The article focuses on the agreement (in case and number) of English adjectives used with Estonian nouns in noun phrases (Eng ADJ + EST N) in Estonian blogs and vlogs. According to the Matrix Language Frame model (MLF), one would expect English adjective stems to take on Estonian inflections, but this is not always the case. The data comes from fashion and lifestyle blogs and vlogs that have Estonian as the main language and contain English language material to various degrees. Altogether, 84 noun phrases were analysed: in 35 instances the adjective agreed with the noun and in 46 instances it did not; in 3 instances the agreement was complicated to determine. The analysis showed that English adjectives that have a sound structure similar to Estonian adjectives as a rule agree with Estonian nouns. Factors that may lead to non-agreement are stem alternation, differences in writing and pronunciation, and personal preferences. Kokkuvõte. Helin Kask: Ühilduda või mitte? Inglise adjektiivid eestiinglise kakskeelsetes blogides ja vlogides. Artiklis uuritakse, kas eestiinglise kakskeelsetes blogides ja vlogides ühilduvad inglise adjektiivid eesti substan tiividega käändes ja arvus. Maatrikskeele raamistiku mudeli kohaselt eel datakse, et inglise tüvele lisatakse vajalikud eesti käändelõpud ja muud tunnused, siiski ei ole see alati nii. Andmed pärinevad moe-, ilu- ja elustiiliblogidest ning -vlogidest, milles põhikeel on eesti keel, kuid milles kasu tatakse ka inglise keelt. Kokku uuriti 84 nimisõnafraasi (inglise ADJ + eesti SUB), neist 35 juhul ühildus inglise adjektiiv eesti substantiiviga nii arvus kui ka käändes ning 46 juhul ei ühildunud, 3 juhul ei olnud võimalik ühildumist üheselt määrata. Analüüs näitas, et eesti substantiividega ühilduvad sellised ingliskeelsed adjektiivid, mis häälikulise ja silbistruktuuri poolest sarnanevad eesti muuttüüpide tüüpsõnadega. Mitteühildumise põhjused on astmevaheldus, erinevused kirjapildis ja häälduses, samuti informandi isiklikud eelistused.
Abstract. Th e article discusses English-language impact on Estonian in online blogs. Th e data comprise blog entries from 15 Estonian fashion, beauty and lifestyle blogs from 2012 to February 2016. Th e corpus consists of 283 post entries (141,480 words (tokens)). Th e research showed that there are far fewer selective copies than global copies, probably because selective copies appear at more advanced stages of acquisition. Global copies are usually copied due to semantic specifi city, for example fashion lexis (e.g. look, etc.). Th ey are also copied due to their importance at the discourse level, for example god, oh well, etc.Oft en the English something is done by someone and have-constructions are copied, as these are already habitualized in Estonian. Th ere is also evidence of semantic copying, which causes changes in content or usage of unusual expressions under English infl uence.Th ere are also mixed copies, where global copies are used as lexical cores in copied combinational patterns (e.g. Eng. 'epic' used to form an adjective). A mixed copy oft en represents a transitory stage between a global copy and a selective copy; this might be the case in this research, as there were more mixed copies than selective ones. Th is might be because selective copies appear at more advanced stages of acquisition.
The article focuses on a comparison of English-Estonian code-copying in blogs and in vlogs. This paper applies a usage-based approach, combining a cognitive angle with the code-copying framework. The aim is to provide a holistic view on contact-induced language change by applying bottom-up analysis of naturalistic multilingual language use. In contact linguistic literature it has been observed that there is a preference for insertions vs. alternations depending on sociolinguistic setting (community type, generation, proficiency) and structural properties of the languages involved. Research on English-Estonian language contacts has shown that in blogs there is no clear preference for either. From a different point of view, it has been observed that lexical impact (global copying in the terms of code-copying framework) precedes semantic and structural impact (selective copying) but provide no explanation. Comparisons between blogs (750 entries and 275,263 words from 45 bloggers) and vlogs (5,5 hours, approximately 36,854 words from 5 vloggers) shows that global copies and alternations heavily prevail over other types of copying, yet the number of selective copies is somewhat higher in vlogs and of mixed copies in blogs. Selective copies are loan translations rather than structural changes. We assume that (1) prevalence of global copies and alternations depends on genre norms (blogs and vlogs are constructed as non-monolingual, highly individualized genres); (2) as selective copies are mostly loan translations, it implies the role of meaning and cognitive aspects: idioms and fixed expressions are figurative and cognitively prominent; combinational properties and grammatical meanings are abstract; so, the more abstract the meaning is, the more cognitive effort and time is required for entrenchment and conventionalization; (3) copying and alternation is denser in vlogs because the genre is oral and spontaneous vs. written, edited genre of blog.
This study investigated how speakers of Estonian as L1 with varying degree of proficiency in English judge grammaticality of bilingual constructions English adjective + Estonian noun from the point of view of adjective agreement. Estonian is rich in inflectional morphology, and adjectives agree with nouns in case and number. The empirical evidence from English-Estonian bilingual speech shows that agreement is not always the case even when an English adjective fits into Estonian declension system. It is hypothesized that the higher proficiency in/exposure to English is, the higher is the acceptability of bilingual adjective phrases, and (non-)agreement does not play a role. To test this, an experiment was designed where the test corpus of 108 sentences consisted of real and constructed examples, both in agreement and non-agreement condition. Real sentences came from fashion and beauty blogs and vlogs. The test was administered online and the participants were asked to rate adjective acceptability. The hypothesis was confirmed: increased proficiency in English, together with younger age, had a positive correlation with acceptability of all adjective types, independent of adjective (non-)agreement. Residence and birthplace had a small effect on acceptability of some adjective types. Whether sentences were real or constructed, had only a minor effect. Male participants tended to assess real sentences lower, probably because of the topics typical for female blogs. Monosyllabic consonant-ending adjectives were exceptional, as their assessment did not depend on any factor. All in all, the study demonstrated that grammaticality judgment among the native speakers of the same L1 differs because of different degrees of bilingualism, and structural factors, such as compatibility with Estonian declension system, are not decisive. Thus, it is not clear what an ideal native speaker is.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.