Doctoral Dissertation Research: Phonological Aspects of word-internal Spanish/ English codeswitching

双语研究的一个基本目标是了解两个或多个语言系统在说话人的头脑中相互作用的方式。语码转换的双语现象，即在一个语言单位中使用两种语言，体现了语言系统之间的相互作用。这个单位可以是对话，可以是句子，甚至可以是单词。尽管语码转换以前被认为是一种不规范的语言使用，但研究人员已经确定，它实际上是系统性的，受规则控制。因此，对语码转换的研究提供了一个独特的视角来看待制约语言的规则。一个令人感兴趣的主要问题是语码转换可以发生的最小语言单位。虽然一个单词似乎可以由来自两种不同语言的语素(即最小的承载意义的语言单位)组成，但研究人员声称，用于产生该单词的声音必须来自一种语言。然而，这些说法从未经过实证检验。本论文采用实验室音系学的方法来确定双语者可以结合他们两个语音(即声音)系统中的元素的最小语言单位。本研究采用两种实验范式：产出性研究和听力可接受性判断任务，考察了墨西哥西班牙语/英语早期双语者的词内语码转换。这些实验的结果将告诉双语者是否产生语音转换的单词，并接受语音转换的单词作为其语言系统的合法输出，从而证实或否定了单词是语音代码转换的最小单位的假设。除了理论上的贡献，这项研究在芝加哥当地社区的传播还将有助于向普通公众和双语教育工作者/管理者宣传代码转换作为一种标准的双语言语实践的使用，它像任何自然语言一样受到规则的管理。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

One essential goal of research on bilingualism is to understand the ways in which two or more linguistic systems interact inside a speaker's mind. The bilingual phenomenon of code-switching, or the use of two languages in a single linguistic unit, embodies this interaction of linguistic systems. This unit can be a conversation, a sentence or even a word. Although code-switching was previously thought to be a 'substandard' use of language, researchers have determined that it is in fact systematic and rule-governed. Thus, the study of code-switching provides a unique lens with which to view the rules that constrain language. A primary question of interest regards the minimal linguistic unit within which code-switching can occur. While it appears that a single word can be composed of morphemes (i.e., the smallest meaning-bearing linguistic unit) from two different languages, researchers have claimed that the sounds used to produce that word must come from a single language. However, these claims have never been tested empirically. This dissertation project takes a laboratory phonology approach to determining the minimum linguistic unit within which a bilingual can combine elements from their two phonological (i.e., sound) systems. Intraword code-switching by Mexican Spanish/English early bilinguals will be examined using two experimental paradigms: a production study, and an aural acceptability judgment task. The results from these experiments will inform whether bilinguals produce phonologically switched words and accept phonologically switched words as licit outputs of their linguistic systems, thus confirming or rejecting the hypothesis that the word is the minimal unit for phonological code-switching. In addition to its theoretical contributions, dissemination of this research in the local Chicago community will contribute to the goal of informing the general public and bilingual educators/administrators about the use of code-switching as a standard bilingual speech practice that is rule governed like any natural language.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.