By 12 months of age, infants exhibit behavioral sensitivity to sound symbolism (e.g. sound-shape correspondences) when they hear universally sound symbolic pseudowords (e.g. "bouba," "kiki"). Here, we investigated whether infant's sensitivity to sound-shape correspondences is affected when they hear language-specific sound…

Individual differences in infants' native phonological development have been linked to the quantity and quality of infant-directed speech (IDS). The effects of parental and infant bilingualism on this relation in 131 five- and nine-month-old monolingual and bilingual Spanish and Basque infants (72 male; 59 female; from white middle-class…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare Basque and Catalan bilinguals' performance on the letter verbal fluency test and determine whether significant differences are present depending on the letters used and the language of administration. Method: The sample consisted of 87 Spanish monolinguals, 139 Basque bilinguals, and 130 Catalan…

The preverbal double negation construction (i.e., yo "tampoco no" voy a la fiesta hoy) is often cited as a characteristic of Basque Spanish, although its use is undocumented in linguistic studies. The present research aims to fill this void in the literature by analyzing and contrasting the results of two studies on preverbal double…

In two artificial language learning experiments with four groups of highly proficient Basque-Spanish bilinguals and two groups of Spanish monolinguals, we examine the cues that allow adult listeners to parse new input into phrases. In addition, we investigate which factors lead bilinguals to switch between the segmentation strategies…

Crosslinguistic influence has been seen in bilingual adult and child learners when compared to monolingual learners. For speakers of Light Warlpiri and Gurindji Kriol there is no monolingual group for comparison, yet crosslinguistic influence can be seen in how the speakers resolve competition between case-marking and word order systems in each…

This paper investigates the sociolinguistic effects and issues of identity in Metsovo, Greece, that have been the result of the presence of about 100 Albanian families who arrived there as economic migrants in the 1990s. The village of Metsovo is largely bilingual in Greek and Vlach (Aromanian). The migrants from Albania are either Muslims,…

The United States is the most monolingual of all developed countries. Unstated U.S. policies toward bilingualism and the teaching of foreign languages are detrimental in today's world. Having many citizens who are multilingual is beneficial for individuals and the country; the teaching of languages must be encouraged. (SM)