21.1060, Diss: Morphology/Text/Corpus Ling: Stammers: 'The Integration of...'

[linguist at LINGUISTLIST.ORG]

LINGUIST List: Vol-21-1060. Thu Mar 04 2010. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 21.1060, Diss: Morphology/Text/Corpus Ling: Stammers: 'The Integration of...'

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Eastern Michigan U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>
 
Reviews: Monica Macaulay, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
Eric Raimy, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
Joseph Salmons, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
Anja Wanner, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
       <reviews at linguistlist.org> 

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, 
and donations from subscribers and publishers.

Editor for this issue: Di Wdzenczny <di at linguistlist.org>
================================================================  

To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at
http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm.

===========================Directory==============================  

1)
Date: 04-Mar-2010
From: Jonathan Stammers < j.stammers at bangor.ac.uk >
Subject: The Integration of English-Origin Verbs in Welsh
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:53:13
From: Jonathan Stammers [j.stammers at bangor.ac.uk]
Subject: The Integration of English-Origin Verbs in Welsh

E-mail this message to a friend:
http://linguistlist.org/issues/emailmessage/verification.cfm?iss=21-1060.html&submissionid=2614694&topicid=14&msgnumber=1
  


Institution: Bangor University 
Program: PhD in Linguistics 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2009 

Author: Jonathan Roy Stammers

Dissertation Title: The Integration of English-Origin Verbs in Welsh 

Dissertation URL:  http://sites.google.com/site/jonstammers/phdthesis/

Linguistic Field(s): Morphology
                     Text/Corpus Linguistics

Subject Language(s): English (eng)
                     Welsh (cym)


Dissertation Director(s):
Margaret Deuchar

Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis addresses the controversy over distinguishing between 
code-switching and borrowing.  Many criteria have been suggested for 
making the distinction, but none are without difficulties.  A   theory-
independent analysis is carried out on English verbs inserted into 
Welsh, based on a new 40 hour, half-million-word corpus of informal 
spoken Welsh/English, the 'Siarad' corpus.  English verbs are 
incorporated into Welsh by means of a highly productive routine 
involving the Welsh verbaliser suffix '-(i)o'.  For some researchers 
(e.g. Poplack & Meechan 1998), this would be sufficient to count the 
entire class as borrowings, but their integration is investigated further, 
largely because other researchers, such as Myers-Scotton (1993; 
2002), would disagree with this interpretation, interpreting the same 
results as evidence for Welsh as the matrix language of the clause.  

Analysis of distribution between two alternative types of Welsh verbal 
construction (periphrastic and synthetic) appears to show differences 
between the patterning of native Welsh and English-origin verbs, but 
further investigation shows the differences can be put down to 
frequency effects, with synthetic constructions largely restricted to the 
highest frequency verbs.  Analysis of the occurrence of soft mutation 
on the verb compares native Welsh verbs with two groups of English-
origin verbs throughout the corpus, defined according to a dictionary 
criterion, but is also complicated by effects of overall word frequency of 
verbs.  Statistical testing shows that frequency is a strong predictor of 
mutation rate when logarithmic values are used, but also that English-
origin verbs not listed in a dictionary are significantly less likely to be 
mutated in expected environments than native Welsh verbs or listed 
English-origin verbs, so could be labelled switches despite their Welsh 
suffixes.  This evidence goes against the nonce borrowing hypothesis 
proposed by Poplack, whose 'distinct phenomena' approach to the 
issue is problematised through this study. 




-----------------------------------------------------------
This Year the LINGUIST List hopes to raise $65,000. This money will go to help 
keep the List running by supporting all of our Student Editors for the coming year.

See below for donation instructions, and don't forget to check out our Space Fund 
Drive 2010 and join us for a great journey!

http://linguistlist.org/fund-drive/2010/

There are many ways to donate to LINGUIST!

You can donate right now using our secure credit card form at  
https://linguistlist.org/donation/donate/donate1.cfm

Alternatively you can also pledge right now and pay later. To do so, go to: 
https://linguistlist.org/donation/pledge/pledge1.cfm

For all information on donating and pledging, including information on how to 
donate by check, money order, or wire transfer, please visit: 
http://linguistlist.org/donation/

The LINGUIST List is under the umbrella of Eastern Michigan University and as 
such can receive donations through the EMU Foundation, which is a registered 
501(c) Non Profit organization. Our Federal Tax number is 38-6005986. These 
donations can be offset against your federal and sometimes your state tax return 
(U.S. tax payers only). For more information visit the IRS Web-Site, or contact 
your financial advisor.

Many companies also offer a gift matching program, such that they will match 
any gift you make to a non-profit organization. Normally this entails your 
contacting your human resources department and sending us a form that the 
EMU Foundation fills in and returns to your employer. This is generally a simple 
administrative procedure that doubles the value of your gift to LINGUIST, without 
costing you an extra penny. Please take a moment to check if your company 
operates such a program.

Thank you very much for your support of LINGUIST! 
-----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-21-1060