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Part of
Cross-linguistic Influence in Bilingualism: In honor of Aafke Hulk
Edited by Elma Blom, Leonie Cornips and Jeannette Schaeffer
[Studies in Bilingualism 52] 2017
► pp. 25–48

Extended use of demonstrative pronouns in two generations of Mandarin Chinese speakers in the Netherlands

Evidence of convergence?

| University of Amsterdam
| University of Amsterdam
| University of Amsterdam

This study investigated the use of demonstratives in encoding already mentioned referents in two generations of Mandarin Chinese speakers in the Netherlands. Data from twelve families was compared to baseline data from eight native controls in China. Previous literature suggests that languages without dedicated morphology to encode definiteness might develop such morphemes in contact with a language with articles (cf. Backus, Doğruöz, & Heine, 2011). Demonstrative pronouns may be reinterpreted as articles and this process could result in an increase in demonstrative use. We accordingly expected to find such an increase in Mandarin Chinese spoken in the Netherlands and found confirmation for this in both generations of speakers. A preference for the distal demonstrative was observed only in the second generation.

Keywords: cross-linguistic influence, heritage speakers, Mandarin-Chinese, demonstratives, grammaticalization
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework
    • 2.1Definiteness marking and cross-linguistic influence
    • 2.2Definiteness marking in heritage languages
    • 2.3Definiteness marking in Dutch and Mandarin Chinese
    • 2.4The current study
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Materials
    • 3.3Coding
    • 3.4Analysis
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 19 December 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.52.03aal
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