Se basant sur un corpus de 1800 tweets, cet article compare deux constructions verbales du français informel : la construction pronominale se taper (ex. se taper une randonnée, se taper la gastro, se taper une bonne bouteille) et la construction active taper (ex. taper un foot, taper un coma, taper un grec), une variante plus récente qui semble gagner du terrain dans le langage des jeunes sur les réseaux sociaux. En s’appuyant sur les résultats de notre étude, nous montrerons que ces deux constructions se distinguent au niveau (i) de la fréquence et de l’ouverture lexicale des emplois que celles-ci ont en commun, (ii) des restrictions sémantiques et morphosyntaxiques imposées sur le syntagme nominal sélectionné, et (iii) des nuances sémantiques véhiculées par ces deux formes verbales. Nous montrerons que ces nuances sémantiques tiennent au fait que les emplois pronominaux mettent principalement en oeuvre des constructions datives tandis que les emplois actifs sont des extensions du sens de base du verbe.

Phonetic implementations of Seoul Korean stops have been examined mostly in phrase-initial positions, primarily focusing on the tonogenesis-like sound change which involves a shift in the primary acoustic property for differentiating aspirated and lax categories. Word-medial stops have been much less discussed, except in the context of inter-sonorant voicing of lax stops. To address this gap, the current study provides a comprehensive analysis of aspirated, lax, and tense stops in Seoul Korean across three prosodic positions, Intonational Phrase (IP)-initial, Accentual Phrase (AP)-initial (inter-sonorant), and word-medial (also inter-sonorant), considering various acoustic properties, namely, stop burst duration, closure duration, post-stop f0 (fundamental frequency), F1, H1*-H2*, and voicing during closure. Based on experimental and corpus data, we report that Seoul Korean stops show distinct acoustic patterns in phrase-initial versus word-medial positions. In IP- and AP-initial positions, burst duration and f0 are the primary acoustic properties that distinguish the three categories, with H1*-H2* further differentiating tense from non-tense stops. In word-medial position, however, closure duration, voicing during closure, and burst duration emerge as the main distinguishing properties, though some f0 differences between lax and aspirated stops are observed. This f0 difference is especially noticeable in non-high vowel contexts, suggesting that the tonogenesis-like change may be spreading beyond phrase-initial positions. Overall, the acoustic implementation of the Seoul Korean three-way laryngeal contrast is highly dependent on the prosodic position of the stops, with this positional variation being most noticeable for lax stops.

This article revisits the provenance of the preverbal imperfective aspect marker ka, which characterizes the French-lexicon creoles of the Lesser Antilles and French Guiana and sets them apart from those of Haiti, Louisiana, and the Indian Ocean, which instead employ reflexes of après ‘after’. The origin of ka is controversial and still not properly understood. We argue that earlier proposals have focused too narrowly on the syntactic properties of the alleged source constructions, while neglecting semantic and functional motivations. We show that the emergence of ka follows the well-attested Location Schema, i.e. the grammaticalization pathway from locative predication to progressive aspect, and identify the French locative construction n’(en) être qu’à X ‘to be only at X’ as the most plausible source. In addition to its semantic aptness, the perceptual salience of this construction made it an ideal candidate for grammaticalization in a creolizing context. We bolster our argumentation by means of typological data from creoles and non-creoles. By situating ka within this broader typological framework, the article not only solves a much-debated etymological puzzle, but also demonstrates that, although creoles innovate, the cognitive-semantic mechanisms shaping their grammars are essentially the same as those shaping ‘traditional’ languages.

Research on how non-natives process and learn binomials (black and white) is limited. The present study addresses this gap using online (eye-tracking) and offline (familiarity rating) tasks. Sixty non-native speakers of English (L1 = Arabic) read six stories seeded with 21 novel binomials in three conditions: one exposure, six exposures, and no exposure (i.e., only in post-test) in a counter-balanced design. Each item was also presented in the reversed order (white and black). The non-natives read the stories as their eye movements were monitored and answered comprehension questions. In addition to the novel binomials, 12 existing binomials (congruent with Arabic) were included in the passages as a baseline for comparison. After completing the reading task, the participants completed an offline rating task as a measure of declarative knowledge of the binomial configuration (i.e., word order). All items were rated twice, once in the forward direction and once in the reversed direction. Online results showed that non-natives were not sensitive to the configuration of existing binomials, and there was limited evidence of any sensitivity to novel binomials. Offline, non-natives showed sensitivity to the configuration restrictions of existing binomials but not novel ones.

To contribute to the ongoing discussion on the role of pitch processing in grammar learning, this study examines the extent to which pitch statistical learning (pitch statistical learning (SL); the ability to detect and internalize pitch patterns in auditory input) affects second language (L2) morphosyntax learning outcomes. In the context of 93 Japanese learners of English, piece-wise regression analyses were conducted to compare the roles of their pitch SL abilities and pitch acuity in L2 morphosyntactic knowledge. The results revealed a weak but significant positive correlation between pitch SL and morphosyntactic knowledge, whereas pitch acuity showed no significant association. Further analysis identified a threshold effect: pitch SL has a strong association with morphosyntactic knowledge for learners with lower pitch SL abilities, but not for those with higher pitch SL abilities. These findings suggest that the lack of pitch SL ability could substantially slow down L2 morphosyntactic learning.

“Conversational” technologies, products, and services are in the headlines more than ever. But what does it mean to be “conversational?” We address this question through the lens of six decades of empirical research in conversation analysis, which has identified and described the foundational structure and interactional machinery of human sociality. We consider not only how tacit notions of “conversationality” manifest in technologies, products, and services, such as role-play, communication training, and chatbots, but also in research methodologies such as focus groups, semi-structured interviews, and laboratory studies – all of which rarely acknowledge how researcher–participant interaction shapes the data collected. Drawing on a range of examples from different institutional settings, we consider how and whether such technologies can or should leverage “conversation” in ways that reproduce “naturalistic” interactions – and ask what might count as “naturalistic” in this context anyway? We argue that if human conversationality becomes a benchmark, then humans themselves will fail tests derived from normative, not empirical, understandings of how social interaction works.

Eastern Andalusian Spanish (EAS), spoken in southern Spain, is characterized by the loss of most word-final consonants in casual speech. This deletion leads to adjacent vowel laxing which, in turn, drives harmony: the open quality of the final vowel spreads leftwards to the stressed syllable, as in beso [ˈbe.so] ‘kiss, sg’ vs. besos [ˈbɛ.sɔ] ‘kiss, pl’ (Navarro Tomás 1939; Rodríguez Castellano & Palacio 1948; among others). While the nature of triggers (deletion of -s) and targets (stressed syllables) has been assumed, other patterns remain understudied. For this study, I recorded 18 EAS speakers’ production of oxytonic words containing two mid vowels, with and without underlying final -r/-s (e.g., triplets such as bebé ‘baby’, beber ‘to drink’, and bebés ‘babies’). First and second formants of final and penultimate vowels were extracted. Participants also completed a perception experiment, where they had to match a written word with a recording ending in unpronounced -r, -s, or bare vowel. Results show that deletion of -r and -s produce comparable changes in the two preceding vowels; final vowels become lax, and preceding vowels undergo harmony. Speakers can also identify whether a word ends in an underlying consonant, as well as determining which (-r or -s) above chance (albeit with limited success). These results suggest that EAS harmony (a) is stress-independent and (b) can be triggered by deletion of fricatives and liquids. I propose V-to-V coarticulation as a potential origin of harmony in EAS, aligning with its role as the most common cause of harmony cross-linguistically.

This meta-analysis synthesized 88 studies to investigate the processing advantages of emotion words over neutral words. Additionally, we explored the moderating effects of emotional properties (valence, arousal, emotion word type), linguistic factors (concreteness, frequency, length, neighborhood size), and task type in L1, advanced L2, and intermediate L2 speakers. We found a significant valence effect, with positive words showing a greater processing advantage than negative words only in L1 speakers. For arousal, the interaction analysis revealed that high arousal reduced the processing advantage of emotion words to a greater extent in intermediate L2 speakers than in L1 speakers. Furthermore, only advanced L2 speakers showed a significant processing advantage for emotion-label words compared to emotion-laden words. Regarding linguistic factors, longer word length was associated with greater processing advantages compared to shorter word length, but only in advanced L2 speakers. The greater processing advantage for concrete over abstract emotion words was observed only in intermediate L2 speakers, indicating that this group was the most sensitive to concreteness among all language speaker groups. Finally, task type significantly influenced emotion word processing in interaction with language proficiency. Overall, our findings support theoretical frameworks in both L1 and L2 processing and cognition.

The current study examines variation in postvocalic /r/ in Tarifit, an indigenous Amazigh language of northern Morocco. R-elision is the most frequent phonological form (over 80% of productions in our data). Non-rhoticity is socially conditioned by gender: women produce more r-elision than men. No age differences were observed. Thus, production data indicate that derhoticization is a highly advanced sound change in Tarifit. Additionally, speakers are more likely to produce postvocalic /r/ immediately following a talker who has just produced it (even in a different lexical item). Social evaluations of speakers who produce r-ful and r-less forms of words are also investigated; listeners are more likely to rate a speaker as sounding more educated and nicer when they produce r-elision. Results demonstrate that r-elision is socially conditioned in Tarifit and these findings are discussed in terms of their implications for models of sound change in small and endangered speech communities, and theories about the relationship between the production and perception of phonological variation.

Evidence that certain semantic and pragmatic skills follow a similar developmental trajectory cross-linguistically suggests an important role for semantic-pragmatic tasks in the assessment of bilingual children. This study investigates whether quantifiers constitute a language-neutral linguistic category in this context. Forty-three Polish–English bilingual children aged 4–7 years completed the Quantifier Comprehension Task (QCT) and the Test for Reception of Grammar (TROG-2), a standardized morphosyntactic assessment, in both languages. The results indicated that children’s performance on QCT is strongly correlated between their two languages. This correlation was significantly stronger than that observed for the TROG-2, indicating that quantifier comprehension may be less language dependent than general grammar comprehension measures. These findings highlight the diagnostic value of semantic-pragmatic tasks, particularly quantifier interpretation, in evaluating bilingual language development. While the children in this study are all typically developing bilinguals, our goal is to explore whether quantifier comprehension tasks can support the development of language-neutral tools for assessing bilingual language skills.

This study examines the variation in the acoustic properties of the allophones of intervocalic /v/ and /vː/ in Italian, a typologically unusual case where voiced labiodental fricatives contrast phonemically in length. Through an acoustic analysis of read speech from 18 speakers across three regional varieties (Veneto, Roman, Calabrian), we investigate whether realization patterns are shaped by prosodic (phase position and stress placement) and indexical factors (regional variety and speaker sex). Results indicate that /v/ frequently (47%) surfaces as an approximant [ʋ]. In contrast with the principle of geminate ‘inalterability’, /vː/ also exhibits great articulatory variability, with 36% of tokens showing increased constriction including 17% of all tokens realized as a previously undocumented plosive-like labiodental [b̪ː]. Bayesian modelling reveals that approximant variants of /v/ occur more frequently phrase-finally than phrase-medially and that male speakers are more likely to produce more constricted allophones of /vː/. No consistent effects of regional variety were observed, suggesting that the variation may be widespread across Italy. Furthermore, phonemic length alone significantly predicts duration. Therefore, notwithstanding the enhanced phonetic differentiation between /v/ and /vː/, it seems most likely speakers rely primarily on duration to distinguish the pair.

This study examined fingerspelling accuracy and error patterns in deaf American Sign Language (ASL) signers and written spelling in hearing English speakers to investigate how orthographic representations are shaped by phonological, visual, and motor encoding strategies. Deaf participants (n = 39) completed a fingerspelling repetition task, while hearing participants (n = 35) completed a written dictation task using the same word and pseudoword stimuli. While overall accuracy did not differ significantly between groups, deaf participants exhibited qualitatively distinct error patterns, including higher rates of deletions and transpositions, compared to hearing participants who made more substitution errors. Deaf participants also produced more pronunciation-violating errors. Notably, they showed greater accuracy in preserving geminate (double letter) segments, highlighting enhanced sensitivity to letter identity and quantity, likely supported by the explicit visual-motor representation of geminates in fingerspelling. Additionally, deaf participants showed no difference in accuracy between real words and pseudowords, indicating that fingerspelling strategies generalized beyond stored lexical forms. We interpret these findings in light of graphemic buffer constraints, motoric fluency pressures, and the structural affordances of the fingerspelling system. Visually based encoding strategies can support robust orthographic representations for those who rely less on speech-based phonological coding.

The present study examined how task demands modulate neural activations during the processing of emotion-label words (words describing emotional states) and emotion-laden words (words triggering emotions through connotations) in a second language (L2). To this end, we directly compared behavioral and electrophysiological responses in late Chinese-English bilinguals when the words’ affective information was task-relevant (emotional categorization task, ECT) versus task-irrelevant (emotional Stroop task, EST). Our results revealed the modulation of emotion word type and valence on L2 emotion word processing. Specifically, negative emotion-laden words exhibited slower response times, and positive emotion-label words elicited larger Late Positive Complex amplitudes. Notably, these effects were observed exclusively within the task where the emotional dimension of the stimuli was task-relevant, that is, when participants explicitly determined the word valence. Taken together, our study highlights the potential task-dependent nature of the effects of emotion word type and valence in late bilinguals’ L2, suggesting that assumptions about the universality of such effects should be evaluated in light of task demands and language context.

In the continued effort to identify creative talent, divergent thinking (DT) assessments are commonly employed to objectively assess aspects of individual creative ability. Despite their common usage, the selection of DT prompts remains unstandardized. This is concerning because it is unclear if all prompts can be employed equally or if certain characteristics associated with the acquisition and usage of said prompt in a given language affect the magnitude of response originality. Researchers administered a computer-based DT assessment to 386 elementary students and compared the originality scores of the respondents to the originality scores predicted by prompts’ psycholinguistic features. Hierarchical linear modeling was employed to control individual DT ability and examine the effects of psycholinguistics on originality at two levels, with individual response originality scores (level 1) nested within individual respondents (level 2). Results indicated statistically significant main effects for word frequency, semantic diversity, prompt type, and item reaction time. There were also several significant interaction effects between prompt type and word frequency, prompt type and word length, and prompt type and semantic diversity. The resulting final model explained approximately 18% of the variance in originality scores, suggesting the need for further consideration of DT prompt choice.