Projects / Programmes
Linguistic transfer in the pragmatic domain: Slovenian speakers in a multilingual environment
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.05.02 |
Humanities |
Linguistics |
Theoretical and applied linguistics |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 6.02 |
Humanities |
Languages and Literature |
multilingualism, pragmatic reasoning, language acquisition, grammatical number, pragmatic transfer
Researchers (8)
Organisations (2)
Abstract
The proposed research is a pioneering exploration of a previously uncharted area of multilingual language acquisition, which concerns linguistic transfer in the pragmatic domain. The research falls at the intersection of the fields of experimental pragmatics, multilingualism and language acquisition by children and adults. It is part of a larger research program aiming to identify points of cross-linguistic diversion that affect pragmatic meaning. We investigate the impact of language variation on bilingual acquisition and beneficially explore the specifics of the Slovenian language to probe for cases of transfer, especially cases of negative transfer in the pragmatic domain, in bilingual populations. The first part of the research is related to pragmatic enrichment with plural morphology. Recent explorations in formal pragmatics provide ample argumentation to the claim that plural nominal morphology does not lexically encode plurality but rather triggers a pragmatic plurality inference. This claim is based on the observation that plural nominal interpretations do not always entail a reference to more than one individual. Such configurations involve bare plurals in the scope of negation or existentially quantified plural nominals in the scope of a universal quantifier. A theory of semantic non-markedness of the plural has to be complemented by a pragmatic theory accounting for the possibility of a plurality inference. Using Heim’s (1991) principle Maximize Presupposition, Sauerland (2008) suggests to derive the plurality inference as an anti-singularity implicated presupposition. Languages, like Slovenian, which morphologically differentiate not only between singular and plural but among singular, dual, and plural, require that the content of the plurality inference is even more complex. Dual morphology presupposes that the number of elements in the set denoted by the noun is two. In turn, the plural form triggers not only an anti-singularity but also an anti-duality implicated presupposition. It follows then the plural morphology in Slovenian and a language like English with no dual in the number paradigm, carry different pragmatic inferences (at least three, or at least two relevant objects, respectively). This is the kind of case which opens the door for negative transfer in bilingual speakers. Our experimental work will be based on the number paradigm in Slovenian-Italian and Slovenian-English acquisition. Negative transfer will be traced if bilingual speakers associate Italian/English plural morphology with an at least three-reading, or Slovenian plural morphology with an at least two-reading. For this study we will collect data from i) early bilingual Slovenian-Italian speakers from the Friuli-Venezia region, ii) L2 Slovenian learners of Italian and iii) L2-Slovenian learners of English. The bilingual groups will be compared to respective monolingual populations matched in age and socio-economic status. The second planned series of behavioral experiments compare the monolingual and bilingual comprehension of vague amount modifiers precej and veliko, which are counterparts of many. We will investigate whether speakers of languages which do not employ the Slovenian type of fine-grained distinction among amount words are subject to transfer if they acquire Slovenian as L2. Negative transfer will be detected if precej and veliko are used synonymously when being explicitly available as linguistic alternatives and their meaning, respectively, is not pragmatically enriched with (non)-stereotypical inferences. We target both child and adult bilingual populations which have different L1s. In addition, we will study the effect of age as a potential factor for negative transfer. The bilingual participants will be selected among immigrants who have stayed for at least 5 years in Slovenia. They will be compared to native Slovenian speakers matched by age and socio-economic status.
