Yiddish-Lithuanian bilingualism: Incomplete acquisition, change through contacts, or both
Author(s)
Publication Name
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Abstract
Aims and Objectives/Purposes/Research Questions:
Studies on incomplete first language(L1) acquisition emphasize restricted input, the low prestige of heritage/immigrant/minority lan-guages, and age of acquisition as significant factors contributing to changes in L1. However, it is notalways clear whether it is possible to distinguish results of incomplete acquisition and contact-induced language change. This article deals with two Yiddish–Lithuanian bilinguals who acquiredboth languages at home (recorded in 2010 and 2011). The focus of the article is the absence of theYiddish past tense auxiliary in both informants and the replacement of Yiddish discourse-pragmaticwords by their Lithuanian or English equivalents in the speech of the second informant.
Design/Methodology/Approach:
Qualitative analysis of the speech of two Yiddish–Lithuanianbilinguals.
Data and Analysis:
Two sets of recordings analyzed for the past tense use and other featuresmentioned in Yiddish attrition studies.
Findings/Conclusions:
Restricted input is to be considered as a factor inany case. However, it isargued that phenomena reported in the heritage language literature are often the same as in thecontact linguistic literature: impact on non-core morphosyntax, prosody, and word order areusually mentioned as primary candidates of contact-induced structural change. Based on purelylinguistic phenomena, it is not possible to distinguish between the results of acquisition under theconditions of limited input and in other contact situations where limited input is not necessarily thecase. Many features of the informants’ Yiddish are a result of Lithuanian impact.
Originality:
Yiddish–Lithuanian early bilingualism is extremely rare nowadays. The data andanalysis contribute to a general understanding of the interplay between contact-induced languagechange and limited input.
Significance/Implications:
Unlike what is often presumed, it is not always possible to makecomparisons to monolinguals or balanced bilinguals because monolingual speakers of Yiddish donot exist
Studies on incomplete first language(L1) acquisition emphasize restricted input, the low prestige of heritage/immigrant/minority lan-guages, and age of acquisition as significant factors contributing to changes in L1. However, it is notalways clear whether it is possible to distinguish results of incomplete acquisition and contact-induced language change. This article deals with two Yiddish–Lithuanian bilinguals who acquiredboth languages at home (recorded in 2010 and 2011). The focus of the article is the absence of theYiddish past tense auxiliary in both informants and the replacement of Yiddish discourse-pragmaticwords by their Lithuanian or English equivalents in the speech of the second informant.
Design/Methodology/Approach:
Qualitative analysis of the speech of two Yiddish–Lithuanianbilinguals.
Data and Analysis:
Two sets of recordings analyzed for the past tense use and other featuresmentioned in Yiddish attrition studies.
Findings/Conclusions:
Restricted input is to be considered as a factor inany case. However, it isargued that phenomena reported in the heritage language literature are often the same as in thecontact linguistic literature: impact on non-core morphosyntax, prosody, and word order areusually mentioned as primary candidates of contact-induced structural change. Based on purelylinguistic phenomena, it is not possible to distinguish between the results of acquisition under theconditions of limited input and in other contact situations where limited input is not necessarily thecase. Many features of the informants’ Yiddish are a result of Lithuanian impact.
Originality:
Yiddish–Lithuanian early bilingualism is extremely rare nowadays. The data andanalysis contribute to a general understanding of the interplay between contact-induced languagechange and limited input.
Significance/Implications:
Unlike what is often presumed, it is not always possible to makecomparisons to monolinguals or balanced bilinguals because monolingual speakers of Yiddish donot exist
Topics
Genre
Geographic Coverage
Original Language
Page Number / Article Number
1-20
DOI
Link
Link to article (paywalled), Yiddish-Lithuanian bilingualism: Incomplete acquisition, change through contacts, or both
PDF (via academia.edu), Yiddish-Lithuanian bilingualism: Incomplete acquisition, change through contacts, or both
PDF (via academia.edu), Yiddish-Lithuanian bilingualism: Incomplete acquisition, change through contacts, or both
Bibliographic Information
Yiddish-Lithuanian bilingualism: Incomplete acquisition, change through contacts, or both. 2020: 1-20. https://archive.jpr.org.uk/10.1177/1367006920932664
