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Language change In Maltese English : the influence of age and parental languages
Krug, Manfred; Sönning, Lukas (2022): Language change In Maltese English : the influence of age and parental languages, in: Bamberg: Otto-Friedrich-Universität, S. 247–270.
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Year of publication:
2022
Pages:
Source/Other editions:
The languages of Malta. Paggio, Patrizia; Gatt, Albert (Hg)
Berlin : Language Science Press, 2018. S. 247-270. - ISBN: 978-3-96110-070-5.
Year of first publication:
2018
Language:
English
Abstract:
In this study, which is based on questionnaire data collected in 2013 from 430 Maltese informants, we ninvestigate ongoing language change in Maltese English. We concentrate on 63 pairs of lexical variants that are known to differ in usage between British English and American English (e.g. vacation vs. holiday). Overall, informants clearly tend towards BrE usage. Regardless of the statistical approach we adopt, our studies show consistently apparent-time trends towards a less exclusively British English usage in Malta, converging on a more globalized usage of lexical items, in particular among the youngest cohorts. This confirms trends reported for older Maltese English data (collected in 2008; see Krug 2015). While Age emerges as the most important factor in our data, lexical choices are also sensitive to the native languages of the informants’ parents. When the mother’s native language(s) includes English, the informants’ lexical choices are biased in the expected direction, figuring in an increase in Britishness of the informants. Informants whose parents’ L1 is neither English nor Maltese show the highest degree of linguistic globalization. Overall, the native language(s) of the mother appeared to be more influential than that of the father.
GND Keywords: ; ;
Englisch
Malta
Sprachwandel
Keywords: ; ;
Maltese English
language change
questionnaire data
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Contribution to an Articlecollection
Activation date:
September 5, 2022
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https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/55199