Lexical tonal effects in code-switching: A comparative study of Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese switching with English

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11320%2F25%3A8E7K6W8E" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11320/25:8E7K6W8E - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85166521861&doi=10.1177%2f13670069231181508&partnerID=40&md5=fe8ffc3f94580be2a6d8ffd043563217" target="_blank" >https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85166521861&doi=10.1177%2f13670069231181508&partnerID=40&md5=fe8ffc3f94580be2a6d8ffd043563217</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13670069231181508" target="_blank" >10.1177/13670069231181508</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Lexical tonal effects in code-switching: A comparative study of Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese switching with English

Original language description

Aims and objectives: Previous research has revealed much about the syntactic and social variables conditioning code-switching (i.e., the alternation between two or more languages in a discourse or utterance); however, little is known about the phonological effects. Our work explores this area by asking two main questions: (1) Does lexical tone affect code-switching between a tonal language and a non-tonal language? and (2) Is this effect (or lack thereof) observable cross-linguistically? Methodology: We examine natural code-switching production between Cantonese and English, Mandarin and English, and Vietnamese and English. We use a semi-automatic natural-language processing method to process and extract relevant variables, including tonal categories at switch points. Data and analysis: Data include transcribed natural speech from three bilingual corpora: the HLVC corpus (Cantonese/English, 25 speakers), the SEAME corpus (Mandarin/English, 20 speakers), and the CanVEC corpus (Vietnamese/English, 45 speakers). We use logistic mixed-effects models to examine tonal effects, taking into account other factors such as frequency and grammatical category. Findings/conclusion: We found a robust tonal effect in Cantonese/English, a less robust effect in Mandarin/English, and no effect in Vietnamese/English. This indicates there is a tonal effect in code-switching between a tonal and a non-tonal language, but this effect is language-dependent. We also found a specific T3 ‘step-up’ pattern at Cantonese-English switch points and offered some possible phonological explanations. Originality: This is the first study that systematically investigates tonal effects in code-switching across different language pairs, using comparable data and methods. Our finding of a Cantonese-English T3 ‘step-up’ pattern is also a novel discovery that hitherto has not been documented. Significance/implications: Theoretically, our findings support Clyne’s ‘facilitation theory’ in code-switching at a prosodic level. Empirically, we nevertheless emphasised the complexity of different prosodic features and social variables in play, thereby rejecting the idea of ‘predicting’ code-switching solely based on linguistic factors. © The Author(s) 2023.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_SC - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the SCOPUS database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10201 - Computer sciences, information science, bioinformathics (hardware development to be 2.2, social aspect to be 5.8)

Project

—

Continuities

—

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

International Journal of Bilingualism

ISSN

1367-0069

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

28

Issue of the periodical within the volume

5

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

29

Pages from-to

799-827

UT code for WoS article

—

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85166521861