NSF Award
2415153
Linguistic research seeks to uncover language universals-properties that characterize all human languages-as well as the reasons why languages differ. Across languages, demonstratives like "this/that" in English and "este/ese/aquel" in Spanish provide an excellent tool for advancing these aims because demonstratives exist in all languages and are used to manage attention, which is a general function of language. For example, when a speaker says "this book is heavy," the use of "this" draws attention to a particular book. At the same time, demonstratives vary across languages in number and meaning. This project focuses on one way that demonstratives are different across languages: addressee effects. When a speaker says something like "look at this book" or "look at that book," does she only focus on herself and the book when choosing to say this or that (e.g., this = near me, that = far from me)? Or does the person she’s talking to-her addressee-affect this choice? On possibility is that demonstrative usage is affected by how close the addressee is to the referent and whether the speaker and addressee are paying attention to the same referent. Given that demonstratives manage attention, addressee effects should be present in all languages. Yet previous research has found that this is not the case. These unexpected differences require greater examination. With this aim, this project investigates demonstrative use in three bilingual communities. The languages under study vary in the number of demonstratives that they use. Because of this wide variation, comparing across the languages advances scientific understanding of how inventory size-the number of demonstrative terms in a system-shapes demonstrative use. <br/><br/>Participants complete a language dominance assessment and two experiments, one manipulating addressee location and the other addressee attention. Bilinguals complete the experiments in both their languages. Addressee location effects are predicted to occur mainly in languages with larger demonstrative inventories. In contrast, addressee attention effects may be more universal. Besides testing these predictions, the project's focus on bilingualism informs key understanding of how bilinguals' languages interact. For example, if addressee effects have been identified in one language but not the other, what happens among bilingual speakers? The three communities offer a unique testing ground for studying bilingualism because they represent distinct bilingual profiles. Comparing across different communities illuminates how language dominance predicts language interaction. The project also contributes to methodologies for studying bilingualism worldwide and serves as an intensive research training experience for students at the University of New Mexico, a minority and Hispanic serving institution. Finally, the project benefits communities by building capacity via workshops, language materials designed for educators, and by widely disseminating articles in newsletters that translate the research findings for the community at large.<br/><br/>This project is jointly funded by the Linguistics Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).<br/><br/>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.
