1. Lexical representations in bilingualism: syntax and phonology
Rob Hartsuiker

2. Language integration
To what extent are the two languages of a bilingual represented in separate or shared stores?
Usually addressed for words

3. Kroll & Stewart (1994) L1 L2
Concepts

4. Separate lexicons? Increasing evidence for integrated lexicons:
Comprehension: Spivey & Marian (1999), Van Heuven et al. (1998)
Production: Colomé (2001), Costa et al. (1999), Hermans et al. (1998)

5. What about other aspects of language?
Syntax: are syntactic representations shared between languages or kept separate?
Phonology: are L2 words represented in terms of L2-phonology, or does L1-phonology play a role?

6. Part 1: Is syntax separate or shared between languages?
The case of actives and passives in English and Spanish:
The taxi chases the truck
El taxi persigue el camión
The truck is chased by the taxi
El camión es persiguido por el taxi

7. A priori arguments Separate syntax Shared syntax
Representational: Constructions only superficially identical
Computational: Reduction of number of options taken into account
Shared syntax
Parsimonious storage: only one rule, instead of several.

8. Syntactic Priming
Tendency to repeat the syntactic structure of previously processed sentences.
E.g., Bock (1986). Repeat sentences and describe pictures…

9. Syntactic Priming Subject repeats a sentence:
5 people carried the boat or
The boat was carried by 5 people
Subject describes a picture:
The alarm clock wakes up the boy
The boy is awoken by the alarm clock

10. Syntactic priming (cont.)
More passives following passive primes (Bock, 1986)
Occurs in several languages
In writing and in speaking
For many types of constructions
Cannot be attributed to non-syntactic factors
Seems stronger in dialogue games

11. Syntactic priming in bilinguals
If syntax is shared between languages: priming when prime is in one language, but production in another.
If syntax is separate: no effect.

12. Experiment
Subjects: 24 native speakers of Spanish, living in an English-dominant culture (22 mnths average)
Materials: 32 pictures, best described with an active or passive, and 32 sets of prime sentences
Syntactic primes: always in Spanish
Responses: always in English

13. Conditions Active: El taxi persigue el camión
Passive: El camión es perseguido por el taxi
Intransitive: El taxi accelera
OVS: El camión lo persigue un taxi

14. Experimental set-up
El taxi persigue el camión

15. Scoring Active: The A verbs/is verbing the T
Passive: The T is (being) verbed by the A
Others: Everything else
(e.g. ‘the truck is chased’; ‘there is a car chase, etc.)
Proportion of passives out of actives and passives is dependent var.

16. Results Main effect of prime type
Simple contrast: only passive condition differs from intransitive (baseline)
Simple contrast: only passive condition differs from active condition.

17. Discussion Cross-linguistic priming: But asymmetric…
Languages only moderately related
But asymmetric…
However, clearest symmetric effects with DATIVES (gave the man a book / gave a book the man)
Intransitives are in the active voice. Prime for actives??

18. Proposal for monolingual lexical-syntactic representation
Concepts
Lemmas
Active
HIT
TOW
Passive V

19. Proposal for BIlingual lexical-syntactic representation
Concepts
Lemmas
Active
HIT
TOW
Passive
GOLPEAR
REMOLCAR V

20. Implications Code-switching: “I saw a red perro”
facilitated because concepts and syntax are contact points
Syntactic borrowing: “zij stemden de resolutie” (voter le resolution)
Possible, because syntax from both languages activated

21. Part 2: A rows is a rose.. But is a road a load?
Languages differ in their phonological systems.
Japanese: /l/ vs /r/ absent
Spanish: /b/ vs /v/ and /I/ vs/i/
To what extent are L2-words influenced by L1-phonology (even if you have mastered L2-phonology?)

22. Some informal observations…
Spelling errors are frequently homophones of the intended word
Too vs two
Their vs there
Bilingual spelling errors are sometimes <<‘omofones>>

23. Engrish

24. Engrish (2)

25. More ‘omophone errors Englitalian: ‘Buckingam’
Englitalian: ‘teach that staff’
Englitalian: ‘If you need anything for Carlo or so let me know, we leave so close…’
Dutchish: ‘Does, we conclude’
Spanglish: ‘I feel more estable’
EngRish: ‘As I hate getting tunned’
Scottish: ‘I got to literally run home to back for weekend in Inverness’

26. What about reading? Do ‘omophones lead to problems in L2-reading?
If so, evidence that phonological representations for L2-words are influenced by L1-phonology.

27. Semantic categorization (Van Orden, 1987)
A FLOWER
More false positives for homophones (ROWS) of correct exemplar (ROSE) than for spelling controls (ROBS)
Slower correct rejections for homophones than for spelling controls
ROWS
1500
###########
2000 N Y

28. Framework ROSE R O S E /r/ /o:/ /z/ /ro:z/ Semantic Representation
Sublexical Orthographic Units
Sublexical Phonological Units
Phonological Lexicon
Orthographic Lexicon
Semantic Representation

29. Japanese phonological lexicon?
Semantics
Orth. lexion
Ph. lexicon
/*l-r* o: d/
ROAD
LOAD

30. Participants Monolingual speakers of English
Highly proficient* Japanese/English bilinguals
Highly proficient* Spanish/Englilsh bilinguals
* As determined by phonological discrimination pretests

31. Conditions Experimental Control H SEA/SEE SET A/U BAG/BUG BEG
B/V BAN/VAN CAN
L/R LOAD/ROAD TOAD

32. Procedure Semantic Categorization Every Category twice
A street Load
A street Toad
Correct response for (h)omophones and controls always NO.

33. RT effect sizes (Z-transformed)

34. RTs: (h)omophony vs controls
English:
main effect of (h)omophony
interaction with phon. contrast
Japanese: main effect of (h)omophony
Spanish: main effect of (h)omophony

35. English controls (N = 20) RT (ms) Exp Control Effect sig
H1/H *
A/U ns
B/V ns
L/R *
ERRORS (%)
H1/H *
A/U ns
B/V ns
L/R ns

36. Japanese/English bilinguals (N = 17)
RT (ms) Exp Control Effect sig
H1/H *
A/U *
B/V *
L/R *
ERRORS (%)
H1/H *
A/U *
B/V *
L/R t1: p =.062; t2: ns

37. Spanish/English bilinguals (N = 17)
RT (ms) Exp Control Effect sig
H1/H t1: p = .067
A/U ns
B/V ns
L/R ns
ERRORS (%)
H1/H *
A/U ns
B/V ns
L/R ns

38. Summary
English: Interference from homophones and /l/ - /r/ ‘omophones (not in errors)
Japanese: (h)omophone interference
Spanish: (h)omophone interference, but not for individual contrasts, not on errors.

39. Why /l/-/r/ interference?
Cf. Lukatela et al. (2001) (masked priming in lexical decision):
ZEA - SEA > VEA - SEA
LOAD - ROAD > TOAD - ROAD ?

40. ‘Omophony and bilingualism
Words tend to activate ‘omophones more than similarly spelled words.
But representations for ‘omophones do not overlap (completely), at least in the Spanish group.