Neurocognitive modeling of the two language varieties in Arabic Diglossia
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Reem Khamis-Dakwar
Abstract
Diglossia is one distinctive feature of Arabic and other languages, such as Swiss-German (Ferguson 1959). Neurocognitive studies aiming to understand the neural mechanisms of diglossia in general, and Arabic diglossia in particular, are sparse. This paper provides a framework for discussing neurophysiological approaches to questions concerning the representation and processing of languages exhibiting diglossia in the brains of native speakers, as well as understanding the potential contribution of such approaches for applied linguistics and teaching Arabic as a first or second language. The first section introduces electroencephalography (EEG), and some event-related potentials (ERPs) known to correlate with aspects of language processing. The second section reviews neurophysiological studies of language representation and processing in Arabic diglossia to date. Finally, we discuss some potential contributions of neurophysiological studies to the fields of Arabic linguistics, applied linguistics and teaching Arabic. The review points to separateness of the two lexicons in Arabic diglossia and highlights the need for further neurophysoplogiocal and behavioral studies to revisit the suggested model of mental representation in diglossia.
Abstract
Diglossia is one distinctive feature of Arabic and other languages, such as Swiss-German (Ferguson 1959). Neurocognitive studies aiming to understand the neural mechanisms of diglossia in general, and Arabic diglossia in particular, are sparse. This paper provides a framework for discussing neurophysiological approaches to questions concerning the representation and processing of languages exhibiting diglossia in the brains of native speakers, as well as understanding the potential contribution of such approaches for applied linguistics and teaching Arabic as a first or second language. The first section introduces electroencephalography (EEG), and some event-related potentials (ERPs) known to correlate with aspects of language processing. The second section reviews neurophysiological studies of language representation and processing in Arabic diglossia to date. Finally, we discuss some potential contributions of neurophysiological studies to the fields of Arabic linguistics, applied linguistics and teaching Arabic. The review points to separateness of the two lexicons in Arabic diglossia and highlights the need for further neurophysoplogiocal and behavioral studies to revisit the suggested model of mental representation in diglossia.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The development of future participles and future tense markers from motion predicates 9
- Yod-dropping in b-imperfect verb forms in Amman 29
-
Syntax
- Prosodic constituency and locality in Levantine Arabic 47
- Negation and the subject position in San’ani Arabic 75
- Splitting Neg: 91
- Multiple agreement in Arabic 121
- Cyclic AGREE derives restrictions on cliticization in classical Arabic 135
-
Phonology
- Secondary stress exist in Cairene Arabic? 163
- Paradoxical paradigms! Evidence from Lebanese Arabic phonology 185
-
Sociolinguistics
- The Arabic of Bukhara 213
-
Semantic/Pragmatics
- Terms of endearment and anger in Levantine Arabic 243
-
Language acquisition
- On the L1 development of final consonant clusters in Cairene Arabic 263
-
Neurolinguistics
- Neurocognitive modeling of the two language varieties in Arabic Diglossia 285
- Index 303
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- The development of future participles and future tense markers from motion predicates 9
- Yod-dropping in b-imperfect verb forms in Amman 29
-
Syntax
- Prosodic constituency and locality in Levantine Arabic 47
- Negation and the subject position in San’ani Arabic 75
- Splitting Neg: 91
- Multiple agreement in Arabic 121
- Cyclic AGREE derives restrictions on cliticization in classical Arabic 135
-
Phonology
- Secondary stress exist in Cairene Arabic? 163
- Paradoxical paradigms! Evidence from Lebanese Arabic phonology 185
-
Sociolinguistics
- The Arabic of Bukhara 213
-
Semantic/Pragmatics
- Terms of endearment and anger in Levantine Arabic 243
-
Language acquisition
- On the L1 development of final consonant clusters in Cairene Arabic 263
-
Neurolinguistics
- Neurocognitive modeling of the two language varieties in Arabic Diglossia 285
- Index 303
