Newsgroups: sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!zombie.ncsc.mil!paladin.american.edu!gatech!swrinde!howland.reston.ans.net!ix.netcom.com!netcom.com!hamster
From: hamster@netcom.com (michael)
Subject: Re: How bilingual people choose a language
Message-ID: <hamsterD03G69.CJD@netcom.com>
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
References: <moose-1411941104340001@watson.pacsci.org> <3a9ddd$895@netnews.upenn.edu> <3bfv3e$9vk@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 18:46:57 GMT
Lines: 42

In article <3bfv3e$9vk@agate.berkeley.edu> serene@soda.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU (Serene Taleb-Agha) writes:
>In article <3a9ddd$895@netnews.upenn.edu>,
>
>>Moosenose (moose@halcyon.com) wrote:
>>: In many articles many people wrote:
>>: < Many things about switching languages within a conversation. >
>>
>>: I'd be interested to know whether the switching is syntactic or involves
>>: only lexical items. Do languages get mixed within a sentence? Or does it
>>: happen mostly between sentences? The first situation doesn't lend itself
>>: to syntactic switching (though I suppose it could happen at a phrasal
>>: level - does anyone know about this?).
>>
>
>I'm no linguist but I am bilingual in English and Arabic. In most areas
>my English is stronger since I grew up in the US. However, certain aspects
>ofmy vocabulary are stronger in Arabic, in areas having to do with daily
>household routine or religion, because this I have picked up almost
>exclusively with my family. Well, I can tell you that sometimes me and my
>sisters switch language within one *word*. Often this is in the form of
>taking an Arabic verb and conjugating it according to English rules. For
>example:
>
>"Mama, she's karkir-ing me!" (karkir = "I tickle")
>"I just faDDi-ed the dishwasher" (faDDi = "I empty")
>
>Do people do this in all languages, or do some languages make it easier for
>you than others?
>
>Serene
>

Same story for me in English and German. Often English verbs were 
conjugated by German (or both German and English) rules (esp past tense) eg 
ge-washed or ver-missed

Michael
-- 
                                             hamster@netcom.com
                                             Michael E. Wildenauer
                                             iguana informatik


