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International audienceAims and Objectives/Purpose/Research QuestionsThere is ongoing discussion as to the cost of language switching, with some studies indicating high cost and others showing low or no cost. The main research question in this paper is whether there are language switching costs in communities in which codeswitching is frequent. Design/Methodology/Approach We conducted two on-line experiments, i.e. a picture choice with sentence auditory stimuli and a word recognition task in sentence context. We constructed 16 sentences with differing degrees of ecological validity (16 sentences x 4 versions = 64). The sentences included verbs with different language preferences in natural conversations (L1, L2, or both). Data and AnalysisThirty-seven simultaneous L1-Romani L2-Turkish bilinguals participated in Experiment 1 and 49 in Experiment 2. To analyze the results, linear mixed models (lmer) were constructed using the ‘lme4’ package in R.Findings/ConclusionsIn Experiment 1, participants responded significantly faster for the all-Turkish sentences, followed by the mixed Romani-Turkish sentences, and the two types of ecologically non-valid sentences. However, there were no processing costs for the mixed sentences when they contained Turkish verbs that are more frequently used in Turkish in the spontaneous conversations. In Experiment 2, reaction times were similar for Turkish verbs (with Turkish verb morphology) in a mixed Romani-Turkish or a unilingual Turkish sentence.OriginalityTaken together these findings indicate that language switching costs in comprehension depend on the frequency of codeswitching in the bilingual community, as well as on exposure to specific lexical items.Significance/ImplicationsThe Romani-Turkish data support a usage-based approach to bilingual processing and confirm the need to conduct experimental research that takes into account the communicational habits of the participants

International audienceThis study reports on language mixing in two Romani communities, with a century-long presencein Finland and in Greece respectively. A quantitative analysis of free-speech data shows that verbsfrom the contact languages, Finnish and Turkish, are systematically inserted into a dominantRomani speech with their respective Finnish and Turkish tense, mood, aspect, and personmorphology. The insertion in language A of non-integrated single words from language B is atypicalfor classic code-switching and borrowing, but is a well-known mechanism in the creation of mixedlanguages. Unlike mixed languages, however, where no single dominant language can be identified,Romani is the main component in the corpora under study. We suggest that this type of Romanilanguage mixing illustrates an early stage of mixed language formation that did not develop into anindependent mixed language, owing to changes in the sociopolitical settings

This article examines the influence of language ecology on bilingual speech. It is based on first-hand data from two previously undocumented varieties of Romani and Pomak in contact with Turkish in Greek Thrace; in both cases Turkish is an important language for the community's identity. This analysis shows how the Romani-Turkish “fused lect” was produced by intensive and extensive bilingualism through colloquial contact with the trade language, Turkish. In addition, it shows how semi-sedentary Pomak speakers had limited, institutional contact with Turkish, resulting in more traditional codeswitching and emblematic lexical borrowings. (Language contact, bilingual speech, fused lect, language ecology, Pomak, Romani, Turkish, Greece)*

It has recently been shown that individuals residing in rural, indigenous communities rely on geocentric conceptualizations of space, e.g., north/south/east/west, even after they have shifted to a language that is known to favour egocentric conceptualizations, e.g., right/left. In this paper we explore how this combination works in practice by conducting a study in a previously non-investigated indigenous community of Mexico, the Ngiguas. We used a verbal localization task for community-scale relations. We filmed the responses of early bilinguals in Ngigua (Otomanguean) and in Spanish as well as of a control group of Spanish monolinguals from the same rural community. Statistical analysis of speech and co-speech gestures reveals that bilinguals favour geocentric gestures and direct pointing in both languages, associating them with topological and deictic terms. Against our predictions, Spanish monolinguals also use high rates of geocentric gestures that they frequently combine with cardinal terms. In sum, the Ngigua data show that geocentric conceptualizations can be transmitted to monolingual generations via co-speech gestures, including in a language where egocentric conceptualizations prevail in other settings.

International audienceBased on first-hand data, this paper shows how Mexican Romani-Spanish bilinguals have replicated several uses of the Spanish estar in Romani, using the nearly obsolete 3d person subject clitic pronouns. The Romani subject clitics (lo, la, le) have become associated with the Spanish copula estar 'to be' in affirmative present tense clauses, thus restricting the uses of the native Romani copula. Moreover, the subject clitics have replicated the uses of estar in locative predications and in constructions with participles. These findings contribute to the general discussion over the complexification or simplification of languages in contact settings. It is argued that although the replication of Spanish estar has rendered Romani more complex, the resulting convergence may be considered as an overall simplification for the bilingual speakers (Matras 2009)

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Romani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in several European countries as well as in the Americas, Asia and Australia, showing substantial dialectal variation. This illustration deals with Xoraxane Romane (Turkish Romani) spoken in Greek Thrace. Xoraxane Romane, which belongs to the Vlax branch of Romani, has been heavily influenced by contact with Turkish and also shows influences from Greek. As a result, Xoraxane Romane exhibits a mixed system that includes phonemes borrowed from both Turkish and Greek but without exhibiting complex phonological phenomena such as Turkish vowel harmony.