Myers-Scotton, Carol (2002) Contact Linguistics: Bilingual

Myers-Scotton, Carol (2002) Contact Linguistics: Bilingual

Encounters and Grammatical Outcomes, OxfordUniversity Press.

Announced at

Alexander Yu. Rusakov, St. PetersburgStateUniversity

The book under review contains a detailed account of Myers-

Scotton's theory in its current state. This theory was first proposed in

her landmark classic "Duelling languages" (Myers-Scotton 1993a);

further developments in this theory can be traced in numerous

follow-up studies written by either Myers-Scotton alone (e.g. 1998,

2001 ) or in collaboration with colleagues (first of all, Myers-Scotton

& Jake 1995, 2000). Although the cornerstone assumptions remain

unchanged, the theory has significantly changed since its

appearance. It may be observed that a general trend of that

development was a shift from a theory of code-switching with

special stress on its grammatical aspect to a broader theory of

language contacts. The phenomena viewed in this theory are

different kinds of structural outcome in the languages involved in the

contacts, ranging from borrowing to the formation of pidgin and

creole languages. It is repeatedly pointed out that there is a

fundamental unanimity between the phenomena at issue (cf. <[t]he

same set of principles and processes explains all contact

phenomena>, XII), as well as between bilingual and monolingual

speech (cf. <[t]hese principles and processes are apparent in

language in general>, XII).

Along with the discussion of the ideas put forward by Myers-Scotton

and numerous linguistic facts in support of those, the book contains

an elaborate and expedient survey of the up-to-date literature for

each of the raised topics. The text of the book is extremely dense,

which poses certain problems for reviewing it. Thus, in the synopsis,

I will confine myself to the indication at the basic issues raised in

each chapter. It is equally impossible to touch upon all the

theoretical problems discussed by Myers-Scotton in the evaluative

part of the review. Thus I am forced to concentrate on a small range

of issues, mostly on those of particular interest to me personally.

SYNOPSIS

The monograph is aptly organized from a didactic point of view. In

the first chapter, a short outline of a theoretical model or, rather, of

several models proposed by Myers-Scotton is offered, "[c]hapter 2 is

the only one that does not focus on grammatical structures in specific

contact phenomena; instead, it offers an overview of the

sociolinguistic factors that promote bilingualism across societies and

in individuals" (28). The third chapter contains a detailed description

of the theoretical approach advocated in the book, while the

following three ones show how this approach "works" with respect

to the various types of contact data. In particular, chapter 4 focuses

on the "problematic" cases of code-switching, chapter 5 on the

problems of convergence and attrition and chapter 6 on lexical

borrowings, mixed languages and creoles. "The final chapter

(Chapter 7) offers a summary in the form of a set of hypotheses

based on discussions in the earlier chapters" (29).

1. INTRODUCTION (1-29)

briefly outlines the subject of investigation (see above) and

introduces the general theoretical base of the study. This base

includes four general principles:

- The Matrix Language principle

- The Uniform Structure principle, cf. "[a] given constituent type in

any language has a uniform abstract structure and the requirements

of well-formedness for this constituent type must be observed

whenever the constituent appears" (8)

- The Assymetry Principle for bilingual frames (assymetry of the

participation of the languages involved in the bilingual speech)

- and The Morpheme-Sorting Principle ("[a]t the abstract level of

linguistic competence and production, there are different types of

morphemes. In bilingual speech, the outcome of these abstract

differences is that all the morphemes from the participating varieties

do not have equal possibilities of occurence" (9).

Based on these principles, three models are put forward: the main

Matrix Language Frame model (MLF), that was originally proposed

in (Myers-Scotton 1993a) and then amended almost to its current

state in Myers-Scotton 1997, and two supplementary models

developed in collaboration with Jan Jake - The 4-M model and the

Abstract Level model. These models are thoroughly described in

Chapter 3.

A number of questions essential for further argument are tackled in

the Introduction. In particular, "implications for a model of language

production" are discussed; an approach adopted by Myers-Scotton

"presupposes the model of language production" that is generally in

accordance with (Levelt 1989) although in a modified version

(basically, as a result of putting forward the 4-M model).

A crucial terminological opposition is introduced here between

classic codeswitching (codeswitching in which both the matrix

language and embedded language are preserved more or less intact,

and "the speakers ... can produce well-formed monolingual

utterances in the variety which becomes the source of... ML" - 8) and

composite codeswitching (matrix language has gone through a

convergence with the embedded language).

2. THE ROOTS OF LANGUAGE CONTACT (30-52) views

language contact phenomena from a sociolinguistic point of view.

Some factors favoring bilingualism are revealed, as well as "the

costs and rewards of bilingualism in the international area" and the

"motivations to become bilingual". A separate section is devoted to

language-use patterns, here lexical borrowing are dealt with (to be

discussed in more detail in chapter 6) along with the use of language

in various functional domains and sociolinguistic aspects of

codeswitching. Besides, Rational Choice Model (cf. in detail Myers-

Scotton & Bolonyai 2001) is briefly outlined, which is an up-to-date

variant of Myers-Scotton's earlier Markedness model (cf. Myers-

Scotton 1993b). The most important innovation in this model is

assuming "that choices are best explained as cognitive based

calculations that depend on their estimations of what choices offer

them the greatest rewards... [t]hat a bilingual may see switching

languages at some point in a conversation as a way to optimize

rewards" (46). Further on, one may find a short section devoted to

language shift; finally, in the end of the chapter and as a kind of

transitory part to the essential part of the monograph, six structural

results of bilingualism are listed which are the topics of the book.

These are (i) lexical borrowing, (ii) codeswitching, (iii) convergence,

(iv) attrition, that goes hand in hand with language shift, (v) mixed

(split) languages, and (vi) creoles (52).

3. EXPLAINING THE MODELS AND THEIR USES (53-107)

contains a detailed description of the three basic models, with

special stress on the innovations as compared to the theory outlined

in Myers-Scotton 1993a. Some points are highlighted:

- CP (projection of complementizer) and not sentence is used as

unit of analysis (an argument for that has been already proposed in

Myers-Scotton 1997). Codeswitching addressed to in the monograph

is codeswitching within the CP exclusively. Such a preference is first

of all due to the vagueness of the notion of sentence and,

contrariwise, to the clearness of the notion of CP.

- There are some amendments with respect to the concept of Matrix

Language (ML) if compared to the 1993 model. In particular, it is

indicated that, although ML may change within an utterance, it

happens very rarely and, most importantly, ML does not change

within the CP. A discussion follows on the relations between ML

and "the source variety that the Matrix Language frame so closely

resembles" (66). In order to demonstrate the distinction, Myers-

Scotton points at the fact that there are two types of elements that are

built into the ML frame (bare forms from Embedded Language and

Embedded Language islands) "that are not completely integrated into

the morphosyntax of the source of the Matrix Language" (67).

Admittedly, however, "'Matrix Language' may be used as a label for

the source language as a short cut" (67). It is curious in this respect

that on the following page one reads that "[t]he Matrix Language is

an abstract construct... . The Matrix language is an abstract frame...

[i]t does not include actual morphemes nor is it isomorphic with any

fully fleshed-out linguistic variety" (68). It seems that the relations

(or even a controversy) between the two understandings of ML, viz.

1) a language form that is near to, although probably distinct from,

the source language (this distinction is in fact determined by the

ML's role in Codeswitching) and 2) ML as an abstract frame

remain somewhat unexplicated (see also Boussofara Omar 2003).

- An opposition between content and system morphemes yields its

place to a more sophisticated 4-M model. The need for such a model

was called for by the fact that there were system morphemes of

Embedded language that did not meet one of the basic principles of

the model, viz. not to appear in mixed constituents. The crucial point

of the new model is a more detailed classification of morphemes that

is based on the parameters that are in no way related to contact

phenomena. The cornerstone opposition of this new classification is

[ conceptually activated] distinction of morphemes. The first

group of morphemes embraces those morphemes that "are salient at

the level of the mental lexicon". Lemmas underlying these "types of

morpheme are more directly linked to speaker's intention" (74); in

other words, such elements have semantic content" (76). Content

morphemes and early system morphemes belong to this group, the

lemmas underlying the latter kind of morphemes are, as it were,

extracted by the lemmas of underlying content morphemes, as they

are activated on earlier stages of sentence production. The other

group encompasses two types of late system morphemes that serve

syntactic relations, within and outside the Maximal Projection of

Head, correspondingly. These morphemes are activated at the later

stages of utterance production. One of the main objectives of the

book is to demonstrate that these two groups of morphemes behave

differently in contact situations.

Two other points must be emphasized. 1) The very term 'morpheme'

is used to convey two different meaning in Myers-Scotton's book,

namely, for the actual surface-level morphemes, but also for the

lemmas that support them, abstract entities in the mental lexicon

(106). Accordingly, several 'underlying' morphemes may

correspond to a single 'surface' one. This is of particular importance

when dealing with inflexional languages (see below). 2) 'Early' and

'late' morphemes may be mixed within one grammatical category;

e.g. 'semantic' case morphemes (such as locative and the like) are

'early' morphemes, while syntax-oriented case morphemes belong to

the 'late' type of morphemes.

- Another important achievement is an introduction of the Abstract

Level theory claiming "that there are three levels of abstract

grammatical structure in any lexical item... [:] (i) the level of lexical-

conceptual structure...; (ii) the level of predicate-argument

structure..; (iii) the level of morphological realization patterns..."

(96). Two domains in which this model is at work are discussed at

some length. On the one hand, in classic codeswitching (see above

for the term) a morpheme of the embedded language that 'pretend' to

be uttered must be checked for congruence with its "Matrix language

counterparts". If this congruence fails at a certain level, the elements

of the embedded language are included in a not fully integrated form

(bare forms or Embedded Language islands; see Chapter 4 for these

problems). On the other hand, the Abstract Level model neatly

accounts for the convergence phenomena (to be discussed in Chapter

5).

4. CONSIDERING PROBLEMATIC CODESWITCHING DATA

AND OTHER APPROACHES (108-163). The chapter views the

'behavior' of morphemes of Embedded Language, when they do not

meet the requirement of congruence (imposed by the Abstract Level

model). One option is the incorporation of bare forms. It is shown

that the incongruence of the NP structures in Embedded and Matrix

Languages leads to the intrusion of a lexical morpheme in its bare

form; on the contrary, if the early system morphemes of the NP (e.g.,

determiners) show the full congruency with the corresponding

elements of the Matrix language they may be used with their content

morphemes.

Another topic of this chapter is Embedded Language Islands. A

number of important theoretical issues are touched upon here. These

include triggering (Myers-Scotton is rather skeptical with respect to

the role of this phenomenon), pragmatic and grammatical motivation

of Embedded Language Islands use, Embedded Language islands

and proficiency. As regards the latter, Myers-Scotton makes a rather

witty remark: a wide use of Embedded Language Islands is

indicative of high proficiency in Embedded Language. On the other

hand, "when speakers are nearly equally at home in both languages,

almost ironically, Embedded Language Islands lose their importance.

Instead, switching between CPs becomes very frequent as well as

switching between sentences" (149). (Could not it be the case that in

this situation one may rather speak about a short-term poise between

the two languages without clear domination of one of them?)

Finally, in the last section of the chapter, Myers-Scotton tackles the

question of distinguishing between borrowing and codeswitching,

the topic that has been already discussed in some detail as early as in

Myers-Scotton 1993a. This section is primarily based on the dispute

with those researchers whose views go contrary to those of Myers-

Scotton. These are first of all Susanne Polack and her associates as

well the adherents of the Government and Binding theory or

Minimalist programm. Myers-Scotton points at fundamental

similarity between borrowing and codeswitching, at least on a

synchronic level.

There are some other crucial points in this chapter that seem to be

relevant for the whole theory of Myers-Scotton.

1) The problem of different patterns of behavior of verbs resp. nouns

in language contacts. This problem has been attracting researchers'

attention for many years (see e.g. a special section on bilingual verbs

in Muysken 2000). This topic is prevailing throughout the book.

There are several remarks that are worth mentioning in this respect.

- Unlike nouns, verbs "are [똗Ꙫ� role assigner] and therefore

carry more 'syntactic baggage' than nouns, meaning their fit with the

recipient language may be harder to make" (76);

- The reason for the frequently attested use of Embedded Language

verbs in do-constructions in Matrix Language could be "a conflict of

branching requirements between the Matrix language and the

Embedded Language" (162).

- Infrequency of adapted verb forms' use may be accounted for by

the "lack of congruence across tense/aspect systems" (138).

2) As regards Embedded Language Islands, Myers-Scotton dwells on

the notion of "internal Embedded Language Island", that is, a

constituent which is "part of larger constituent in which they

constitute a sister to a Matrix language element under N-bar..."

(149). In some cases, such an island is in fact just an inflected

wordform of Embedded Language, e.g. a plural forms (ghost-s).

Elsewhere, arguing against (although partially agreeing with) Ad

Backus, Myers-Scotton advances an important observation,

according to which "[i]dioms, like irregular plurals and irregular past

tenses in English (and other languages), may well be contained in

single lemmas and therefore are not compositionally assembled"

(141). It is not, however, completely clear whether the units of this

kind that are reproduced by rote are Embedded Language Islands

(probably not?). This problem is very important for the

understanding of the essence of codeswitching in inflexional

languages; I'll touch upon it once again in the last part of the review.

5. CONVERGENCE AND ATTRITION (164-232). According

Myers-Scotton, convergence as outcome has "two distinctive

features: (i) all surface morphemes come from one language; (ii) the

abstract lexical structure projecting these morphemes no longer

comes from one language, but includes some abstract structure from

another language" (164). These features are characteristic for the

attrition as well. The difference between these phenomena has a

sociolinguistic rather purely linguistic sense: the convergence is

characteristic for the given speech community as a whole (or for the

part of speech community); the attrition is an individual feature.

Besides It may be passingly remarked that the distinction between

convergence and attrition is drawn less straightforwardly than is

usually typical of Myers-Scotton.

In this chapter several key notions of contact linguistics are

discussed, such as convergence areas (=Sprachbund). It is

emphasized that "such areas result from past instances of

asymmetrical relationships" (230). Existing studies of language

attrition are inquired into in much detail. In this discussion, Myers-

Scotton appears to be rather skeptical towards the notion of

markedness (following Thomason and Kaufman 1988 in this

respect).

Central for this chapter are theoretical assumptions of Myers-Scotton

herself. Being based on the studies of individual attrition (belonging

to both Myers-Scotton and other researchers), these assumptions are,

of course, valid with respect to convergence as well.

An essential notion of composite matrix language is introduced, i.e.

of a language that has undergone convergence ("[b]oth convergence

and codeswitching necessarily involve a composite Matrix

language", 165). It is noticed below, however, that convergence

merely "often involves codeswitching". The major part of the section

is devoted to the discussion of whether Abstract Level model and 4-

M model are applicable in the analysis of attrition and convergence.

A number of hypotheses are put forward; these could be briefly

summarized in the two following hierarchies of susceptibility of

alteration under attrition:

(i) Predicate-argument structure < morphological realization patterns

< lexical-conceptual structure

(ii) Late system morphemes < early system morphemes < content

morphemes

It remains unclear, however, with respect to the first of these two

clines, whether it is arrived at deductively or based on a quantitative

analysis of empirical data. In the latter case, it must be noticed that

statistical data reported in the monograph (p. 200) are not themselves

convincing enough for the hierarchy proposed.

6. LEXICAL BORROWING, SPLIT (MIXED) LANGUAGES,

AND CREOLE FORMATION (233-294). This chapter, one of the

most substantial in the book, concentrates on a topic, which is in fact

essential for the whole monograph, namely, on the discrepant