Adjective-noun order in Papiamento-Dutch code-switching

Benjamins current topics, pp. 211–236

Abstract

Abstract In Papiamento-Dutch bilingual speech, the nominal construction is a potential ‘conflict site’ if there is an adjective from one language and a noun from the other. Adjective position is pre-nominal in Dutch (cf. rode wijn ‘red wine’) but post-nominal in Papiamento (cf. biña kòrá ‘wine red’). We test predictions concerning the mechanisms underpinning word order in noun-adjective switches derived from three accounts: (i) the adjective determines word order ( Cantone & MacSwan, 2009 ), (ii) the matrix language determines word order ( Myers-Scotton, 1993 , 2002 ), and (iii) either order is possible ( Di Sciullo, 2014 ). An analysis of spontaneous Papiamento-Dutch code-switching production ( Parafita Couto & Gullberg, 2017 ) could not distinguish between these predictions. We used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to measure online comprehension of code-switched utterances. We discuss how our results inform the three theoretical accounts and we relate them to syntactic coactivation and the production-comprehension link.

Authors 7

1. Leticia Pablos Aachen Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University Center for Linguistics

   Leiden University Center for Linguistics | Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

2. M. Carmen Parafita Couto Aachen Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University Center for Linguistics

   Leiden University Center for Linguistics | Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

3. Bastien Boutonnet Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University Center for Linguistics

4. Amy de Jong Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University Center for Linguistics

5. Marlou Nadine Perquin

   Cardiff University

   Affiliation as printed

   Cardiff University

6. Annelies M. de Haan

   Cardiff University

   Affiliation as printed

   Cardiff University

7. Niels Olaf Schiller Aachen Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University Center for Linguistics

   Leiden University Center for Linguistics | Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition