Yaron Matras

Utterance modifiers and universals of grammatical borrowing

Members of a functional category that I tentatively call utterance modifiers are the most vulnerable items to contact-related linguistic change in grammar. Utterance modifiers regulate linguistic-mental processing activities that can be attributed to a grammar of directing. Bilinguals, when faced with the tension of choosing among the systems at their disposal in what is a highly automaticized operation, are tempted to reduce the overt representation of the grammar of directing to just one set of elements. Preference is given to the pragmatically dominant language. Contact-related change in the area of utterance modifiers is therefore not due to lack of equivalent functions in the indigenous language, nor is it due to the prestige effect that the integration of L2 items may have on the overall flavor of the discourse. Rather, I attribute synchronic variation in the speech of bilinguals to the cognitive pressure exerted on them to draw on the resources of the pragmatically dominant language for situative, gesturelike discourse-regulating purposes, and the diachronic change that arises from such variation to the establishment of a permanent licensing for speakers to do so

The mixed language debate : theoretical and empirical advances

Mixed Languages are speech varieties that arise in bilingual settings, often as markers of ethnic separateness. They combine structures inherited from different parent languages, often resulting in odd and unique splits that present a challenge to theories of contact-induced change as well as genetic classification. This collection of articles is devoted to the theoretical and empirical controversies that surround the study of Mixed Languages. Issues include definitions and prototypes, similarities and differences to other contact languages such as pidgins and creoles, the role of codeswitching in the emergence of Mixed Languages, the role of deliberate and conscious mixing, the question of the existence of a Mixed Language continuum, and the position of Mixed Languages in general models of language change and contact-induced change in particular. An introductory chapter surveys the current study of Mixed Languages. Contributors include leading historical linguists, contact linguists and typologists, among them Carol Myers-Scotton, Sarah Grey Thomason, William Croft, Thomas Stolz, Maarten Mous, Ad Backus, Evgeniy Golovko, Peter Bakker, Yaron Matras.

Grammatical borrowing in cross-linguistic perspective

The book contains 30 descriptive chapters dealing with a specific language contact situation. The chapters follow a uniform organisation format, being the narrative version of a standard comprehensive questionnaire previously distributed to all authors. The questionnaire targets systematically the possibility of contact influence / grammatical borrowing in a full range of categories. The uniform structure facilitates a comparison among the chapters and the languages covered. The introduction describes the setup of the questionnaire and the methodology of the approach, along with a survey of the difficulties of sampling in contact linguistics. Two evaluative chapters, each authored by one of the co-editors, draws general conclusions from the volume as a whole (one in relation to borrowed grammatical categories and meaningful hierarchies, the other in relation to the distribution of Matter and Pattern replication).

Fusion and the cognitive basis for bilingual discourse markers

This paper argues for a cognitive motivation behind the nonseparation of the systems of discourse marking available to bilinguals. It produces evidence that bilingual speakers, in an unconscious effort to reduce the mental effort which is necessary to monitor and direct the hearers responses and reactions to the speakers utterances, can simplify monitoring -and- directing operations by eliminating the language-specific options available to them, thereby automaticizing the choice of expressions. This cognitive motivation, I argue, is so strong that it will at times override the social and communicative constraints on the discourse, leading to counterstrategic, unintentional choices or slips. It is suggested that Fusion, as the phenomenon is defined, is responsible for a type of bilingual discourse marking which, if extralinguistic factors permit, may lead to language change. Fusion figures in a function-based model of language contact phenomena alongside Integration, Differentiation, and Convergence, and the position of other approaches to bilingual discourse markers is examined in the light of this model.

Romani migrations in the post‐communist era: Their historical and political significance

This article examines recent patterns of Romani westward migrations, challenging the notion of a ‘tidal wave’ of Roma migrants entering western Europe. The first part distinguishes migration from nomadism, rejecting the common proposition that Roma are inherently nomadic, and goes on to distinguish the particularities of Romani migrations compared to westward migrations of other groups. The article then looks at the causes of Romani migrations before analysing the special difficulties facing Romani migrants, particularly asylum seekers, in the countries which they migrate to. The response of western governments to Romani migrants, in particular attempts at curbing Romani immigration, is examined in detail. The article further outlines the impact of Romani westward migrations on the development of Romani non‐governmental organisations in both the East and the West.

Mixed languages: a functional–communicative approach

It has been suggested that the structural composition of mixed languages and the linguistic processes through which they emerge are to some extent predictable, and that they therefore constitute a language ‘‘type’’ (e.g. Bakker and Mous, 1994b; Bakker and Muysken, 1995). This view is challenged here. Instead, it is argued that the compartmentalisation of structures observed in mixed languages (i.e. the fact that certain structural categories are derived from one ‘‘parent’’ language, others from another) is the result of the cumulative effect of different contact mechanisms. These mechanisms are defined in terms of the cognitive and communicative motivations that lead speakers to model certain functions of language on an alternative linguistic system; each mechanism will typically affect particular functional categories. Four relevant processes are identified: lexical re-orientation, selective replication, convergence, and categorial fusion. Different combinations of processes will render different outcomes, hence the diversity of mixed languages as regards their structure, function, and development.

Prozedurale Fusion: Grammatische Interferenzschichten im Romanes

Contact with various languages throughout the history of Romani results in distinct layers of grammatical interference in the language. The convergent development of the Balkan languages has led Romani to re-arrange its sentence configuration, drawing on inherited material, which is grammaticalized to assume new syntactic functions. The post-convergent phase shows borrowing of adverbial expressions and discourse markers. The youngest layer reveals interference in the domains of sentence particles, adversatives and concessives. Grammatical interference is thus claimed to be pragmatically motivated: It first affects devices which grasp the hearers attention, it infiltrates the arrangement of speech actions at the level of the discourse, it then continues to elements which evaluate propositional contents, and finally reaches the overall structuring of knowledge at the linear-sentential level. Interference is therefore regarded not simply as a transfer of structures, but as a fusion of organizational procedures which regulate communicative events.

Contact languages.: A comprehensive guide.

This volume deals with several types of contact languages: pidgins, creoles, mixed languages, and multi-ethnolects. It also approaches contact languages from two perspectives: an historical linguistic perspective, more specifically from a viewpoint of genealogical linguistics, language descent and linguistic family tree models; and a sociolinguistic perspective, identifying specific social contexts in which contact languages emerge.

A grammar of Domari

Domari is an Indo-Aryan language that is now highly endangered. Its speakers were traditionally nomadic metalworkers and musicians who lived in tiny, geographically scattered and socially isolated communities throughout the Middle East. The grammar is based on conversational material recorded in Jerusalem in the mid-1990s with some of the last speakers of this particular variety.

Multilingualism in a post-industrial city: policy and practice in Manchester

Manchester (England), one of the first industrial cities, is now home to over 150 languages. Ethnic minority and migrant communities take active steps to maintain heritage languages in commerce and through education. The paper introduces a model for a holistic approach to profiling urban multilingualism that relies on triangulating a variety of quantitative data sets, observations, and ethnographic interviews. We examine how responses to language diversity reflect an emerging new civic identity, but at the same time rely on private and voluntary sector initiative: While the city officially brands itself as multicultural to attract foreign investment, language provisions are local, responsive, and de-centralised and often outsourced, and aim primarily at ensuring equal access to public services rather than to safeguard or promote cultural heritage or even to cultivate language skills as a workforce resource that is vital to economic growth. In such a complex and dynamic setting, there is a need for a mechanism to continuously monitor changes in language profiles and language needs.