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Code-switching in a network

Code-switching in a network. Richard Hudson Bangor February 2008. Linguists and psycholinguists. Different worlds, no shared models. We need a bridge. linguists. psycho-linguists. Lingualism. Monolingualism even monolinguals know about other languages Bilingualism Multilingualism

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Code-switching in a network

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  1. Code-switching in a network Richard Hudson Bangor February 2008

  2. Linguists and psycholinguists Different worlds, no shared models We need a bridge. linguists psycho-linguists

  3. Lingualism • Monolingualism • even monolinguals know about other languages • Bilingualism • Multilingualism • World record for societal multilingualism = • Hyperpolyglottism • World record for individual multilingualism = ? 6 72? ?

  4. Theory • How do monolinguals record knowledge about languages? • e.g. ‘Latin is dead’ • How do linguals keep their languages separate? • e.g. ‘Dog is English, ci is Welsh’ • How do these facts relate to language-structure?

  5. Languages in the mind • Each named language is a concept. • It’s part of general knowledge. • General knowledge is a network of concepts. • So each named language is a node. • And its properties are links to other nodes.

  6. ‘Latin is dead’ default spoken by language community ‘isa’ 0 Latin exception

  7. Word Grammar • Language competence is a network too. • not a network of lexical items or constructions • nodes have no internal structure. • It’s just our (ordinary) knowledge of words. • So (1) it has no boundary. • So (2) activation spreads freely between language and non-language.

  8. Spreading activation • Language must be a network because it carries spreading activation. • Evidence: • Priming: word 1 primes word 2 if they are network neighbours. • Speech errors: the substituted word is activated by accident from the target or context.

  9. A priming experiment

  10. On the screen: no priming lorry fon nurse Delay: 0.9 0.8 0.8 Non-word Word

  11. Nurse primes doctor. doctor fon nurse Delay: 0.9 0.8 0.6 Non-word Word

  12. Why?

  13. Priming at all levels Words prime network neighbours in: • Phonology: verse primes nurse (but only briefly) • Morphology: hedges primes hedge for longer than pledge does. • Syntax: Vlad brought a book to Boris primes other V + DO + PP sentences • Semantics: nurse primes doctor.

  14. How activation spreads • Blindly – hence errors. • In any direction, depending on the target. • Speaking or listening or analysing or … • Randomly, so weak activation has a weak effect (rather than no effect) • because activation converges from many directions.

  15. No boundaries • Activation flows freely between language and non-language • Even speech errors may have non-linguistic causes • E.g. (By a computer) Do you have a • Choice of language is another example. computer? screwdriver?

  16. Languages in a network • Each word has (‘belongs to’) a language. • Each language has a prototypical ‘word’. • Prototypical words are the domain of phonology.

  17. Welsh and English language Welsh English language language English-word Welsh-word ci thanks diolch dog

  18. A language isn’t a box. Welsh English ci diolch dog thanks

  19. Pro network, con boxes • Translation equivalents in different languages prime one another. • e.g. ci primes dog. • So they must share meaning. • Likewise for phonological or graphological priming. • e.g. ci primes key or cipher.

  20. Cross-language links in a network Welsh-word noun English-word ci dog key sound meaning sound meaning /ki:/

  21. Moreover, L1 and L2 are unequal • Often, L2 was learned via L1 • e.g. ‘Ci means dog’ • So some L2 words are linked directly to L1 words by a ‘translation’ relation, but not vice versa. • This explains why L2 > L1 translation is faster and easier than L1 > L2 (Kroll & Dussias 2004). • But in time L2 becomes independent of L1.

  22. The asymmetry of L1 and L2 L2-word L1-word translation ci dog meaning

  23. Language choice • Activation from meaning activates words in bothlanguages. • So how does a bilingual stick to one language when ‘in monolingual mode’? • Two suggestions so far (Costa 2004): Non-target language activation is: • inhibited. • ignored. • Both assume an external controller.

  24. Code-switching with external control Welsh-word English-word suppress or ignore ci dog sound sound meaning meaning /ki:/ /dg/ winner?

  25. External control? • Who is the external controller? • a ‘homunculus’? • problem: infinite regress. • What does ‘he’ control? • just language use? • If possible, avoid special external controls.

  26. Code-switching with internal control Welsh-word English-word ci dog sound sound meaning meaning /ki:/ /dg/ winner?

  27. Two kinds of code-switching • Situational or intra-sentential. • Bilingual speakers can stick to one language when the situation requires it • e.g. when speaking to a monolingual • How do they do it? • The situation keeps the ‘required language’ node active.

  28. Speaking to a Welsh speaker language spoken by Welsh English Welsh speakers language-of language-of English-word Welsh-word • addressee ci dog current interaction

  29. Intra-sentential code-mixing • Used only when speaking to bilinguals. • Bilinguals belong to both communities. • So the situation activates both languages. • e.g. (Eppler 2004) • und heuer fahren wir nach Harrogatefor a long-es weekend • die do-'nt mind aber I do .

  30. Speaking to a Welsh-English bilingual spoken by spoken by English speakers English Welsh speakers Welsh language-of language-of English-word Welsh-word • addressee dog ci current interaction

  31. Random choice • Suppose each language is equally active. • So for each word each language is equally likely: • like tossing a coin, where each toss is independent of the previous one: • A A B A B B A A A B B A B B • But that’s not how code-mixing works.

  32. Inertia prevails • Words tend strongly to be in the same language if they are: • adjacent or • linked by a syntactic dependency. • Why does adjacency matter? • the previous language is still most active • Why does dependency matter? • the dependency link carries activation.

  33. Why does the language tend to stay the same? a concept Lang B Lang A language meaning word 1 word 2 word 3 ? ? dependent or head

  34. Conclusion • Language choice is governed by activation of: • a ‘required language’ node to match the addressee’s social category • the previous word • a syntactically related word • Language is integrated into the network of general knowledge.

  35. The bridge is growing Computer model with numbers linguistics psycho-linguistics

  36. Diolch yn fawr • For this slide show: www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/talks.htm#bangor • For more about hyperpolyglots etc: …dick/polyglotism/home.htm • For more about Word Grammar: …dick/wg.htm

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