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Interface ingredients of dialect design

Bi-x, socio-syntax of development, and the grammar of Cypriot Greek
  • Kleanthes K. Grohmann and Evelina Leivada
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Towards a Biolinguistic Understanding of Grammar
This chapter is in the book Towards a Biolinguistic Understanding of Grammar

Abstract

This paper addresses the difficulty of investigating language development in a non-codified linguistic system, Cypriot Greek, the local dialect spoken natively by Greek Cypriots whose official language is Standard Modern Greek, which in turn is not natively acquired by the population. The situation is further complicated by a lack of consensus with respect to the status of bi(dia)lectism vs. bilingualism as well as to which are the varieties that underlie these terms. Here the cover term “bi-x” is introduced. Aiming to uncover the dialect design in the case of Cyprus, the Socio-Syntax of Development Hypothesis brings together different factors that may affect the acquisition of direct object clitic placement and relates the grammar of Cypriot Greek with the continuum that informs the process of first language acquisition in a dialectal context. Establishing the connection between biolinguistic implications behind language development and the dialect design, the call behind the present discussion of the acquisition of clitic placement in Cypriot Greek is to approach the point where language-external factors meet – and affect – the way language is put to use through choosing one out of a range of gradient syntactic variants that belong to different varieties existing in a continuum.

Abstract

This paper addresses the difficulty of investigating language development in a non-codified linguistic system, Cypriot Greek, the local dialect spoken natively by Greek Cypriots whose official language is Standard Modern Greek, which in turn is not natively acquired by the population. The situation is further complicated by a lack of consensus with respect to the status of bi(dia)lectism vs. bilingualism as well as to which are the varieties that underlie these terms. Here the cover term “bi-x” is introduced. Aiming to uncover the dialect design in the case of Cyprus, the Socio-Syntax of Development Hypothesis brings together different factors that may affect the acquisition of direct object clitic placement and relates the grammar of Cypriot Greek with the continuum that informs the process of first language acquisition in a dialectal context. Establishing the connection between biolinguistic implications behind language development and the dialect design, the call behind the present discussion of the acquisition of clitic placement in Cypriot Greek is to approach the point where language-external factors meet – and affect – the way language is put to use through choosing one out of a range of gradient syntactic variants that belong to different varieties existing in a continuum.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Interfaces in a biolinguistic perspective 1
  4. Part I. Syntax, semantics
  5. Single cycle syntax and a constraint on quantifier lowering 13
  6. A constraint on remnant movement 31
  7. Language and conceptual reanalysis 57
  8. Part II. Features and interfaces
  9. Decomposing force 89
  10. Function without content 117
  11. The association of sound with meaning 141
  12. Part III. Phonology, syntax
  13. Towards a bottom-up approach to phonological typology 169
  14. The emergence of phonological forms 193
  15. Part IV. Language development
  16. Non-native acquisition and language design 217
  17. Interface ingredients of dialect design 239
  18. Part V. Experimental studies
  19. What sign languages show 265
  20. Indeterminacy and coercion effects 277
  21. Computation with doubling constituents 303
  22. Concealed reference-set computation 339
  23. Index 363
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.194.11gro

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Interfaces in a biolinguistic perspective 1
  4. Part I. Syntax, semantics
  5. Single cycle syntax and a constraint on quantifier lowering 13
  6. A constraint on remnant movement 31
  7. Language and conceptual reanalysis 57
  8. Part II. Features and interfaces
  9. Decomposing force 89
  10. Function without content 117
  11. The association of sound with meaning 141
  12. Part III. Phonology, syntax
  13. Towards a bottom-up approach to phonological typology 169
  14. The emergence of phonological forms 193
  15. Part IV. Language development
  16. Non-native acquisition and language design 217
  17. Interface ingredients of dialect design 239
  18. Part V. Experimental studies
  19. What sign languages show 265
  20. Indeterminacy and coercion effects 277
  21. Computation with doubling constituents 303
  22. Concealed reference-set computation 339
  23. Index 363
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