When the dominant languages are not ergative. A case of ergative variation in Basque in Basque-Spanish and Basque-English bilingual communities
Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0002-3515-9738
Document Type
Paper Presentation
Presenter Language
English
Research Area
Language contact; Language variation and change
Location
MBSC Gallery Room 308
Start Date
19-10-2024 11:30 AM
End Date
19-10-2024 12:00 PM
Abstract
Spanish and English follow the Nominative-Accusative case-marking system. That is, intransitive and transitive subjects carry the Nominative –Ø mark (1a-b, 2a-b), whereas, in transitive sentences, they mark the object with the Accusative case to distinguish the arguments (1b, 2b). If the object were not marked (–Ø), it would be ungrammatical (1c, 2c).
(1) a. I–Ø go to school. (2) a.Yo–Ø voy al colegio.
b. I–Ø see her. b. Yo–Ø la veo.
c. I–Ø see *she–Ø. c. Yo–Ø *ella–Ø veo.
However, Ergative-Absolutive languages, like Basque, follow a different pattern where they mark the subject to distinguish it from the other arguments. Thus, intransitive subjects carry the Absolutive –Ø mark (3a), whereas transitive subjects are marked with the Ergative case -k (3b). If both the subject and the object were marked with the same Absolutive –Ø mark, it would not be grammatical (1c/2c/3c).
(2) a. Ni–Ø eskolara noa.
I-NOM school-to go
b. Ni-k bera–Ø ikusi dut.
I-ERG her-ABS see AUX
c. *Ni–Ø bera–Ø ikusi dut.
I-ABS her-ABS see AUX
Given the different strategies in these two kinds of languages, bilinguals show variation in ergative nominal marking (Rodríguez-Ordóñez, 2022). Due to language ideologies of correctness and nativeness, the lack of marking is highly judged in the Basque-speaking society (Gondra et al., 2024). Thereupon, this paper investigates how sociolinguistic factors and language ideologies influence this variation in two very different settings: the Basque-Spanish speakers of the Basque Country (N=23), and the Basque-English heritage speakers (HS) (N=17) of Boise, Idaho.
An acceptability judgment task was employed, where participants rated the grammaticality of marked and unmarked utterances. Significant differences were found based on acquisition type, schooling, sibling order, animacy, and subject type (all p
Keywords: Basque – ergativity – variation – social meaning – language ideologies – heritage speakers – Boise – Idaho - Basque Country
REFERENCES
Rodríguez-Ordóñez, I. (2022). The role of frequency in the acquisition of structured variation: the case of Basque ergativity. International Journal of Bilingualism, 26(5):656-672.
Gondra, A., Rodríguez-Ordóñez, I. & Franco-Landa, E. (2024). Variation in the Production of Basque ergativity: Change or Stable Variation?. Language Variation and Change, 1-26.
When the dominant languages are not ergative. A case of ergative variation in Basque in Basque-Spanish and Basque-English bilingual communities
MBSC Gallery Room 308
Spanish and English follow the Nominative-Accusative case-marking system. That is, intransitive and transitive subjects carry the Nominative –Ø mark (1a-b, 2a-b), whereas, in transitive sentences, they mark the object with the Accusative case to distinguish the arguments (1b, 2b). If the object were not marked (–Ø), it would be ungrammatical (1c, 2c).
(1) a. I–Ø go to school. (2) a.Yo–Ø voy al colegio.
b. I–Ø see her. b. Yo–Ø la veo.
c. I–Ø see *she–Ø. c. Yo–Ø *ella–Ø veo.
However, Ergative-Absolutive languages, like Basque, follow a different pattern where they mark the subject to distinguish it from the other arguments. Thus, intransitive subjects carry the Absolutive –Ø mark (3a), whereas transitive subjects are marked with the Ergative case -k (3b). If both the subject and the object were marked with the same Absolutive –Ø mark, it would not be grammatical (1c/2c/3c).
(2) a. Ni–Ø eskolara noa.
I-NOM school-to go
b. Ni-k bera–Ø ikusi dut.
I-ERG her-ABS see AUX
c. *Ni–Ø bera–Ø ikusi dut.
I-ABS her-ABS see AUX
Given the different strategies in these two kinds of languages, bilinguals show variation in ergative nominal marking (Rodríguez-Ordóñez, 2022). Due to language ideologies of correctness and nativeness, the lack of marking is highly judged in the Basque-speaking society (Gondra et al., 2024). Thereupon, this paper investigates how sociolinguistic factors and language ideologies influence this variation in two very different settings: the Basque-Spanish speakers of the Basque Country (N=23), and the Basque-English heritage speakers (HS) (N=17) of Boise, Idaho.
An acceptability judgment task was employed, where participants rated the grammaticality of marked and unmarked utterances. Significant differences were found based on acquisition type, schooling, sibling order, animacy, and subject type (all p
Keywords: Basque – ergativity – variation – social meaning – language ideologies – heritage speakers – Boise – Idaho - Basque Country
REFERENCES
Rodríguez-Ordóñez, I. (2022). The role of frequency in the acquisition of structured variation: the case of Basque ergativity. International Journal of Bilingualism, 26(5):656-672.
Gondra, A., Rodríguez-Ordóñez, I. & Franco-Landa, E. (2024). Variation in the Production of Basque ergativity: Change or Stable Variation?. Language Variation and Change, 1-26.