Abstract:
Filler particles like uhm in English or ähm in German show subtle language-specific differences and their variation in form is related to socio-linguistic variables like gender. The use of fillers in a second language has been shown to differ from monolinguals\' filler particle use in both frequency and form in different language contexts. This study investigates the language-specific use of filler particles by bilingual heritage speakers in both their languages, looking at the dominant majority language in the society and their minority heritage language spoken at home. This is done based on heritage Russian and German data and majority German and English data from the RUEG corpus. Language-specific fillers were extracted from the corpus and analyzed for their occurrence and segmental form. The frequency analysis suggests an influence of bilingualism, age group, and formality of the situation on the filler frequency across all languages. The number of filler particles is higher in formal, older, and bilingual speech. The form analysis reveals an effect of language and gender on the type of filler particle. The vocalic-nasal filler particles (e.g., uhm) are more frequently found in German and English and in female speech of these languages. Heritage speakers of Russian in contact with German and English show higher use of vocalic-nasal forms also in their Russian while producing similar gender related patterns to monolingual speakers in both their languages. The higher frequency of filler particles in formal situations, older speakers and in bilingual speech, is discussed related to cognitive load which is assumed to be higher in these contexts while speech style which differs between situations and social groups is also considered as explanation. The higher use of vocalic-nasal filler particles in German and English suggests language specific filler particle preferences also related to the socio-linguistic variable gender in these languages. The results from heritage speakers suggest and influence on filler particle form in their heritage language, while also revealing socio-linguistic usage patterns related to gender which are produced by heritage speakers similarly to monolinguals in their respective language.
摘要:
诸如英语中的uhm或德语中的ähm之类的填充粒子显示出细微的特定语言差异,它们的形式变化与性别等社会语言变量有关。在第二语言中使用填充剂已被证明在不同的语言环境中在频率和形式上都不同于单语言填充剂颗粒的使用。这项研究调查了两种语言的双语传统使用者对填料颗粒的特定语言使用,看看社会上占主导地位的多数语言和他们在家里说的少数民族传统语言。这是基于RUEG语料库中的传统俄语和德语数据以及大多数德语和英语数据完成的。从语料库中提取特定语言的填充物,并分析其发生和节段形式。频率分析表明双语的影响,年龄组,以及所有语言的填充频率上的形式。填料颗粒的数量在形式上较高,年长的,双语演讲形式分析揭示了语言和性别对填充粒子类型的影响。声音-鼻腔填充物颗粒(例如,uhm)在德语和英语以及这些语言的女性语言中更常见。与德语和英语接触的传统俄语使用者在俄语中也显示出较高的语音-鼻型使用率,同时与两种语言的单语使用者产生相似的性别相关模式。填料颗粒在正式情况下的频率越高,年长的演讲者和双语演讲,讨论了与认知负荷有关的问题,在这些情况下,认知负荷被认为更高,而在情况和社会群体之间不同的语音风格也被视为解释。德语和英语中声鼻填充剂颗粒的使用率较高,这表明语言特定的填充剂颗粒偏好也与这些语言中的社会语言变量性别有关。遗产使用者的结果表明并影响了他们遗产语言中的填充物颗粒形式,同时还揭示了与性别相关的社会语言使用模式,这些模式是由传统说话者以各自的语言产生的,类似于单一语言。