
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Contradictory earlier results shallow/person extensive
cross-linguistic priming micro/community very limited convergence
meso/language some, but limited convergence macro/deep time
extensive areal effects
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Sub-projectLevelTime range of contact Multilingual processing,
with Turkish/Dutch and Papiamentu/Dutch bilinguals
IndividualIndividual biography, 10-30 years Heritage languages in
the Netherlands, with a large range of immigrant language
communities MicroShallow time, 50-100 years Surinam, with
Amerindian, Creole, Asian and European languages MesoMiddle
long-term, up to 500 years The Amazonian fringe, with small
Amerindian languages on the western border of the Amazon MacroDeep
time, at least 5000 years
Slide 11
PapiamentuTurkish TMApre-verbal particlesverbal suffixes
Evidentialityweakly grammaticalizedstrongly grammaticalized Arg
Realizationzero marking; few prepositionsrich case marking fixed
orderfree order bos-nan no a mira nosbiz-i gor-me-di-niz-mi? 2-PL
NEG PA see 1PL1PL-AC see-PA-NEG-2PL-QDidnt you see us? - experience
with these communities; existing corpora - both show strong
internal cohesion and relatively high language maintenance -
languages are maximally different Multilingual processing:
Papiamentu and Turkish in contact with Dutch
Slide 12
Dative structures in Dutch and Papiamento Dutch: two
possibilities Prepositional object (PrepO):De vrouw geeft de bal
aan de man The woman gives the ball to the man Double object
(DblO):De vrouw geeft de man de bal The woman gives the man the
ball Papiamento: one possibility Double object (DblO):E muh ta duna
e homber e bala The woman gives the man the ball
Slide 13
Video clip description: Baseline experiment RESPONSE [In
Papiamento, using the depicted verb] * [The stimuli are movie clips
from Rochester University] DUNA
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Priming experiment RESPONSE Match? (Yes / No) 1. PRIME (DblO
condition) De jongen geeft het meisje de mand the boy gives the
girl the basket (DblO) 2. TARGET DUN A [In Papiamento, using the
depicted verb]
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Priming experiment RESPONSE Match? (Yes / No) 1. PRIME (PrepO
condition) De jongen geeft de mand aan het meisje the boy gives the
basket to the girl (PrepO) 2. TARGET DUN A [In Papiamento, using
the depicted verb]
Slide 16
Percentage Results: Baseline experiment on Aruba DO structure
is almost always used (98.2 %)
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p =.006 Percentage (De jongen geeft het meisje de sleutel)(De
jongen geeft de sleutel aan het meisje) Results: Priming experiment
on Aruba
Slide 18
B ASELINE :D ESCRIBE DITRANSITIVE MOVIE CLIPS IN P APIAMENTO (
WITHOUT PRIMING ) Papiamento speakers on Aruba: 98.2% Double Object
used; 1.8% Prepositional Object used.
Slide 19
B ASELINE :D ESCRIBE DITRANSITIVE MOVIE CLIPS IN P APIAMENTO (
WITHOUT PRIMING ) Baseline Papiamento speakers in the Netherlands:
87% Double Object used; 13% Prepositional Object used. Variation
between participants about twice as high as Aruba. Variation
stimulates / lies at the foundation of change
Slide 20
C ONCLUSIONS P RODUCTION OF DITRANSITIVES IN P APIAMENTO
General tendency to use DO-structure But more at Aruba than in NL
More variation in NL Cross-linguistic priming influenced syntactic
choices Recent exposure to other language changes ones own language
behavior Priming as a potential mechanism of contact-induced
language change Priming effect in NL influenced by age and length
of stay in NL Higher cross-language flexibility in younger people
Length of stay onset exposure to Dutch language contact
Slide 21
Next 1: world paradigm, anticipatory eye movements e bala na e
mucha muh E mucha homber ta duna e mucha muh e bala When people
hear ta duna what object will they look at?
Slide 22
Next 2: studies with other variables Amaa lo mi bay playa
Tomorrow FUT I go beach Morgen ga ik naar het strand. Tomorrow go I
to the beach.
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Ideal results shallow time Clear understanding of the
conditions on, and effects of, syntactic priming Grammatical
component factors Similarity factors Markedness factors Type of
bilingualism factors Directionality factors Priming and change
Slide 24
Methods for finding stability Experiments Meta-analysis of
language contact processes in real time Meta-analysis of historical
data for individual language families Phylogenetic modeling on
large data sets (e.g. WALS)
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Heritage language communities Spontaneous & video
elicitation paradigms: Chilean SpanishTurkish Moroccan
ArabicPapiamentu Chinese languagesSranan Creole MalaySarnami
Hindustani
Slide 26
Ideal results micro settings (heritage language communities)
Clear understanding of the degree to which and way in which
heritage languages in the Netherlands change Different linguistic
structures and typological factors, such degree of word complexity
Time depth community Age on onset, bilingual competence
Slide 27
Warao Arawakan Cariban Maroon Creole Sarnmi Javanese Sranan
Tongo Dutch, Guyanese, Portuguese, Kejia Case study: Language
diversity in Surinam: Late colonial period to now (1880 2010)
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Functions of multilingualism by domain ETHNIC SRANAN Informal:
colleagues Family: same generation Informal: friends DUTCH Symbolic
politics TV, Radio Formal politics Contact with institutions Local
politics Family:+1/ +2 generation Family:+ 1 generation National
politics Informal: friends generation Family:-1/ -2 generation
Radio Music: lovers rock Flirting Relationship Music: roots reggae,
traditional
Slide 29
Neigbournet analysis So far 81 features So far 10 languages
Kikongoearly SrananEnglish Ewegbecont. SrananDutch Gungbecont.
SaramaccanPortuguese Fongbe
Slide 30
Slide 31
Ideal results meso settings Clear understanding of the ways in
which the various languages of Suriname have influenced each other
Respective different roles of Dutch (superstrate) and Sranan
(adstrate) Different linguistic structures Typological factors
Bilingual competence factors Time depth
Slide 32
External stability factors Strength of transmission between
G(i) > (Gj) Number of L2 learners Amount of bilingual usage
(strong priming) Register differentiation Focussing versus
diffusion Language ideology and emblematic role of differences
Internal stability factors Van Hout and Muysken (1995)
Frequency (weak) -Paradigmatic organization in L(recipient)
-Inflection L(donor) +Peripherality in L(donor) N name < adv
comp conj excl neg P < A aux cop V < num Q wh < dem det
p+det poss pron pron-cl
Slide 35
Internal stability factors Frequency + Pagel, M., Atkinson, Q.
D., and Meade, A. (2007) Frequency of word-use predicts rates of
lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history. - for language
contact: donor/recipient Systemic cohesion (?) automatized
interlocking processing systems Interface grammar-pragmatics
Slide 36
Lexicon versus syntax? Traditional perspective: Items versus
rules New with Word grammar, Construction Grammar, etc. : Languages
as inventories of {items}, where {items} are form/meaning mappings
discourse markers (que that > pues then) Discursive and
perspective-taking patterns, like evidentiali">
The role of discourse 1 Syntactic elements > discourse
markers (que that > pues then) Discursive and perspective-taking
patterns, like evidentiality Topicalization and focalization orders
Personal interaction, such as clusivity distinctions and
politeness
Slide 78
The role of discourse 2 Discourse factors in bilingual speech
(a)Balkan-type bilingual contacts (b)After shift (e.g. substrate
pragmatic bleaching) (c)Bidirectional in code-switching MAT
discourse markers PAT pragmatic markers
Slide 79
Initial results Broad areal distribution for many nominal
features (Olga Krasnoukhova) Strong broad areal patterns
(east-west) for argument marking (Joshua Birchall) No areal
patterns (very scattered distribution) for TAME marking (Neele
Mueller) Very specific areal patterns for subordination (Rik van
Gijn)
Language contact 1 Prestige borrowing. A number of high
prestige languages pass on words to neighboring languages with
lower prestige. In addition to words, in some cases affixes are
passed on this way, and occasionally phonetic properties. The
vocabulary may involve political functions, (higher) numbers,
cultivated food or animal names, etc.
Slide 82
Language contact 2 Trading partner borrowing. Related to this,
and not easy to distinguish from it, may be patterns of long
distance borrowing of names for household goods, plants and
animals, and possibly words for rituals. Here there need not be a
hierarchy, and the eff3ects may be less local.
Slide 83
Language contact 3 Metatypy. In some cases a particular
language A is dominated by another one B. Typically, the speakers
of A are also fluent in B, but not vice versa, and numerically and
economically A is less strong than B. Over time, metatypy may
occur: A starts adopting more and mor structural features of B, but
not vice versa.
Slide 84
Language contact 4 Substrate. When large numbers of speakers of
A shift to language B, they may import all kinds of semantic and
pragmatic distinctions into their version of B, without overtly
transferring structural features or many words from A into B.
Slide 85
Language contact 5 Bilingual convergence. When many speakers of
two adjacent languages A and B are bilingual, there may be frequent
code-switching between the languages, and in addition, the
languages may start showing structural convergence. Depending on
the patterns of multilingual usage in the community, this
convergence may be bi-directional or even multi-directional.
Slide 86
Language contact 6 Koineization. When speakers adopt a second
language without strong native speaker input, they may simplify and
restructure their second language.
Slide 87
Stability 1 Computed on the basis of the WALS database Wichmann
Dediu
Slide 88
Stability 2 Family linked Arawakan Tupian Cariban Chibchan
Slide 89
Stability 3 Results from Surinam Heritage languages
cross-linguistic priming
Slide 90
The distribution of grammatical properties of the South
American Indigenous Languages Joshua BirchallArgument Realization
Rik van GijnSubordination Olga KrasnoukhovaNoun Phrase Neele
MllerTAME Loretta OConnorThe Chibcha Sphere Simon van de KerkeThe
Andes Ana Vilacy GalucioThe Tupian Languages Swintha DanielsenThe
Arawakan languages Pieter MuyskenLanguage contact Harald
HammarstrmAreal patterns
Slide 91
Original questions Fishing expedition [1] Which properties
characterize the SAILs? [2] Can we establish deep time relations?
[3] Can we discern patterns of areal distribution and contact? [4]
Can we distinguish between different components of grammar with
respect to [1]-[3] (in particular TAME versus argument
realization)? [5] Can we take into account specific contact
scenarios? [6] Use of phylogenetic techniques
Slide 92
Scenario dependence? Historical linguistics: looking at
lineages independently of their histories Sociolinguistics: looking
at specific processes situated in time Psycholinguistics: looking
at individual behavior in experimental settings
Slide 93
Methodological issues The better we understand the scenario,
the more precise our results Deep time: little understanding of
scenarios Deep time: very low populations, hence little
contact
Slide 94
Large historical picture 12K BP initial settlement and
dispersal 3K BP expansions Macro-GanArawakan TupianCariban
ChibchanQuechuan 2K BP dense settlement 5C BP Iberian invasions
decline, restructuring, lingua francas
Slide 95
Spread features Structural SA features general Spurious lexical
items Large scale flora, fauna, crop, ritual items Specific areal
spread of structural features and sound patterns
Slide 96
Comparative method does not yield satisfactory results when:
Time depth is too large Expansion is slow and leads to homogeneous
contact zones/continua Other processes lead to rapid lexical
replacement and grammar regeneration Subsequent contact processes
disturb linear relations
Slide 97
Sharpening our perspective? Mily Crevels/Hein van der Voort:
The Guapor- Mamor Sergio Meira: The Tupi-Carib relationship Ana
Vilacy Galucio (Belem): The Tupian languages Swintha Danielsen
(Leipzig): The Arawak languages Simon van de Kerke (Leiden): The
Andes Love Eriksen (Lund): GIS mapping of archeology, culture,
history of Amazon
Slide 98
Summary NP 1. Features which are characteristic of the Andes in
comparison with other areas: No gender distinctions in personal
pronouns No gender distinctions within the NP No classifiers No
class of inalienable nouns No nominal tense Adjectives are nouny
Modifier head word order for all types of modifiers 2. Features
which cannot be assigned to any particular area:
Inclusive/exclusive distinction in personal pronouns Number
distinction in personal pronouns Occurrence of number marking in
the NP Obligatoriness/optionality of number marking in the NP Locus
of possession marking in the NP Word order in the NP, with general
preference towards the modifier-head order with demonstratives,
possessors, and numerals. And head-modifier for adjectives
(irrespective of the word class) 3. Features which are more
characteristics of Guapore-Mamore, Northwest Amazon, Central
Amazon, Chaco: Presence of inalienable nouns (present almost
exceptionally in these 4 areas) Presence of classifiers Adjectives
are often encoded by stative verbs (exception: Chaco) Nominal tense
4. Some of the languages included in the Pie de Monte areas
(Peruvian, Ecuadorian, Bolivian) have the following 2 features,
whereas others do not: Classifiers Inalienable nouns
Slide 99
Argument Realization (coded by Joshua Birchall) Areas covered:
Constituent order Verbal marking of arguments Core and oblique case
marking Valency changing operations
Slide 100
Verb Marking: Split Intransitivity Guaran ( TUPI ; Mithun 1999)
Semantic conditioning S a =A (accusative base) a-pu I got up
e-rercalhdi. 'It will carry me off.' Inactive stems [-event, +/-
control] e-ras I am sick Coded parameters: S alignment (base),
semantics, derivational morphology Tiriy( CARIB ; Meira 1999)
Morphological conditioning S underived =O, S derived =A (ergative
base) manko_ph_taj-arina-ne I grew up not beside my mother
j-arimika-ne She raised me Detransitivized stems: t-ti-ri-ja-e I am
working (making)
Slide 101
Core Case Marking Hup ( NADAHUP ; Epps 2008) 0-marking Pronoun
affixing No inanimate marking Tih=th n-n=mah tih mh-h 3 SG
=child.mother- OBJ = REP 3 SG hit- DECL He beat his wife, its said.
(p.167) Hd-n ge-tuk-y =mah 3 PL - OBJ bite-want- SEQ = REP Having
tried to bite them, its said (p.167) Yikn myhid bi -pd-h over.there
house 3 PL make- DIST - DECL There they built a house... (p.177)
Coded parameters: S/A/O marking, affixation to free pronouns,
inanimate marking
Slide 102
Valency Change: Causatives Emerillon ( TUPI ; Rose 2003) Direct
causative bo- : intransitive base zawal o-apg-oseg o-bo-apg dog
3.I-sit- CONTIDEO 3.I- CAUS -sit The dog sitsHe set it down (p.358)
(In)direct causative okal : transitive base, causee expressed as
object of preposition -pe w-a-kom o-ka al-okal t-apdj ole-pe DEM
-a- PL 3.I-break- CAUSNSP -house1 PL. EXCL.II-for He had us break
the house (p.362) Sociative causative (e)lo-: intransitive base
de-lo-zaug 2 SG.II- CAUS -swim He made you swim (with him) Coded
parameters: strategy, transitive base, causee treatment, indirect,
sociative
Slide 103
Tense, Aspect, Mood/Modality, Evidentiality (TAME) (coded by
Neele Mller) Questionnaire: 4 sections 1.Tense 5 questions
2.Aspect8 questions 3.Mood/ Modality14 questions 4.Evidentiality8
questions Total:35 questions Applicable to: main non-negative,
non-interrogative clauses (exceptions include imperative,
purposive, irrealis)
Slide 104
TAME Questions are applicable to: morphological/ grammatical
marking i.e. affixes, clitics, particles, repetition No: adverbs,
periphrasis, time lexemes, stem substitution, verbs,... and
independent (main) non-negative, non- interrogative clauses
(exceptions include imperative, purposive, irrealis)
Slide 105
TAME Tense: absolute tenses (present, past, future) and
remoteness Lexical Aspect, but not Aktionsart, e.g. continuous
marking but not durative Mood/Modality: realis/ irrealis,
imperative, intention, frustrative etc. Evidentiality: firsthand
information, reportative, inference etc.
Slide 106
TAME Sample questions: 1.1 Is present tense marked
morphologically? 2.1 Is realis mood marked morphologically? 3.1 Is
perfective marked morphologically? 4.1 Is firsthand information
marked morphologically?
Slide 107
TAME challenges Interrelations between categories Vagueness
e.g. a perfective marker may inherently encode past Fusion Fusion
of categories, e.g. Tense and Evidentiality coded in the same
paradigm
Slide 108
Subordination strategies (coded by Rik van Gijn) Constructions
Learned [i.e. non-predictable] pairings of form [including absract
phrasal patterns] with semantic or discourse function (Goldberg
2006: 5) form-meaning pairs Independent variables semantically
defined relation types (following Cristofaro 2003) Dependent
variables formal aspects of constructions encoding these relation
types
Slide 109
Aspects covered in the questionnaire: Word order within the NP
Agreement within the NP Nominal number Noun categorization devices
Attributive possession Spatial deixis, with a focus on semantic
features in adnominal demonstratives Temporal distinctions in the
NPs.
Slide 110
Example of a question on nominal number: Question: Do nouns
have a morphologically marked singular vs. plural distinction?
Answer options: a=[no plural marking], b=[marked by a prefix],
c=[marked by a suffix], .. i=[morphological plural with no method
primary] Sub-question: What is the occurrence of nominal plural?
Answer options: a=[obligatory only on human nouns], b=[obligatory
only on animates], c=[optional on all nouns], d=[obligatory on all
nouns]