Modeling the auxiliary phrase asymmetry in code-switched Spanish–English

Chara Tsoukala; Stefan Frank; A. van den Bosch; Jorge Valdés Kroff; Mirjam Broersma

doi:10.1017/S1366728920000449

Modeling the auxiliary phrase asymmetry in code-switched Spanish–English

Chara Tsoukala, Stefan Frank, A. van den Bosch, Jorge Valdés Kroff, Mirjam Broersma

Meertens Instituut

Onderzoeksoutput: Bijdrage aan wetenschappelijk tijdschrift/periodieke uitgave › Artikel › Wetenschappelijk › peer review

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Spanish–English bilinguals rarely code-switch in the perfect structure between the Spanish auxiliary haber (“to have”) and the participle (e.g., “Ella ha voted”; “She has voted”). However, they are somewhat likely to switch in the progressive structure between the Spanish auxiliary estar (“to be”) and the participle (“Ella está voting”; “She is voting”). This phenomenon is known as the “auxiliary phrase asymmetry”. One hypothesis as to why this occurs is that estar has more semantic weight as it also functions as an independent verb, whereas haber is almost exclusively used as an auxiliary verb. To test this hypothesis, we employed a connectionist model that produces spontaneous code-switches. Through simulation experiments, we showed that i) the asymmetry emerges in the model and that ii) the asymmetry disappears when using haber also as a main verb, which adds semantic weight. Therefore, the lack of semantic weight of haber may indeed cause the asymmetry.

Originele taal-2	Engels
Pagina's (van-tot)	1-10
Tijdschrift	Bilingualism: Language and Cognition
DOI's	https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728920000449
Status	Gepubliceerd - 24 aug. 2020

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10.1017/S1366728920000449

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title = "Modeling the auxiliary phrase asymmetry in code-switched Spanish–English",

abstract = "Spanish–English bilinguals rarely code-switch in the perfect structure between the Spanish auxiliary haber (“to have”) and the participle (e.g., “Ella ha voted”; “She has voted”). However, they are somewhat likely to switch in the progressive structure between the Spanish auxiliary estar (“to be”) and the participle (“Ella est{\'a} voting”; “She is voting”). This phenomenon is known as the “auxiliary phrase asymmetry”. One hypothesis as to why this occurs is that estar has more semantic weight as it also functions as an independent verb, whereas haber is almost exclusively used as an auxiliary verb. To test this hypothesis, we employed a connectionist model that produces spontaneous code-switches. Through simulation experiments, we showed that i) the asymmetry emerges in the model and that ii) the asymmetry disappears when using haber also as a main verb, which adds semantic weight. Therefore, the lack of semantic weight of haber may indeed cause the asymmetry.",

author = "Chara Tsoukala and Stefan Frank and {van den Bosch}, A. and {Vald{\'e}s Kroff}, Jorge and Mirjam Broersma",

year = "2020",

month = aug,

day = "24",

doi = "10.1017/S1366728920000449",

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T1 - Modeling the auxiliary phrase asymmetry in code-switched Spanish–English

AU - Tsoukala, Chara

AU - Frank, Stefan

AU - van den Bosch, A.

AU - Valdés Kroff, Jorge

AU - Broersma, Mirjam

PY - 2020/8/24

Y1 - 2020/8/24

N2 - Spanish–English bilinguals rarely code-switch in the perfect structure between the Spanish auxiliary haber (“to have”) and the participle (e.g., “Ella ha voted”; “She has voted”). However, they are somewhat likely to switch in the progressive structure between the Spanish auxiliary estar (“to be”) and the participle (“Ella está voting”; “She is voting”). This phenomenon is known as the “auxiliary phrase asymmetry”. One hypothesis as to why this occurs is that estar has more semantic weight as it also functions as an independent verb, whereas haber is almost exclusively used as an auxiliary verb. To test this hypothesis, we employed a connectionist model that produces spontaneous code-switches. Through simulation experiments, we showed that i) the asymmetry emerges in the model and that ii) the asymmetry disappears when using haber also as a main verb, which adds semantic weight. Therefore, the lack of semantic weight of haber may indeed cause the asymmetry.

AB - Spanish–English bilinguals rarely code-switch in the perfect structure between the Spanish auxiliary haber (“to have”) and the participle (e.g., “Ella ha voted”; “She has voted”). However, they are somewhat likely to switch in the progressive structure between the Spanish auxiliary estar (“to be”) and the participle (“Ella está voting”; “She is voting”). This phenomenon is known as the “auxiliary phrase asymmetry”. One hypothesis as to why this occurs is that estar has more semantic weight as it also functions as an independent verb, whereas haber is almost exclusively used as an auxiliary verb. To test this hypothesis, we employed a connectionist model that produces spontaneous code-switches. Through simulation experiments, we showed that i) the asymmetry emerges in the model and that ii) the asymmetry disappears when using haber also as a main verb, which adds semantic weight. Therefore, the lack of semantic weight of haber may indeed cause the asymmetry.

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JO - Bilingualism: Language and Cognition

JF - Bilingualism: Language and Cognition

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Modeling the auxiliary phrase asymmetry in code-switched Spanish–English

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