Incomplete L1 Acquisition in the Immigrant Situation

Yiddish in the United States

Glenn S. Levine

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9783484304260
• eBook ISBN: 9783110925982
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: German Language
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

This monograph establishes a theoretical model for the investigation of 'incomplete L1 acquisition' in the immigrant situation. The study focuses on the linguistic behaviour of elderly speakers who acquired Yiddish simultaneously with English and have not used the language since childhood. The central question is whether ungrammatical forms in the data can be traced to the attrition of forms once acquired or to the incomplete acquisition of those forms. With regard to Yiddish present perfect rules, results favor the latter explanation, indicating long-fossilized, divergent child language.

Table of contents

• Preface and acknowledgements
• 1 Goals and theoretical framework
• 1.1 Introduction
• 1.2 Contents of this monograph
• 1.3 Child language acquisition: Assumptions
• 1.4 Bilingual L1 acquisition
• 1.5 Language death, L1 attrition, and incomplete L1 acquisition
• 1.6 Linguistic studies dealing with speakers of Yiddish
• 1.7 Summary
• 2 The study
• 2.1 Introduction: Inherent problems in the study of obsolescent languages
• 2.2 The population
• 2.3 Pilot studies
• 2.4 The sample
• 2.5 Locating informants
• 2.6 Primary informants
• 2.7 Additional informants
• 2.8 The interview
• 2.9 Data analysis
• 2.10 Summary
• 3 The language of incomplete L1 acquisition in the immigrant situation
• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 Proficiency continuum and personal-pattern variation in informants’ Yiddish
• 3.3 What sort of speakers of Yiddish are primary informants?
• 3.3.1 Are primary informants semi–speakers of Yiddish?
• 3.3.2 Are primary informants native speakers of Yiddish?
• 3.4 Characteristics of primary informants’ Yiddish
• 3.4.1 Phonological performance of primary and secondary informants
• 3.4.2 Compensatory narrative/discourse strategies
• 3.4.3 Scope and semantic characteristics of informants’ lexicon
• 3.4.4 Intrasentential codeswitching
• 3.4.5 Verbal morphosyntax
• 3.4.6 Nominal morphosyntax
• 3.5 Summary
• 4 Social and sociolinguistic factors in the incomplete L1 acquisition of Yiddish among primary informants
• 4.1 A sociolinguistic model of incomplete L1 acquisition in the immigrant situation
• 4.2 Speaker practice: Inadequate exposure
• 4.2.1 Inadequate exposure: Limited domains and registers
• 4.2.2 Inadequate exposure: One-way vertical communication
• 4.2.3 Inadequate exposure: Early termination of active use
• 4.3 Attitudes toward L1
• 4.4 Linguistic identity
• 4.5 Summary
• 5 Evidence of incomplete L1 acquisition in primary informants’ speech: Choice of auxiliary in the present perfect tense
• 5.1 Introduction
• 5.2 The present perfect tense in Yiddish and other Germanic languages
• 5.3 Primary informants’ use of the present perfect
• 5.4 Secondary informants: ‘Full acquisition’ speakers of Yiddish with L1 attrition
• 5.5 Bilingual and monolingual L1 acquisition
• 5.6 Bilingual L1 acquisition of German and English: Leopold (1970/1939–1949)
• 5.7 Bilingual L1 acquisition of German and English: De Houwer (1990) and the role of the dominant language
• 5.8 Conclusion
• 6 Conclusion
• 6.1 Summary of this monograph
• 6.2 Implications of the study
• 6.3 Directions for further research
• References
• Index