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Chapter 12. Bilingual production of relative clauses in languages with opposite head-complement directionality

  • María-José Ezeizabarrena , Amaia Munarriz and Udane Loidi
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Multidisciplinary Approaches to Bilingualism in the Hispanic and Lusophone World
This chapter is in the book Multidisciplinary Approaches to Bilingualism in the Hispanic and Lusophone World

Abstract

The so-calledSR advantage, based on the observation that S(ubject) R(elatives) are easier to acquire, comprehend or process as compared to O(bject) R(elatives) in many Verb-Object languages, contrasts with the pattern attested in some languages with prenominal relative clauses and/or Object-Verb word order. This study analyses the elicited production of relative clauses by four groups of Spanish-Basque bilinguals in their two languages. Results reveal a generally (similar or) higher accuracy in SR than in OR production across groups, regardless of language specificities (VO vs. OV, prenominal vs. postnominal RCs) and participants’ language and/or age profiles. A more detailed analysis of the non-target productions revealed that adult and even six-year-old bilinguals make use of language specific cues to distinguish SRs and ORs in their two languages discarding any crosslinguistic influence in this particular contact situation.

Abstract

The so-calledSR advantage, based on the observation that S(ubject) R(elatives) are easier to acquire, comprehend or process as compared to O(bject) R(elatives) in many Verb-Object languages, contrasts with the pattern attested in some languages with prenominal relative clauses and/or Object-Verb word order. This study analyses the elicited production of relative clauses by four groups of Spanish-Basque bilinguals in their two languages. Results reveal a generally (similar or) higher accuracy in SR than in OR production across groups, regardless of language specificities (VO vs. OV, prenominal vs. postnominal RCs) and participants’ language and/or age profiles. A more detailed analysis of the non-target productions revealed that adult and even six-year-old bilinguals make use of language specific cues to distinguish SRs and ORs in their two languages discarding any crosslinguistic influence in this particular contact situation.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  5. Chapter 2. L1 effects as manifestations of individual differences in the L2 acquisition of the Spanish tense-aspect-system 9
  6. Chapter 3. The Typological Primacy Model and bilingual types 41
  7. Chapter 4. Knowledge of mood in internal and external interface contexts in Spanish heritage speakers in the Netherlands 67
  8. Chapter 5. Null objects with and without bilingualism in the Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking world 95
  9. Chapter 6. The Compounding Parameter and L2 acquisition 123
  10. Chapter 7. Prosodic transfer among Spanish-K’ichee’ bilinguals 149
  11. Chapter 8. Spatial language and cognition among the last Ixcatec-Spanish bilinguals (Mexico) 175
  12. Chapter 9. Experimentally inducing Spanish-English code-switching 211
  13. Chapter 10. The influence of structural distance in cross-linguistic transfer 235
  14. Chapter 11. Obliteration after Vocabulary Insertion 261
  15. Chapter 12. Bilingual production of relative clauses in languages with opposite head-complement directionality 283
  16. Chapter 13. The global and the local 313
  17. Index 325
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.13.12eze

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  5. Chapter 2. L1 effects as manifestations of individual differences in the L2 acquisition of the Spanish tense-aspect-system 9
  6. Chapter 3. The Typological Primacy Model and bilingual types 41
  7. Chapter 4. Knowledge of mood in internal and external interface contexts in Spanish heritage speakers in the Netherlands 67
  8. Chapter 5. Null objects with and without bilingualism in the Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking world 95
  9. Chapter 6. The Compounding Parameter and L2 acquisition 123
  10. Chapter 7. Prosodic transfer among Spanish-K’ichee’ bilinguals 149
  11. Chapter 8. Spatial language and cognition among the last Ixcatec-Spanish bilinguals (Mexico) 175
  12. Chapter 9. Experimentally inducing Spanish-English code-switching 211
  13. Chapter 10. The influence of structural distance in cross-linguistic transfer 235
  14. Chapter 11. Obliteration after Vocabulary Insertion 261
  15. Chapter 12. Bilingual production of relative clauses in languages with opposite head-complement directionality 283
  16. Chapter 13. The global and the local 313
  17. Index 325
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