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Lexical aspects of standard dialect bilingualism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Mirjam Woutersen*
Affiliation:
University of Nijmegen
Albert Cox
Affiliation:
University of Nijmegen
Bert Weltens
Affiliation:
University of Nijmegen
Kees De Bot
Affiliation:
University of Nijmegen
*
Mirjam Woutersen, University of Nijmegen, Erasmusplein 1, 6525 HT Nijmegen

Abstract

Weinreich (1953) distinguished three types of bilingualism: the compound, the coordinate, and the subordinative. In this article, we use his partition to describe the effects of a small typological distance on the organization of the bilingual lexicon. In order to do so, two relatively closely related varieties were used, standard Dutch and the dialect of Maastricht. Subjects had to carry out an auditory lexical decision task using the repetition priming paradigm. Stimuli under investigation were cognates and noncognates. There were two age groups (13 and 17 years old) and two language backgrounds (standard Dutch and Maastricht dialect). The results indicated no differences depending on age. With regard to language background, no interlingual repetition priming was found for the dialect speakers. However, in contrast with earlier findings on visual repetition priming, there were interlingual repetition effects not only for the cognates, but also for the noncognates when the standard speakers were concerned. Therefore, we concluded that, at least in the auditory modality, the dialect speakers in question are coordinate bilinguals and the standard speakers are subordinative bilinguals. Finally, it is shown that Weinreich's model in his pure form leads to unexplainable processes in language acquisition. For that reason, his distinctions are incorporated into the lexico-semantic model of Levelt (1989).

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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