Aqueix Caught in the Middle. A Demonstrative Choice Task Study of Catalan Demonstratives

Abstract

Recent studies using the Demonstrative Choice Task (DCT), where participants pair words with a demonstrative with no additional context, have shown that this choice is influenced by word semantics. Here, we applied the DCT to Catalan. We aimed at replicating previous findings and assessing how semantic factors play out in Catalan. We focused specifically on the second term aqueix (that), currently falling out of use. We hypothesized that its residual use would be influenced by the semantic factor valence, due to a hypothesized derogatory meaning. We also explored whether its use differed across varieties (Central Catalan versus Balearic Catalan). Our results replicate previous findings from English and Spanish on the role of manipulability, valence and psychological proximity to the self in preferences for proximal versus distal forms, reinforcing the hypotheses that these factors underlie demonstrative choices in the DCT, cross-linguistically. The use of aqueix was overall infrequent, highlighting the ongoing reduction of Catalan demonstratives from a three- to a two-term system. No significant association between valence and aqueix was found, but a small unpredicted effect for taste/smel l indicated an increased use of aqueix. Frequency in the use of aqueix, but not semantic factors driving its use, differed across peninsular and insular speakers.

Demonstratives in Spanish–Catalan simultaneous bilinguals: which system do they prefer?

“…Catalan 5 generally employs a two-term demonstrative system [aquest (this) / aquell (that)] (Brucart, 2002;Nogué-Serrano, 2015;Rubio-Fernandez, 2022;Vann, 1995), but there is some geographical variation (i.e., in some regions [e.g., la Franja, Balearic Islands] the three-term system aquest/aqueix/aquell is still used; Institut d 'Estudis Catalans, 2016;Saragossà, 2004;Todisco et al, 2021Todisco et al, , 2022. 6 Given the variation in the Catalan system in the number of terms in usage, recent studies have investigated whether specific Catalan-speaking areasmainly Peninsular and Balearic Catalanpresent a three-term (aquest/aqueix/aquell) or a twoterm (aquest/aquell) system of demonstratives, either within or outside the context of interaction (Rubio-Fernandez, 2022;Todisco et al, 2021Todisco et al, , 2022. In Todisco et al (2021), a group of 36 simultaneous European Spanish-Majorcan Catalan bilinguals participated in a memory game task to elicit demonstratives (Coventry et al, 2008;Gudde et al, 2018) and were instructed to use three demonstratives aquest/aqueix/aquell to remember the location of an object.…”

“…European Spanish and Catalan both have a three-term system, but the frequency of use of their middle terms differs across the two languages. European Spanish preserves a stable use of the middle term ese (that), whereas the use of the Catalan middle term aqueix (that) varies according to the geographical origin of the speakers (Todisco et al, 2022). This substantial difference suggests that Peninsular Catalan speakers are less conservative than Balearic speakers in the number of terms in use.…”

“…This substantial difference suggests that Peninsular Catalan speakers are less conservative than Balearic speakers in the number of terms in use. Indeed, Peninsular Catalan speakers actually show a strong tendency towards a two-term system (aquest/aquell; Alomar & Melià, 1999;Brucart, 2002;Nogué-Serrano, 2015); while Balearic Catalan speakers still tend to maintain the three-term system (aquest/aqueix/aquell; Todisco et al, 2021Todisco et al, , 2022, but with a reduced frequency of use of the middle term aqueix (that). 4 For example, Todisco et al (2021) found that Balearic Catalan speakers use all three terms when communicating spatial location, with aqueix (that) used to convey middle distance, but at low frequencies, with no influence of the position of the hearer during testing.…”