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Code-switching in a network

Richard Hudson

Bangor February 2008

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Linguists and psycholinguists

linguists psycho-linguists

Different worlds, no

shared models

We need a bridge.

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Lingualism

• Monolingualism– even monolinguals know about other

languages

• Bilingualism• Multilingualism

– World record for societal multilingualism =

• Hyperpolyglottism– World record for individual multilingualism =

?

?

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72?

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Theory

• How do monolinguals record knowledge about languages?– e.g. ‘Latin is dead’

• How do linguals keep their languages separate?– e.g. ‘Dog is English, ci is Welsh’

• How do these facts relate to language-structure?

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Languages in the mind

• Each named language is a concept.

• It’s part of general knowledge.

• General knowledge is a network of concepts.

• So each named language is a node.

• And its properties are links to other nodes.

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‘Latin is dead’

Latin

languagespoken by

community

0‘isa’

exception

default

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Word Grammar

• Language competence is a network too.– not a network of lexical items or constructions– nodes have no internal structure.

• It’s just our (ordinary) knowledge of words.

• So (1) it has no boundary.

• So (2) activation spreads freely between language and non-language.

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Spreading activation

• Language must be a network because it carries spreading activation.

• Evidence:– Priming: word 1 primes word 2 if they are

network neighbours.– Speech errors: the substituted word is

activated by accident from the target or context.

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A priming experiment

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On the screen: no priming

WordNon-word

lorryfonnurse

Delay: 0.90.80.8

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Nurse primes doctor.

WordNon-word

doctorfonnurse

Delay: 0.90.80.6

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nurse

doctor

lorry

Why?

nurse

doctor

lorry

nurse

doctor

lorry

nurse

doctor

lorry

nurse

doctor

lorry

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Priming at all levels

Words prime network neighbours in:• Phonology: verse primes nurse (but only

briefly)• Morphology: hedges primes hedge for longer

than pledge does.• Syntax: Vlad brought a book to Boris primes

other V + DO + PP sentences• Semantics: nurse primes doctor.

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How activation spreads

• Blindly – hence errors.

• In any direction, depending on the target.– Speaking or listening or analysing or …

• Randomly, so weak activation has a weak effect (rather than no effect)– because activation converges from many

directions.

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No boundaries

• Activation flows freely between language and non-language

• Even speech errors may have non-linguistic causes– E.g. (By a computer) Do you have a

• Choice of language is another example.

computer?screwdriver?

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Languages in a network

• Each word has (‘belongs to’) a language.

• Each language has a prototypical ‘word’.

• Prototypical words are the domain of phonology.

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Welsh and English

Welsh English

language

Welsh-word English-word

language language

ci diolch dog thanks

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A language isn’t a box.

Welsh English

ci diolch dog thanks

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Pro network, con boxes

• Translation equivalents in different languages prime one another.– e.g. ci primes dog.

• So they must share meaning.

• Likewise for phonological or graphological priming.– e.g. ci primes key or cipher.

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Cross-language links in a network

ci dog

Welsh-word English-wordnoun

keymeaning

meaning /ki:/

sound

sound

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Moreover, L1 and L2 are unequal

• Often, L2 was learned via L1– e.g. ‘Ci means dog’

• So some L2 words are linked directly to L1 words by a ‘translation’ relation, but not vice versa.

• This explains why L2 > L1 translation is faster and easier than L1 > L2 (Kroll & Dussias 2004).

• But in time L2 becomes independent of L1.

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The asymmetry of L1 and L2

ci dog

L2-word L1-word

translation

meaning

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Language choice

• Activation from meaning activates words in both languages.

• So how does a bilingual stick to one language when ‘in monolingual mode’?

• Two suggestions so far (Costa 2004): Non-target language activation is:– inhibited.– ignored.

• Both assume an external controller.

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Code-switching with external control

ci dog

Welsh-word English-word

meaning

meaning/ki:/

sound

/dg/

sound

winner?

suppress or ignore

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External control?

• Who is the external controller?– a ‘homunculus’?– problem: infinite regress.

• What does ‘he’ control?– just language use?

• If possible, avoid special external controls.

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Code-switching with internal control

ci dog

Welsh-word English-word

meaning

meaning/ki:/

sound

/dg/

sound

winner?

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Two kinds of code-switching

• Situational or intra-sentential.

• Bilingual speakers can stick to one language when the situation requires it– e.g. when speaking to a monolingual

• How do they do it?

• The situation keeps the ‘required language’ node active.

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Speaking to a Welsh speaker

Welsh English

language

Welsh-word English-word

language-of language-of

ci dog

spoken by

Welsh speakers

current interaction

•

addressee

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Intra-sentential code-mixing

• Used only when speaking to bilinguals.

• Bilinguals belong to both communities.

• So the situation activates both languages.

• e.g. (Eppler 2004)– und heuer fahren wir nach Harrogate for a

long-es weekend – die do-'nt mind aber I do .

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Speaking to a Welsh-English bilingual

Welsh English

Welsh-word English-word

language-of language-of

ci dog

spoken by

Welsh speakers

current interaction

•

addressee

English speakers

spoken by

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Random choice

• Suppose each language is equally active.

• So for each word each language is equally likely:– like tossing a coin, where each toss is

independent of the previous one:– A A B A B B A A A B B A B B

• But that’s not how code-mixing works.

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Inertia prevails

• Words tend strongly to be in the same language if they are:– adjacent or– linked by a syntactic dependency.

• Why does adjacency matter? – the previous language is still most active

• Why does dependency matter?– the dependency link carries activation.

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Why does the language tend to stay the same?

Lang A Lang B

word 1 word 2 word 3

language

dependent or head

a concept

meaning

? ?

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Conclusion

• Language choice is governed by activation of:– a ‘required language’ node to match the

addressee’s social category– the previous word– a syntactically related word

• Language is integrated into the network of general knowledge.

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The bridge is growing

linguistics psycho-linguistics

Computer model with numbers

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Diolch yn fawr

• For this slide show:www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/talks.htm#bangor

• For more about hyperpolyglots etc:…dick/polyglotism/home.htm

• For more about Word Grammar:…dick/wg.htm