Download word order convergence in Welsh

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.