Objectives/research questions: This thesis looks at Dutch-English determiner-noun code-switches and investigates whether there is a preference for the language of the determiner, whether the...Show moreObjectives/research questions: This thesis looks at Dutch-English determiner-noun code-switches and investigates whether there is a preference for the language of the determiner, whether the position of the switched nominal construction and language dominance affect these preferences; and whether these preferences support the predictions of the Minimalist Program (MP), which predicts that the languages with more phi features provides the determiner, or the Matrix Language Frame Model (MLF), which predicts that the determiner will come from the Matrix Language (ML). This thesis also investigates how grammatical gender assignment is resolved in a code-switch involving a Dutch determiner followed by an English noun, and how language dominance affects this. Methodology: The participants (N = 68, aged between 20 – 77) were split into a Dutch-dominant group, an English-dominant group, and a balanced Dutch-English bilingual group, based on their dominance score, which was calculated from their global language score as measured by the Bilingual Language Profile questionnaire. Participants completed two two-alternative forced-choice acceptability tasks (2AFC); one where they evaluated the acceptability of sentences with code-switches between the determiner and the noun that reflected the predictions of the MP, the MLF, of both, or none. The second task tested which Dutch grammatical gender the participant assigned to an English noun. Data and analysis: Results from the first 2AFC were analysed using Thurstone’s Law of Comparative Judgment, while the results of the second 2AFC task were used to create a frequency distribution of Dutch grammatical gender marking. Results: A general preference for an English determiner followed by a Dutch noun was found, though this preference is influenced by the matrix language of the sentence, the position of the code-switch in the sentence, as well as language dominance of the bilingual. The first task provided evidence supporting both the predictions of the MLF and the MP, as participants preferred a Dutch determiner followed by an English noun in pre-verbal position, which is what the MLF predicts, but participants preferred an English determiner followed by a Dutch noun in post-verbal position, which is what the MP predicts. Results from the second task suggest the common determiner de is preferred for English nouns by all participants, regardless of language dominance and regardless of the grammatical gender of the translation equivalent. Originality: Following Parafita Couto and Stadthagen-González’s methodology (2019), this study is one of the first studies to use the 2AFC acceptability judgment task analysed using Thurstone’s Law of Comparative Judgment to directly contrast the predictions of the MP and MLF, and is the first study to do so while controlling for language dominance. Furthermore, this study investigates a language pair that has yet to be researched extensively, in addition to investigating how grammatical gender assignment is resolved. Implications: Results provide evidence for a default gender assignment strategy, as well as evidence for a difference in code-switching preferences depending on language dominance. Furthermore, the results support Parafita Couto and Stadthagen-González’s (2019) suggestion that a theory that combines both the MLF and MP would be more useful to explain Dutch-English code-switches than either framework separately.Show less
This thesis explores vowel mergers in the South Asian community of East Lancashire and the social factors affecting these realisations. Possible (non-)mergers north/force and face/goat are examined...Show moreThis thesis explores vowel mergers in the South Asian community of East Lancashire and the social factors affecting these realisations. Possible (non-)mergers north/force and face/goat are examined for a total of seven speakers by means of a word list reading, and sociolinguistic interviews with all speakers provided data on social factors such as socioeconomic background, social mobility, and identity. Like Standard British English, there is a merge of the lexical sets north and force, following what has been described as the first force merger. However, face and goat present a non-merger that behaves differently compared to the known northern English standard. Unlike a northern, monophthongised realisation of both vowels, all speakers gravitate towards a more southern, diphthongised realisation of face. Goat, however, remains a monophthong for all within this small dataset. The deviation found in the face lexical set might be explained through the social factor of social mobility, as all speakers express a desire to rise above the lower to working-class environment they have grown up in. At the same time, if the maintenance of monophthongised goat is an indication of loyalty to their identity, an argument can be made for the lacking desire of the younger second-generation British South Asians to give up their distinguishing dialectal features.Show less
Several languages in the world alternate between marked and unmarked objects with respect to different properties of the noun, including animacy and specificity. This phenomenon is called...Show moreSeveral languages in the world alternate between marked and unmarked objects with respect to different properties of the noun, including animacy and specificity. This phenomenon is called differential object marking. In this thesis, I describe the differential object marking system of Cha’palaa, a Barbacoan language spoken in Ecuador, and compare this with the differential object marking systems of the related Barbacoan languages. It can be concluded that in three of the four languages, including Cha’palaa, differential object marking is only governed by specificity. In one language, namely Awa Pit, differential object marking is governed by both animacy and specificity.Show less
The Guaporé-Mamoré language area hosts a large amount of linguistic diversity; however, its history of contact remains understudied. This thesis aims to shed light on the contact patterns in the...Show moreThe Guaporé-Mamoré language area hosts a large amount of linguistic diversity; however, its history of contact remains understudied. This thesis aims to shed light on the contact patterns in the region through a study which compares languages in area with regards to their word stress and phonological tone. For this aim, a sample of 40 languages belonging to the area, plus 9 control languages, was collected which gathered the characteristics of their word stress and tone systems. The results show that languages in the Guaporé-Mamoré area tend to prefer right-bound, fixed stress, although only the languages south-west of the Guaporé river, corresponding to the Mojo-Chiquito culture area, are significantly different from the control languages (p = .003) in this regard. The results thus imply different levels of contact in sub-regions of the proposed area. Further research is needed into the commonalities and differences between languages in the region, as well as documentation of the languages.Show less
In this thesis, I will research the frequency of English loan words in K-pop songs that were released between 2010 and 2021. With this research I will attempt to answer three questions. Firstly:...Show moreIn this thesis, I will research the frequency of English loan words in K-pop songs that were released between 2010 and 2021. With this research I will attempt to answer three questions. Firstly: Has the average amount of English words in K-pop songs increased between 2010-2021? Secondly: How can English loans in Korean be linguistically classified? Thirdly: Why has the use of English words in Korean increased, if it is the case that it did? The found loan words will be distributed into five different categories laid out in Grant (2019) and Kim (2012), based on the identifying linguistic features. Furthermore, I will attempt to provide a sociolinguistic explanation for the reasons for the use of English words in Korean. Both broad societal factors, as well as factors specific to the K-pop industry will be taken into account to arrive at a conclusion.Show less
This thesis is a historical and comparative linguistic research on Norwegian stress assignment. It discusses the history of Germanic stress assignment and compares the development of Norwegian...Show moreThis thesis is a historical and comparative linguistic research on Norwegian stress assignment. It discusses the history of Germanic stress assignment and compares the development of Norwegian stress assignment to that of English stress assignment to establish the current state of Norwegian stress assignment as well as discuss the possible future for Norwegian stress assignment.Show less
This study analyzes the swearing practices of men and women using the reality television gameshow Wie is de Mol? ‘Who is the Mole?’ (WIDM) as a corpus for natural spoken language. The aim of the...Show moreThis study analyzes the swearing practices of men and women using the reality television gameshow Wie is de Mol? ‘Who is the Mole?’ (WIDM) as a corpus for natural spoken language. The aim of the study was to determine whether (1) there was a difference in the swearing practices of the male and female candidates, (2) if the situational context has an effect on these swearing practices, and (3) if these swearing practices have changed over the past decade (from 2011 to 2021). Additionally, this study hopes to contribute to the complex postmodern identity theory. The uttered swearwords during the WIDM episodes were then categorized according to gender, several characteristics of the swearword, and the situational context in which the swearword occurred. The results indicate that there is no significant difference in the overall swearing practices of the male and female candidates and that these practices have not changed over the past decade. However, an effect was found that the swearing rate increases in emotionally charged situations. Furthermore, four candidates’ swearing practices were individually analyzed and indicated that (1) the swearing practices were idiosyncratic, and (2) the fact that they swore more than the average candidate can be linked to their social identity.Show less
Research indicates that the application of syntactic stylistic devices and syntactic complexity in slogans comes with cognitive advantages and, hence, support the strategies of persuasion that...Show moreResearch indicates that the application of syntactic stylistic devices and syntactic complexity in slogans comes with cognitive advantages and, hence, support the strategies of persuasion that slogans entail. The current study set out to assess the extent to which syntactic stylistic devices and complexity are displayed in English cosmetic brand slogans. In addition, it sought to determine which syntactic stylistic devices are used most commonly, and how cosmetic brand slogans vary in terms of their length (number of words), number of modifiers, i.e. adjectives and adverbs, and levels and types of syntactic complexity. Through content analysis, twenty-five English slogans from twenty-three different cosmetic brands were investigated. The results indicate that the most common syntactic stylistic devices displayed in English cosmetic brand slogans are repetitions, omissions, and changes in the logical syntactic order. With respect to syntactic complexity, the results suggested that both simplicity and moderate complexity occurred frequently within cosmetic brand slogans. Whether moderate syntactic complexity was applied purposefully, could not be concluded with certainty.Show less
This thesis studies the conceptualization of malaria in three cultural traditions: Hamar and Swahili, two indigenous East-African languages, and Western biomedicine. It will demonstrate that ideas...Show moreThis thesis studies the conceptualization of malaria in three cultural traditions: Hamar and Swahili, two indigenous East-African languages, and Western biomedicine. It will demonstrate that ideas on malaria vary significantly between these three cultures: in both Hamar and Swahili, malaria is included in a more general category of febrile illnesses, which becomes clear from the linguistic terms and constructions which are used to express ‘malaria’. In biomedicine, malaria is regarded as a potentially life-threatening disease which requires immediate treatment in hospital. If it progresses into severe or cerebral malaria, patients may show symptoms such as convulsions. This symptom is not related to malaria in many African cultures, but it is instead often categorized in a domain of spiritual illnesses and as such, requires different treatment, according to their traditional indigenous practices. An attempt will be made to clarify the Hamar, Swahili, and biomedical conceptualization of malaria from a linguistic point of view. This is done by investigating how malaria or febrile illness in general as well as related symptoms are expressed in Hamar and Swahili. For the biomedical perspective, it will not only be examined how malaria is conceptualized, but also the way in which traditional indigenous medical knowledge is considered. Moreover, an important aim of this thesis is to make a proposal of how to bring the different views together in an atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation, in order to contribute to the global malaria struggle.Show less
