Mood Selection in Deontic Predicates in Child Heritage Spanish
Document Type
Paper Presentation
Presenter Language
English
Research Area
Bilingualism and multilingualism - Spanish in the US
Location
MBSC Dodge Room 302
Start Date
18-10-2024 11:30 AM
End Date
18-10-2024 12:00 PM
Abstract
We investigate the production of obligatory and variable subjunctive mood in deontic predicates in child heritage speakers of Spanish. In Spanish, mood selection is obligatory when the main verb selects the subjunctive mood in the subordinate clause (La mamá quiere que el niño estudie matemáticas), and variable when both moods are acceptable (La mamá le dijo al niño que come/coma mucho) with subtle changes in meaning. Previous research suggests low proportion of subjunctive use among adult heritage speakers in particular with variable subjunctive (Montrul, 2007; Van Osch & Sleeman, 2018). However, recent studies argue that those differences are mitigated by controlling the modality of the predicate and proficiency (Perez-Cortes, 2021).
We add to previous work by examining obligatory and variable subjunctive use with deontic predicates and the extent to which proficiency and experience modulate the expected response. 30 child heritage speakers of Spanish (6;5-12;8, M=9.23), 30 monolingual children (6;0-12;2, M=9.13), 15 immigrant parents and 15 monolingual parents from Mexico took part in the study. The results indicated that only the child heritage speakers exhibited a statistically significant difference in the proportion of subjunctive use (p
Mood Selection in Deontic Predicates in Child Heritage Spanish
MBSC Dodge Room 302
We investigate the production of obligatory and variable subjunctive mood in deontic predicates in child heritage speakers of Spanish. In Spanish, mood selection is obligatory when the main verb selects the subjunctive mood in the subordinate clause (La mamá quiere que el niño estudie matemáticas), and variable when both moods are acceptable (La mamá le dijo al niño que come/coma mucho) with subtle changes in meaning. Previous research suggests low proportion of subjunctive use among adult heritage speakers in particular with variable subjunctive (Montrul, 2007; Van Osch & Sleeman, 2018). However, recent studies argue that those differences are mitigated by controlling the modality of the predicate and proficiency (Perez-Cortes, 2021).
We add to previous work by examining obligatory and variable subjunctive use with deontic predicates and the extent to which proficiency and experience modulate the expected response. 30 child heritage speakers of Spanish (6;5-12;8, M=9.23), 30 monolingual children (6;0-12;2, M=9.13), 15 immigrant parents and 15 monolingual parents from Mexico took part in the study. The results indicated that only the child heritage speakers exhibited a statistically significant difference in the proportion of subjunctive use (p