Research ArticlePhonological processes across word and language boundaries: Evidence from code-switching
Introduction
Although bilinguals rarely produce unintentional language switches (Poulisse, 1999), they often intentionally shift between languages for a variety of pragmatic (e.g., Auer, 1998) and social functions (e.g., Zentella, 1997). This process, known as code-switching, is broadly defined as the alternation between two or more languages or language varieties in a single discourse (Myer-Scotton, 1993). As previous research has shown that bilinguals effectively establish two sets of unique norms for their two languages, including different phonetic targets (e.g., Flege, 1987) and phonological rules (e.g., Simon, 2010), successfully switching between languages implies shifting between two unique sets of phonetic and phonological norms.
While switching languages at the lexical level involves a categorical change form one language to the other at the point of switch, excepting cases of cognates and borrowings, processes at the phonetic and phonological level may present a more complex framework. Previous research on the phonetics of code-switching has largely focused on the potential effects of phonetic transfer at or near the point of switch. Results from this line of research have generally shown that code-switched tokens may be produced with a degree of phonetic transfer, shifting in the direction of the opposite language (e.g., Antoniou, Best, Tyler, & Kroos, 2011), although the presence and size of this shift is dependent on both language internal and external factors (e.g., Bullock & Toribio, 2009). The focus of this line of research has been squarely on word internal, and thus language-internal, phonetic and phonological phenomena. Yet, many phonological processes occur across word boundaries, and in the case of code-switching, potentially across language boundaries.
Given the previous focus on word-internal phonetic and phonological processes, the current study examines the potential application of phonological processes across word and language boundaries in cases of code-switching. Two experiments were conducted to address this question, comparing switched and non-switched productions in both English and Spanish. Experiment 1, exploiting cross-linguistic differences in /s/ voicing, with voicing in English generally described as progressive and Spanish as regressive, examines the potential for voicing in word-final /s/ immediately preceding the point of switch. Experiment 2 examines the spirantization of word-initial voiced stops in intervocalic position, which are subject to spirantization in Spanish but not in English, immediately following the point of switch. This study adds to our theoretical understanding of bilingual phonetic and phonological production, and adds to ongoing discussion regarding the mechanisms responsible for bilingual language selection. Moreover, such an examination provides unique insight into the nature of phonological rules (i.e., where rules are anchored and how rules are licensed) otherwise unavailable in monolingual populations.
Section snippets
Bilingual phonological systems
Previous research on bilingual phonetic and phonological systems has established that bilinguals are able to maintain different inventories or sets of phonetic targets for each of their two languages (e.g., Caramazza, Yeni-Komshian, Zurif, & Carbone, 1973). In some cases, usually for highly proficient and early bilinguals, the norms employed in each of their languages reflect the norms of the larger, monolingual community (Mack, 1989, MacLeod and Stoel-Gammon, 2005, Magloire and Green, 1999,
Methodology
Broadly, in Experiment 1, Spanish–English bilinguals from across the language dominance continuum produced utterances in English and Spanish with and without code-switches. Exploiting cross-linguistic difference in /s/ voicing in English (progressive) and Spanish (regressive), analysis focused on the measure of percent voiced and compared switched and non-switched tokens.
Methodology
Experiment 2 focused on the potential effect of code-switching on intervocalic spirantization. Differing from Experiment 1, the process of intervocalic spirantization of voiced stop consonants is examined word-initially, and thus the switched target tokens occurred immediately after the point of switch.
Code-switching and phonological rule application
First, results from the current study showed that Spanish-English bilinguals generally distinguish between the phonological processes in their two languages. Moreover, those participants failing to distinguish between the two languages in at least one of the phonological rules were largely drawn from the relative endpoints of the language dominance continuum (Experiment 1 M absolute dominance value = 85.5, SD = 25.4; Experiment 2 M absolute dominance value = 78.9, SD = 46.9), implying that
Conclusion
Previous research on the phonetics and phonology of code-switching has largely focused on word-internal processes, but a number of phonological processes occur across word boundaries. Seeking to address this gap, the current study examined the potential for cross-linguistic influence in phonological rule application across word and language boundaries in code-switched speech. The results speak to both the processes involved in code-switching, as well as the underlying nature of phonological
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Ross Plumer and Samuel Carroll for their efforts on this project. All errors are my own.
Funding
This project was funded in part by an ASPIRE grant from the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University.
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