Cover not available

In:Linguistic Approaches to Portuguese as an Additional Language
Edited by Karina Veronica Molsing, Cristina Becker Lopes Perna and Ana Maria Tramunt Ibaños
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 24] 2020
► pp. 35–59

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Syntactic contrasts in early and late Brazilian Portuguese-European Portuguese bidialectal bilinguals

Data from production

 | UiT The Arctic University of Norway
 | UiT The Arctic University of Norway
 | UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Published online: 26 March 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.24.02cas
Abstract
This study explores the production of subject and object pronouns in the case of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and European Portuguese (EP) early and late bidialectal bilinguals. The distribution of empty categories in the two systems differs in terms of syntactic and semantic constraints. In this light, we test the extent to which Brazilians acquiring EP naturalistically in Portugal display cross-linguistic effects. Our results indicate that cross-linguistic effects are found both in BP and EP for late learners, but only in BP for early learners. We believe that the high degree of typological proximity between BP and EP and the structural differences between subjects and objects can better explain these learners’ outcomes.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Cross-linguistic effects in L2 and HL acquisition
  • 3.Morpho-syntactic distinctions
    • 3.1Null subject distribution
      • 3.1.1European Portuguese
      • 3.1.2Brazilian Portuguese
    • 3.2Null object distribution
      • 3.2.1European Portuguese
      • 3.2.2Brazilian Portuguese
  • 4.Research questions and hypotheses
  • 5.Methodological approach
    • 5.1Participants
    • 5.2Mode trigger
    • 5.3Elicited production task
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Null vs. overt pronominal subjects
    • 6.2Null vs. overt pronominal objects
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
References (55)
References
Barbosa, P., Duarte, M. E., & Kato, M. (2005). Null Subjects in European and Brazilian Portuguese. Journal of Portuguese Linguistics, 4, 11–52. Lisboa: Edições Colibri.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Benmamoun, E., Montrul, S., & Polinsky, M. (2013). Heritage languages and their speakers: Opportunities and challenges for linguistics. Theoretical Linguistics, 39(3–4), 129–181.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bongaerts, T. (1999). Ultimate attainment in L2 pronunciation: The case of very advanced late L2 learners. In D. Birdsong (Ed.), Second language acquisition and the critical period hypothesis (pp. 133–159). London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bongaerts, T., Mennen, S., & van der Slik, F. (2000). Authenticity of pronunciation in naturalistic second language acquisition: The case of very advanced late learners of Dutch as a second language. Studia Linguistica, 54(2), 298–308. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bylund, E. (2009). Maturational constraints and first language attrition. Language Learning, 59(3), 687–715. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carminati, M. N. (2002). The processing of Italian subject pronouns (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Massachusetts Amherst.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005). Processing reflexes of the Feature Hierarchy (Person> Number> Gender) and implications for linguistic theory. Lingua, 115(3), 259–285. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Costa, J., & Duarte, I. (2003). Objectos nulos em debate. In I. Castro & I. Duarte (Eds.), Razões e emoção. Miscelânea de estudos em homenagem a Maria Helena Mateus (Vol. 1, pp. 249–260). Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Costa, J., Lobo, M., & Silva, C. (2009). Null objects and early pragmatics in the acquisition of European Portuguese. Probus, 21, 143–162. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cyrino, S. (2004). Null complement anaphora and null objects in Brazilian Portuguese. Presented at Morphosyntax Workshop, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
DeKeyser, R. (2012). Age effects in second language learning. In Susan M. Gass & Alison Mackey (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 442–460). London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duarte, M. E. L. (1993). Do pronome nulo ao pronome pleno: A trajetória do sujeito no português do Brasil. In I. Roberts & M. A. Kato (Eds.), Português Brasileiro: Uma viagem diacrônica (Homenagem a Fernando Tarallo) (pp. 107–128). Campinas: Editora da UNICAMP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1995). A perda do princípio “Evite pronome” no Português Brasileiro (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Campesinos (UNICAMP).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Farrell, P. (1990). Null objects in Brazilian Portuguese. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 8(3), 325–346. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Filiaci, F. (2010). Null and overt subject biases in Spanish and Italian: A crosslinguistic comparison. In C. Borgonovo, M. Español-Echevarría, & P. Prévost (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 12th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 171–182). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Filiaci, F., Sorace, A., & Carreiras, M. (2014). Anaphoric biases of null and overt subjects in Italian and Spanish: A cross-linguistic comparison. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 29(7), 825–843. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gagarina, N., Klop, D., Kunnari, S., Tantele, K., Valimaa, T., Balčiūnienė, I., Bohnacker, U. & Walters, J. (2012). MAIN: Multilingual assessment instrument for narratives (ZAS Papers in Linguistics 56). Berlin: ZAS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Granena, G., & Long, M. H. (2013). Age of onset, length of residence, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment in three linguistic domains. Second Language Research, 29(3), 311–343. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grosjean, F. (1998). Studying bilinguals: Methodological and conceptual issues. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1(2), 131–149. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2008). Studying bilinguals. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holmberg, A., Nayudu, A., & Sheehan, M. (2009). Three partial null-subject languages: A comparison of Brazilian Portuguese, Finnish and Marathi. Studia Linguistica, 63(1), 59–97. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holmberg, A., & Sheehan, M. (2010). Control into finite clauses in partial null-subject languages. In T. Biberauer, A. Holmberg, I. Roberts, & M. Sheehan (Eds.), Parametric variation: Null subjects in minimalist theory (pp. 125–152). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyltenstam, K., & Abrahamsson, N. (2003). Maturational constraints in SLA. In C. J. Doughty & M. H. Long (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 539–588). Malden, MA: Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jaeggli, O. (1984). Subject extraction and the null subject parameter. NELS, 14, 132–153.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Long, M. H. (2005). Second language needs analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007). Recasts in SLA: The story so far. In Problems in SLA (pp. 75–116). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lopes, R. E. V., & Cyrino, S. (2005). Evidence for a cue-based theory of language change and language acquisition: The null object in Brazilian Portuguese. In T. Geerts, I. van Ginneken, & H. Jacobs (Eds.), Romance languages and linguistic theory 2003 (pp. 343–359). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kato, M. A. (1999). Strong pronouns and weak pronominals in the null subject parameter. Probus, 11(1), 1–37. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kellerman, E. (1995). Age before beauty: Johnson and Newport revisited. In L. Eubank, L. Selinker, & M. Sharwood Smith (Eds.), The current state of Interlanguage: Studies in honor of William E. Rutherford (pp. 219–231). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maia, M. (1997). A formal explanation for a case of variation between European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese. Revista Anpoll, 1(3), 135–164.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). Knowledge of tense-aspect and mood in Spanish heritage speakers. International Journal of Bilingualism, 13(2), 239–269. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). Multiple interfaces and incomplete acquisition. Lingua, 121(4), 591–604. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). The Acquisition of Heritage Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montrul, S., & Louro, C. R. (2006). Beyond the syntax of the null subject parameter. In V. Torrens & L. Escobar (Eds.), The acquisition of syntax in Romance languages (pp. 401–418). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montrul, S. A., & Polinsky, M. (2011). Why not heritage speakers? A response to Sorace. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 1(1), 58–62. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moyer, A. (1999). Ultimate attainment in L2 phonology. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21(1), 81–108. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Potowski, K., Jegerski, J., & Morgan-Short, K. (2009). The effects of instruction on linguistic development in Spanish heritage language speakers. Language Learning, 59(3), 537–579. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Raposo, E. (1986). On the null object in European Portuguese. Studies in Romance Linguistics, 24, 373–390. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rizzi, L. (1982). Issues in Italian syntax. Dordrecht: Foris. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roberts, I., & Holmberg, A. (2010). Introduction: Parameters in minimalist theory. In T. Biberauer, A. Holmberg, Ian Roberts, & M. Sheehan (Eds.), Null Subjects: The structure of parametric variation (pp. 1–57). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rothman, J. (2009). Pragmatic deficits with syntactic consequences? L2 pronominal subjects and the syntax-pragmatics interface. Journal of Pragmatics, 41(5), 951–973. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rothman, J., & Iverson, M. (2013). Islands and objects in L2 Spanish. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 35(4), 589–618. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schwenter, S. A. (2006). Null objects across South America. In T. L. Face & Klee, C. A. (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 8th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 23–36). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schwenter, S. A., & Silva, G. (2002). Overt vs. null direct objects in spoken brazilian portuguese: A semantic/pragmatic account. Hispania, 577–586. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sorace, A. (2000). Differential effects of attrition in the L1 syntax of L2 near-native speakers. In S. C. Howell, S. A. Fish, & T. Keith-Lucas (Eds.), Proceedings of the 24th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 719–725). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2003). Ultimate L2 attainment. In M. Long & C. Doughty (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 130–151). Oxford: Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005). Selective optionality in language development. In L. Cornips & K. P. Corrigan (Eds.), Syntax and variation. Reconciling the biological and the social (pp. 55–80). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). Pinning down the concept of ‘interface’ in bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 1(1), 1–33. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sorace, A., & Filiaci, F. (2006). Anaphora resolution in near-native speakers of Italian, Second Language Research, 22(3), 339–368. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sorace, A., Serratrice, L., Filiaci, F., & Baldo, M. (2009). Discourse conditions on subject pronoun realization: Testing the linguistic intuitions of older bilingual children. Lingua, 119(3), 460–477. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsimpli, I., Sorace, A., Heycock, C., & Filiaci, F. (2004). First language attrition and syntactic subjects: A study of Greek and Italian near-native speakers of English. International Journal of Bilingualism, 8(3), 257–277. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wilson, F., Sorace, A., & Keller, F. (2008). Antecedent preferences for anaphoric demonstratives in L2 German. In J. Chandlee, J. M. Franchini, & S. Lord (Eds.), Proceedings of the 24th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 634–645). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Kupisch, Tanja, Tammer Castro, Martin Krämer & Marit Westergaard
2024. Phonological influence in bilectal speakers of Brazilian and European Portuguese. International Journal of Bilingualism 28:3 ► pp. 406 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue