Embedded word order in Heritage Scandinavian

Abstract

This paper investigates the word order in embedded clauses in Heritage Scandinavian (American Norwegian and American Swedish). It is shown that Heritage Scandinavian has a substantial amount of verb-raising across negation in embedded clauses. Verb-raising (i. e. the order verb-negation) is found in thatclauses, relative clauses and embedded questions; only the first allow the order verb-adverb in European Norwegian and Swedish. It is argued that the non-standard order (from a European perspective) should not be viewed as a consequence of direct transfer from English, and not as attrition. Instead, limited or incomplete acquisition of the heritage language leads to a grammar with V-to-T movement in addition to V-to-C movement. The acquisition of the heritage languages is assumed to follow the same path as the acquisition of the European Scandinavian languages, but it is delayed due to the limited input and interrupted when the heritage speakers start school.

Complexity Matters: On Gender Agreement in Heritage Scandinavian

“…As has been shown in a number of recent studies (e.g., Montrul, 2008 ; Pascual y Cabo et al, 2012 ; Benmamoun et al, 2013 ; Kupisch et al, 2014 ; Johannessen and Salmons, 2015 ; Polinsky, 2015b ; Larsson and Johannessen, 2015a , b ), heritage languages can provide important insights into the nature of language acquisition, the linguistic effects of bilingualism across the lifespan of the speaker, and the principles behind linguistic change 1 . In earlier work (Larsson and Johannessen, 2015a , b ; Larsson et al, 2015 ), we have identified four different factors that affect the development of the Scandinavian heritage language in America: contact between Scandinavian and English, contact between Scandinavian dialects (leading to dialect leveling and koineization), incomplete acquisition due to limited input and a language shift around the time of school start, and attrition. Attrition here refers to the loss of linguistic abilities that were once present in the speaker, due to lack of language use.…”

“…For instance, it has been shown that direct transfer from English affects the vocabulary (including function words), but not necessarily core syntax (Haugen, 1953 ; Hasselmo, 1974 ; Johannessen and Laake, 2012 , forthcoming ; Larsson et al, 2015 ). Larsson and Johannessen ( 2015a , b ) argue that incomplete acquisition on the other hand has led to syntactic change: Heritage Scandinavian has a different word order in embedded clauses than do the Norwegian and Swedish varieties as spoken in Scandinavia. Attrition, we have argued, might, on the other hand, lead to loss of verb second in root clauses in some speakers (Eide and Hjelde, 2012 ; Johannessen, 2015a ; Larsson and Johannessen, 2015b ).…”

The Development of Subject Position in Dutch-Dominant Heritage Speakers of Spanish: From Age 9 to Adulthood

“…Word order in heritage languages has been demonstrated to be prone to influence from the contact language, for instance in heritage Norwegian (Westergaard and Lohndal 2019), Swedish (Larsson and Johannessen 2015), Russian (Kagan and Dillon 2006), Dutch (De Bot and Clyne 1994) and Arabic (Albirini et al 2011), in contact with English. Word order in Spanish as a heritage language has been studied extensively in the context of the U.S.…”

Ledstilling i ledsætninger i dansk som arvesprog i Argentina. Et foreløbigt studium

“…Benmamoun et al (2013:148) angiver at syntaks, herunder ledstilling, ikke er så sårbart som fx bøjningsmorfologi over for en tilegnelse der mere eller mindre afbrydes hos arvesprogstalere i form af reduceret input. Flere studier af ledstilling blandt arvesprogstalere med skandinaviske og islandske rødder tyder dog på at det er et felt der udviser stor variation (se fx Flodell 1996;Kühl 2014;Arnbjörnsdóttir 2015;Eide & Hjelde 2015;Larsson & Johannessen 2015a;2015b).…”

“…Netop Larsson & Johannessens (2015a;2015b) arbejde om ledstilling i norsk og svensk arvesprog i USA er en af kilderne til grundantagelsen i det casestudie, jeg praesenterer her, om at fordelingen af ledsaetnings-og helsaetnings-AN NA SO F I E H A RTLING 57 N y F O R SK N I N G I GRAMMATIK , VOL. 23 (2016) 58 ledstilling (herefter adv>V-og V>adv-ledstilling) i ledsaetninger i talt dansk i Argentina er forskellig fra det mønster man finder i danmarksdansk talesprog.…”