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In German, the subject usually precedes the object (SO order), but, under certain discourse conditions, the object is allowed to precede the subject (OS order). This paper focuses on main clauses in which either the subject or a discourse-given object occurs in clause-initial position. Two acceptability experiments show that OS sentences with a given object are generally acceptable, but the precise degree of acceptability varies both with the object‘s referential form (demonstrative objects leading to higher acceptability than other types of objects) and with formal properties of the subject (pronominal subjects leading to higher acceptability than non-pronominal subjects). For SO sentences, acceptability was reduced when the object was a d-pronoun, which contrasts with the high acceptability of OS sentences with a d-pronoun object. This finding was explored in a third acceptability experiment comparing d-pronouns in subject and object function. This experiment provides evidence that a reduction in acceptability due to a prescriptive bias against d-pronouns is suspended when the d-pronoun occurs as object in the prefield. We discuss the experimental results with respect to theories of German clause structure that claim that OS sentences with different information-structural properties are derived by different types of movement.
This paper argues that short (clause-internal) scrambling to a pre-subject position has A properties in Japanese but A'-properties in German, while long scrambling (scrambling across sentence boundaries) from finite clauses, which is possible in Japanese but not in German, has A'-properties throughout. It is shown that these differences between German and Japanese can be traced back to parametric variation of phrase structure and the parameterized properties of functional heads. Due to the properties of Agreement, sentences in Japanese may contain multiple (Agro- and Agrs-) specifiers whereas German does not allow for this. In Japanese, a scrambled element may be located in a Spec AgrP, i.e. an A- or L-related position, whereas scrambled NPs in German can only appear in an AgrP-adjoined (broadly-L-related) position, which only has A'-properties. Given our assumption that successive cyclic adjunction is generally impossible, elements in German may not be long scrambled because a scrambled element that is moved to an adjunction site inside an embedded clause may not move further. In Japanese, long distance scrambling out of finite CPs is possible since scrambling may proceed in a successive cyclic manner via embedded Spec- (AgrP) positions. Our analysis of the differences between German and Japanese scrambling provides us with an account of further contrasts between the two languages such as the existence of surprising asymmetries between German and Japanese remnant-movement phenomena, and the fact that unlike German, Japanese freely allows wh-scrambling. Investigation of the properties of Japanese wh-movement also leads us to the formulation of the "Wh-cluster Hypothesis", which implies that Japanese is an LF multiple wh-fronting language.
Children’s interpretations of sentences containing focus particles do not seem adult-like until school age. This study investigates how German 4-year-old children comprehend sentences with the focus particle ‘nur’ (only) by using different tasks and controlling for the impact of general cognitive abilities on performance measures. Two sentence types with ‘only’ in either pre-subject or pre-object position were presented. Eye gaze data and verbal responses were collected via the visual world paradigm combined with a sentence-picture verification task. While the eye tracking data revealed an adult-like pattern of focus particle processing, the sentence-picture verification replicated previous findings of poor comprehension, especially for ‘only’ in pre-subject position. A second study focused on the impact of general cognitive abilities on the outcomes of the verification task. Working memory was related to children’s performance in both sentence types whereas inhibitory control was selectively related to the number of errors for sentences with ‘only’ in pre-subject position. These results suggest that children at the age of 4 years have the linguistic competence to correctly interpret sentences with focus particles, which–depending on specific task demands–may be masked by immature general cognitive abilities.
Rezeptive Mehrsprachigkeit ist eine der jüngsten Forderungen der EU-Kommission zum Erreichen einer realistischen Mehrsprachigkeit in Europa. Die maximalistischen Forderungen nach Perfektion in allen sprachlichen Kompetenzen haben sich in den nationalen Unterrichtswesen als illusionär erwiesen, da diese nirgendwo von statistisch nachvollziehbarem Erfolg gekrönt sind. Die sprachliche Diversität im multilingualen Europa findet sich nicht in der Realität der Bildungssysteme wieder. Zwar verfügen heute europaweit 26 % der Europäer über eine zweite und 8% über eine dritte Fremdsprache, in den einzelnen Ländern sieht es jedoch oft desolat aus. Während in den kleineren Unionsländern kaum jemand als nur monolingual gilt (Luxemburg 2%) ist die Krankheit der Einsprachigkeit in den großen EU-Staaten seuchenhaft verbreitet, etwa Großbritannien mit 66%. Dies hat in den neunziger Jahren in der Kommission zu den Postulaten geführt, die sich die Forschergruppe EuroCom als Programm gesetzt hat, nämlich Mehrsprachigkeit über den Einstieg in rezeptive Kompetenzen modularisiert und kognitiv über Transferbasen innerhalb von Sprachfamilien zu erreichen. EuroCom steht dabei als Kürzel für Eurocomprehension, ein Akronym für Europäische Interkomprehension in den drei großen Sprachengruppen Europas, der romanischen, slawischen und germanischen. Die Beschränkung auf rezeptive Kompetenzen ist dabei nur ein methodisches Ausgangsprinzip, das es ermöglicht, Mehrsprachigkeit besonders schnell über das Leseverständnis zu erreichen und modularisiert auf Hörverständnis und aktive Sprechkompetenz sukzessiv auszuweiten. Die Methode EuroCom arbeitet über die Aktivierung intralingualen Wissens mit linguistischem Transfermaterial in nahverwandten Sprachen, das als kognitives Potential den Erschließungsprozess optimiert und in kürzester Zeit ein Lese- und Hörverstehen in einer ganzen Sprachenfamilie erreichbar macht. ...
Der sprachfamilienbezogene Erwerb einer L3 bis Lx hat durch die jüngeren sprachpolitischen Forderungen der Europäischen Kommission 1997 entscheidenden Auftrieb erhalten. Im Livre Blanc sur l´éducation et la formation von 1995 bilanziert die Europäische Kommission das Ergebnis der fremdsprachlichen Bemühungen der großen Flächenstaaten der Union als eher kümmerlich und fordert eine Wende. Künftig soll eine Europäische Mehrsprachigkeit drei Perspektiven aufweisen: eine differenzierte Betrachtung von Kompetenzen (rezeptive Mehrsprachigkeit), die Ermöglichung des gezielten Erwerbs von Teilkompetenzen mit modularen Aufbaumöglichkeiten (fachsprachlicher approach zur rezeptiven Lesekompetenz) und das Nutzen der Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen zwischen Sprachen (u.a. romanische Interkomprehensionsforschung). Diese drei Perspektiven werden in dem dreigliedrigen Projekt zur "Eurocomprehension" der Universität Frankfurt zusammengefaßt. Der Frankfurter Beitrag bezieht sich auf die Gruppe der romanischen Sprachen. ...
There are two main approaches to change of state verbs. One adopts an approach in terms of a total change (becomeP, for base predicate P), i.e., a change from not being in the extension of the base predicate to being in it. The other adopts an approach in terms of a relative change (becomemore P, for base predicate P), i.e., a change for a theme in which it increases in the extent to which it holds the property denoted by the base predicate. Different languages have been analyzed using one or the other approach. I argue that both proposals are actually appropriate for analyzing related but not (completely) overlapping phenomena in the domain of derived change of state verbs in the very same language. This proposal is based on the discussion of change of state verbs in Southern Aymara that are derived with the suffixes -pta and -ra. I show that verbs with -pta convey the meaning of total change and that verbs with -ra convey the meaning of relative change. I further discuss how expressions with -pta and -ra interact: expressions with -ra implicate that the theme does not change from not being in the extension of the base to being in it. I propose an account in terms of scalar implicatures in which -pta and -ra are lexical alternatives, thus extending the domain of linguistic phenomena for which the computation of scalar implicatures is relevant.
This article provides a comprehensive overview of the contribution of linguistic research on Portuguese as a heritage language in Germany to the general understanding of heritage language development. From 1955 to 1973, nearly 166,000 Portuguese migrants found work in Germany as so-called ‘guest workers’ (Gastarbeiter). Because the aim of many Portuguese migrant families was to return to Portugal, their children met relatively good conditions for the acquisition of their heritage language. Nonetheless, second-generation heritage speakers (HSs) show some linguistic particularities in comparison to monolingual Portuguese speakers in Portugal. Based on the results of previous research, we show that the following factors shape the linguistic knowledge of this group of bilinguals: (1) Restricted exposure to the heritage language may cause a delay in the development of certain linguistic structures, (2) deviations from the standard norm may be related to the lack of formal education and the primacy of the colloquial register and (3) heritage bilinguals may accelerate ongoing diachronic development. We argue that apparent effects of influence from the environmental language can often have alternative explanations.
As language rhythm relies partly on general acoustic properties, such as intensity and duration, mastering two languages with distinct rhythmic properties (i.e., stress position) may enhance musical rhythm perception. We investigated whether second language (L2) competence affects musical rhythm aptitude in Turkish early (TELG) and late learners (TLLG) of German in comparison to German monolingual speakers (GMC). To account for inter-individual differences, we measured participants’ short-term and working memory capacity, melodic aptitude, and time they spent listening to music. Both L2 speaker groups perceived rhythmic variations significantly better than monolinguals. No differences were found between early and late learners’ performances. Our findings suggest that mastering two languages with different rhythmic properties enhances musical rhythm perception, providing further evidence of cognitive share between language and music.