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Abstract: In this paper we offer a panoramic overview of the development of Andean Spanish and Andean Linguistics, from a theoretical point of view of language contact and universal grammar. We discuss how the notion of Andean Spanish came into existence, the issues under debate, and the consequences of different theoretical positions. We also introduce the contents of the papers included in this special issue, and highlight their key points, framing them in the context of the research on universal grammar. The following five areas are covered: (1) the convergence of Quechua and Aymara, (2) the impact of bilingualism on intonation, (3) the sharing of suffixes in contact situations, (4) the modification of the present perfect tense in Spanish in contact with Quechua, and (5) the properties of the Quechua case system from the point of view of contact varieties. Finally, we provide some remarks on bilingual education, and some suggestions for further directions for future research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper bridges a gap in the ongoing research on heritage languages (HL), their acquisition, and the nature of transfer in HL with a comparative study on two understudied language combinations, namely Italian and Spanish heritage speakers (HS) raised in Germany with two native languages ( n = 18). Their data will be compared with those of first generation Italian and Spanish immigrants ( n = 18) in Germany (L1/L2 speakers) and those of control groups of monolingual Italian and Spanish speakers ( n = 17). Neither the quantitative analysis of their subject production (in total and related to grammatical person) nor the qualitative analysis regarding pragmatic appropriateness of null and overt subjects show significant differences between the HS and the respective monolingual groups, which would constitute evidence for incomplete acquisition (HS) or language attrition (L1/L2 speakers). The statistical analyses reveal grammatical person to be the main language internal factor determining subject realization, in contrast to group membership. The detected differences between the bilingual groups and the monolingual control group are better interpreted as individual variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aims to contribute to our understanding of heritage language acquisition by focusing on the results of three studies on heritage speakers of European Portuguese living in Germany ( Flores and Barbosa, 2014; Santos and Flores, 2013; Rinke and Flores, 2014 ), thus highlighting the European perspective on this topic. The participants of these studies are second-generation immigrants who use their heritage language productively in their daily interactions. In particular it is argued that heritage speakers are highly proficient bilingual speakers who develop a particular linguistic knowledge because they are exposed to particular input conditions. In this sense, the proficiency of heritage speakers cannot be described as the outcome of a deficient, incomplete acquisition process, but rather as an instance of native language development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates intonational variation and change in Scottish Gaelic (henceforth ‘Gaelic’), a minority endangered language undergoing revitalisation. In particular I focus on bilingual speakers aged 13–14 who are attending immersion education in the Isle of Lewis, a Gaelic-heartland area, and in the city of Glasgow where Gaelic has no community history. The young people are compared to older Gaelic-dominant speakers in Lewis. Results suggest a substantial difference in Gaelic prosodic structure between the older and younger speakers, with older speakers speaking Gaelic as a language with contrastive word accents (prosodically similar to Swedish), and young people speaking Gaelic as an intonation language (prosodically similar to English). Further analysis of the young people's intonation suggests cross-language influence from Glaswegian English on the realisation of pitch accents and boundary tones in Glasgow Gaelic. These results are discussed in terms of the impact of language contact and bilingualism on intonational structure, and language change in this context of minority language revitalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, declarative intonation contours from Peruvian Spanish speakers are compared between pragmatic conditions in order to observe potential differences in the prosodic realization of contrastive focus. To do so, an acoustic feature of intonation, the fundamental frequency (F0), is examined. Since focus in Quechua is realized through the use of evidential markers, it is hypothesized that Cuzco Spanish speakers may behave differently than Lima speakers in relatively less contact with Quechua. Two intonation features have been examined with relation to contrastive focus on the subject: peak alignment and peak height. While Lima speakers demonstrate earlier and higher peaks on the subject, similar to previous reports for Madrid and Peninsular Spanish, some Cuzco speakers use fewer prosodic cues, while others rely on post-focal deaccenting alone. Also, Cuzco speakers appear to behave similarly according to whether or not they are bilingual in Spanish and Quechua. This research demonstrates how focus in realized differently in two regional varieties of Peruvian Spanish and adds to our knowledge of how language contact may contribute to the development of alternate intonation patterns in Spanish. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Children acquiring Basque begin producing absolutive agreement earlier in development than ergative inflection (). In this paper, I compare the acquisition of absolutive and ergative to dative agreement, which is also inflected on the auxiliary in Basque, in order to evaluate factors which may influence the order of emergence of inflectional morphemes, including input frequency, the position of the affix on the verb and feature complexity. Data from 20 bilingual and 11 monolingual children between 2;00 and 3;06 years old showed a consistent pattern; children acquired absolutive agreement first, then ergative, and dative inflection last of all. This sequence replicates the implicational hierarchy of cases found in many languages (). I argue that the complexity of inflectional features of the agreement morphemes best predicts this developmental order, along with the assumption that children acquire the inflectional forms earliest which encode the fewest positive values for features. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The census process displays official and public attitudes regarding sign language use. • Different wording of the question can produce hugely different results. • Wording of questions about principal language may crucially affect responses of minority language users. The 2011 census in the UK was the first to ask questions about the use of languages other than the indigenous Celtic languages, Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The resulting broadened inquiry included asking about the use of British Sign Language (BSL), the acknowledged language of the Deaf signing community in Britain. Official and public attitudes surrounding signing – its relationship with spoken/written language; its linguistic 'validity'; its territoriality or universality; its association with ideologies of disability – are rarely placed on display as they are via the census process. The formulation of questions, their linguistic expression, and the responses elicited may all be seen as indexical of societal positioning. In the UK, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each conduct their own census, so the question about sign language was differently phrased in each jurisdiction, and placed alongside a different set of questions about other languages. Thus in each questionnaire the sign language question was contextualized differently, and was open to comparison by respondents with the questions about other, more prominent languages including English. Unsurprisingly, this led to different responses to questions which were ostensibly asking about the same thing. In this paper we describe how the census questionnaire in each jurisdiction asked about respondents' principal language, and how British Sign Language was positioned in each. A significant difference in the wording of the question – about 'home language' in Scotland and 'main language' elsewhere – led to a far larger proportion of respondents mentioning BSL in Scotland. We conclude that while the 'home language' question produces a more realistic picture of the extent of BSL use, neither question is sufficient to reveal the complexity of the repertoire of many bi- and multilinguals. More generally, the wording of questions about principal language may crucially affect the responses of users of minority languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mathematical model for language competition developed by Abrams and Strogatz allows the evolution of the numbers of monolingual speakers of two competing languages to be estimated. In this paper, we extend the model to examine the role of bilingualism and social structure, neither of which are addressed in the previous model. We consider the impact of two strategies for language maintenance: (1) adjusting the status of the endangered language; and (2) adjusting the availability of monolingual and bilingual educational resources. The model allows us to predict for which scenarios of intervention language maintenance is more likely to be achieved. Qualitative analysis of the model indicates a set of intervention strategies by which the likelihood of successful maintenance is expected to increase. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The main aim of this paper is to test the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model of code-switching with Welsh-English data, and to determine whether Welsh-English is a “classic case” of code-switching in that a matrix language can be clearly identified in bilingual clauses. The MLF model is currently one of the most influential in this field, and has been successfully applied to several other language pairs. Three principles associated with it, the Matrix Language Principle, the Asymmetry Principle and the Uniform Structure Principle, were tested on data collected from informal conversations by bilingual Welsh-English speakers located in north-west Wales. The results of the analyses suggest general support for the three principles and for labelling Welsh-English code-switching “classic”. These results are compared with those from other studies of classic and other kinds of code-switching. Finally, the implications for the MLF model are examined. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]