Chapter published in:
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. 181–206

Cross-linguistic influence in scope ambiguity

Evidence for acceleration

| Utrecht University
| McGill University
| Radboud University Nijmegen
Cross-linguistic influence of interface-conditioned properties in bilingual language acquisition has been reported in a large number of studies and various linguistic domains. While many of these studies have found that cross-linguistic influence can occur in the form of delay, few have shown evidence for acceleration (a.o., Kupisch, 2007; Meisel, 2007; Schwartz, Nir, Leikin, Levie, & Ravid, 2014). In this paper we investigate the interpretation of indefinites in sentences containing negation by simultaneous bilingual (2L1) English-Dutch and Italian-Dutch children. Our results provide evidence for cross-linguistic influence from Italian to Dutch in the form of acceleration, only. We conclude that in cases of partial overlap between a bilingual child’s two languages, the direction of cross-linguistic influence can also depend on language-internal properties.
Keywords: cross-linguistic influence, indefinites, bilingualism, acceleration
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Cross-linguistic influence in the area of syntax-semantics
  • 3.Indefinites and negation in Dutch and English monolingual development
  • 4.Study 1: Indefinites and negation in English-Dutch bilinguals
    • 4.1Participants and method
    • 4.2Results
    • 4.3Discussion
  • 5.Specific indefinites in Italian
  • 6.Study 2a: Indefinites and negation in monolingual Italian children and adults
    • 6.1Participants and method
    • 6.2Results
    • 6.3Discussion
  • 7.Study 2b: Indefinites and negation in Italian-Dutch bilinguals
    • 7.1Participants and method
    • 7.2Results
    • 7.3Discussion
  • 8.Comparison of Study 1 and Study 2
    • 8.1Results
    • 8.2Discussion
  • 9.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 19 December 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.52.09mer
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