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Dichotomous matrix languages: word order convergence in Welsh-English speech This paper presents the ongoing research and current findings of a PhD project, associated with (and deriving data from) an AHRC-funded project analysing the speech of Welsh-English bilinguals. The research is focused on identifying structural convergence in Welsh as a result of prolonged contact with (and bilingualism in) English. Using Backus' (2004) interpretation of convergence as a mechanism of contact-induced language change (which is visible only after it has occurred), we take as our starting point both the definitions of Myers-Scotton (2002)—who states that convergence is manifest in constructions where the morphemes are all from one language but the structure derives from another—and Thomason (2001) amongst others—who note that convergence is the extension in use of a feature (such as word order) in one language due to contact with another language for which that feature is predominant. In the case of Welsh and English, we suggest that certain word orders which are available in Welsh, but which have a limited distribution, have been extended due to contact with English, in which language those word orders are the more common order. We demonstrate a novel method for determining this type of convergence: namely, using Myers-Scotton’s (2002 etc.) Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model to isolate clauses in our data where the word order cannot conclusively be shown to derive from Welsh nor English uniquely, but is apparently derived from both. We call such clauses Dichotomous Matrix Language clauses, as both Welsh and English appear to be supplying systematic information (whereas the MLF model dictates that only one language, viz. the Matrix Language, can supply systematic information). We find a very small number of such clauses in our data, and show how they indicate interference of English order on Welsh (i.e. convergence). We then proceed to show that this method of applying the MLF model is not exhaustive in identifying convergence, as we briefly examine a feature of Welsh structure (ellipsis or deletion of the auxiliary verb in periphrastic constructions) where convergence may be in effect but cannot be identified by the MLF model. We look at how prevalent this phenomenon is in our data and suggest it may be a spreading trend. References: Myers-Scotton, Carol (2002). Contact Linguistics: Bilingual Encounters and Grammatical Outcomes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Thomason, Sarah G. (2001). Language Contact: an Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Backus, Ad (2004). Convergence as a mechanism of language change. Bilingualism, Language and Cognition 7, 2, 179–181.