Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Mi Mama Es Bonito: Acquisition Of Spanish Gender By Native English Speakers, Scott Alvord, Lisa Mccowen
Mi Mama Es Bonito: Acquisition Of Spanish Gender By Native English Speakers, Scott Alvord, Lisa Mccowen
Scott M Alvord
For an adult, learning a second language can be a complex and demanding task. Differences between one’s native language and the target language can contribute to the complexity of the task. One significant way in which languages can differ is the system of gender. The difference between gender in English and Spanish provides a challenge for adult native English speakers learning Spanish as a second language. The aim of the current study is to examine gender marking on a variety of tasks by adult NS of English as beginning learners of Spanish, with hopes that such examination will provide insight …
Descriptive Adequacy Vs. Psychological Reality: The Case Of Two Restrictions On Spanish Stress Placement, Scott Alvord, Timothy Face
Descriptive Adequacy Vs. Psychological Reality: The Case Of Two Restrictions On Spanish Stress Placement, Scott Alvord, Timothy Face
Scott M Alvord
This paper examines two supposed restrictions on Spanish stress placement: 1) the heavy penult condition, which prohibits stress leftward of the penultimate syllable if the penultimate syllable is heavy, and 2) the three-syllable window condition, which prohibits stress other than on one of the final three syllables of a word. While these two conditions are clearly descriptively adequate generalizations about the lexicon, this study sets out to determine whether they are psychologically real restrictions, serving as constraints that prohibit words that violate them. The results of a perception study indicate that neither of these conditions is a psychologically real restriction …
Spanish Intonation In Contact: The Case Of Miami Cuban Bilinguals, Scott Alvord
Spanish Intonation In Contact: The Case Of Miami Cuban Bilinguals, Scott Alvord
Scott M Alvord
The current dissertation provides a preliminary description of the intonation of two utterance types in Miami Cuban Spanish: broad focus declaratives and absolute interrogatives. An experimental phonology approach was taken to collect linguistic data in Miami, Florida. The data was collected and analyzed with the purpose of answering the following three research questions: 1. What are the characteristics of broad focus declarative intonation in Miami Spanish? 2. How do Miami Cubans differentiate between absolute (yes/no) interrogatives and lexically and syntactically identical declarative utterances? 3. Is the intonation system changing through subsequent generations of Miami Cubans? What are the social and …