This study investigates the hypothesis that non-isomorphic syntax-semantics mappings pose a greater challenge for non-native (L2) than for native (L1) speakers, focusing on a previously understudied phenomenon. We carried out an antecedent judgment task with L1 German and L1 Russian-speaking, proficient L2 learners of German to examine Condition C…

This article reports on two experiments that examine the computation of contrastive focus in Russian on the part of adult English-dominant heritage speakers and second language learners of Russian, in comparison with baseline monolinguals. The first experiment uses an acceptability judgment task to determine whether bilingual and monolingual…

To investigate cross-linguistic lexical and syntactic influences in grammatical gender in early bilingualism, we tested 12 simultaneous, 12 early successive bilingual Russian-German children, and 15 monolingual German children aged 8-9 years. An elicited production task in German shows that all bilingual children assign target gender to nouns,…

Although a considerable number of studies have shown D(eterminer) elements, i.e. determiners and pronominal clitics, to be particularly vulnerable to impairment in monolingual children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), little is known about the use of appropriate or/and grammatically correct referring expressions in the children's…

In Germanic and Slavic languages, the Verb is the most extensive grammatical item, which causes most of the troubles for second language learners. It has been noticed that Slavic L1 learners of English make mistakes in using verb forms due to the transfer of their L1 grammatical system (grammar concepts) onto the English language. The goal of the…

In Contemporary Standard Russian (CSR) and Contemporary Standard Polish (CSP) nominal possession is conveyed by means of the adnominal genitive. In this construction the dependent follows the noun it modifies and is marked morphologically for possession in the genitive case. The head noun is marked morphologically for any one of the six…

This study presents a comparative analysis of the clausal architecture and sentential negation in East (Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian), West, Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Upper and Lower Sorbian), and South (Bulgarian, Macedonian, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, and Slovenian) languages. Using the Minimalist Program, I analyze the syntactic structure…

This article is a contrastive study of the devices Russian and German dispose of in order to designate a receptacle with content and without it. The German opposition "Wodkaflasche-Flasche Wodka" is represented in Russian by four constructions: relational adjective, genitive, and prepositional forms ("s" and "iz-pod"). (SW)

Discusses the syntactic differences in expressing wishes or desires in Italian and Russian. (CFM)

Establishes the considerations of factivity, or concern with truth-value, and fictivity, or concern with realizational status, as basic to the concept of modality. This makes possible the inclusion of factive and implicative verbs in the concept of modality, and clarifies semantic differences between the Russian and English modal auxiliary…

Distinguishes between "mode" as a verb-form and "modality," a category of meaning expressed mainly by lexical and syntactical means. Describes the subjunctive in Russian and German; a schematic summary shows both languages using the subjunctive for hypothesis and wish, but only German for indirect discourse. (Text is in…

A contrastive analysis investigating points of interference experienced by native speakers of German learning Russian. Special attention is given to aspect. (Text is in German.) (TL)

Discusses the fact that the conditional mood has wider distribution in Czech than in Russian as far as its meaning and use are concerned. An analysis of this phenomenon is proposed that makes use of many aspects and dimensions such as the relation between two propositions in an "if...then" construction, the "alternative…