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Oh YM, Todd S, Beckner C, Hay J, King J. Assessing the size of non-Māori-speakers' active Māori lexicon. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0289669. [PMID: 37611026 PMCID: PMC10446205 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Most non-Māori-speaking New Zealanders are regularly exposed to Māori throughout their lives without seeming to build any extensive Māori lexicon; at best, they know a small number of words which are frequently used and sometimes borrowed into English. Here, we ask how many Māori words non-Māori-speaking New Zealanders know, in two ways: how many can they identify as real Māori words, and how many can they actively define? We show that non-Māori-speaking New Zealanders can readily identify many more Māori words than they can define, and that the number of words they can reliably define is quite small. This result adds crucial support to the idea presented in earlier work that non-Māori-speaking New Zealanders have implicit form-based (proto-lexical) knowledge of many Māori words, but explicit semantic (lexical) knowledge of few. Building on this distinction, we further ask how different levels of word knowledge modulate effects of phonotactic probability on the accessing of that knowledge, across both tasks and participants. We show that participants' implicit word knowledge leads to effects of phonotactic probability-and related effects of neighbourhood density-in a word/non-word discrimination task, but not in a more explicit task that requires the active definition of words. Similarly, we show that the effects of phonotactic probability on word/non-word discrimination are strong among participants who appear to lack explicit word knowledge, as indicated by their weak discrimination performance, but absent among participants who appear to have explicit word knowledge, as indicated by their strong discrimination performance. Together, these results suggest that phonotactic probability plays its strongest roles in the absence of explicit semantic knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoon Mi Oh
- Department of French Language and Literature, Ajou University, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
| | - Simon Todd
- Department of Linguistics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America
- New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain and Behaviour, NZILBB, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Clay Beckner
- Department of Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Jen Hay
- New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain and Behaviour, NZILBB, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- Department of Linguistics, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Jeanette King
- New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain and Behaviour, NZILBB, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- Aotahi—School of Māori and Indigenous Studies, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
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Kalaivanan K, Wong PCM, Wong FCK, Chan AHD. Native Language Perceptual Sensitivity Predicts Nonnative Speech Perception Differently in Younger and Older Singaporean Bilinguals. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2023; 66:987-1017. [PMID: 36800502 DOI: 10.1044/2022_jslhr-22-00199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE We investigate in this study how individual variability in native language speech perception (termed Perceptual Sensitivity) influences nonnative speech perception in Singaporean Tamil-English bilinguals. Further, we assess if and how contextual and demographic factors influence Perceptual Sensitivity in the acquired languages and if the influence of Perceptual Sensitivity on nonnative speech perception is different across younger and older bilinguals. METHOD Perceptual Sensitivity in the native languages was examined by implementing Tamil and English gating tasks in 87 Singaporean Tamil-English bilinguals from two age groups (younger: 19-33 years; older: 55-70 years). Mandarin lexical tone discrimination was implemented as a measure of nonnative speech perception. RESULTS There was a wide range of variability in Perceptual Sensitivity scores in both languages across both age groups. Perceptual Sensitivity in the first native language (L1 Tamil) was a robust predictor of nonnative speech perception across both age groups, especially for the older bilinguals. However, general intelligence emerged as a stronger predictor than Tamil Perceptual Sensitivity in younger bilinguals. The influence of Tamil Perceptual Sensitivity on lexical tone perception was not tone-specific, supporting a general enhancement of lexical tone perception with better Tamil Perceptual Sensitivity. There was an influence of demographic factors on English Perceptual Sensitivity in older bilinguals, but not for Tamil and not in younger bilinguals. CONCLUSIONS Our findings corroborate with previous studies in showing that native language Perceptual Sensitivity is positively associated with and predicts nonnative speech perception in younger and older adulthood regardless of language similarity but to varying degrees. Specifically, the influence of Perceptual Sensitivity on nonnative speech perception is stronger in older adulthood, suggesting a possible shift in reliance on crystallized language knowledge with age. Proficiency and use, among other demographic and language variables, do not appear to influence L1 Perceptual Sensitivity in a lesser used language (Tamil) as significantly as previously assumed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kastoori Kalaivanan
- Linguistics and Multilingual Studies, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
- Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
| | - Patrick C M Wong
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
- Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
| | - Francis C K Wong
- Linguistics and Multilingual Studies, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
| | - Alice H D Chan
- Linguistics and Multilingual Studies, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
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Ruotsalainen AL, Tejesvi MV, Vänni P, Suokas M, Tossavainen P, Pirttilä AM, Talvensaari-Mattila A, Nissi R. Child type 1 diabetes associated with mother vaginal bacteriome and mycobiome. Med Microbiol Immunol 2022; 211:185-194. [PMID: 35701558 PMCID: PMC9304052 DOI: 10.1007/s00430-022-00741-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Mother vaginal microbes contribute to microbiome of vaginally delivered neonates. Child microbiome can be associated with autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes (T1D). We collected vaginal DNA samples from 25 mothers with a vaginally delivered child diagnosed with T1D and samples from 24 control mothers who had vaginally delivered a healthy child and analyzed bacteriome and mycobiome of the samples. The total DNA of the samples was extracted, and ribosomal DNA regions (16S for bacteria, ITS2 for fungi) were amplified, followed by next-generation sequencing and machine learning. We found that alpha-diversity of bacteriome was increased (P < 0.002), whereas alpha-diversity of mycobiome was decreased (P < 0.001) in mothers with a diabetic child compared to the control mothers. Beta-diversity analysis suggested differences in mycobiomes between the mother groups (P = 0.001). Random forest models were able to effectively predict diabetes and control status of unknown samples (bacteria: 0.86 AUC, fungi: 0.96 AUC). Our data indicate several fungal genera and bacterial metabolic pathways of mother vaginal microbiome to be associated with child T1D. We suggest that early onset of T1D in a child has a relationship with altered mother vaginal microbiome and that both bacteriome and mycobiome contribute to this shift.
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Affiliation(s)
- A L Ruotsalainen
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, POB 3000, 90014, Oulu, Finland.
| | - M V Tejesvi
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, POB 3000, 90014, Oulu, Finland.,Genobiomics LLC, Oulu, Finland
| | - P Vänni
- Genobiomics LLC, Oulu, Finland
| | - M Suokas
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, POB 3000, 90014, Oulu, Finland.,Biocenter Oulu Sequencing Center, University of Oulu, POB 8000, 90014, Oulu, Finland
| | - P Tossavainen
- Department of Pediatrics, PEDEGO Research Unit and Medical Research Center, University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital, PO Box 23, 90029 OYS, Oulu, Finland
| | - A M Pirttilä
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, POB 3000, 90014, Oulu, Finland
| | - A Talvensaari-Mattila
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oulu, PL 23, FI90029, Oulu, Finland
| | - R Nissi
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oulu, PL 23, FI90029, Oulu, Finland
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Castro S, Wodniecka Z, Timmer K. Am I truly monolingual? Exploring foreign language experiences in monolinguals. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0265563. [PMID: 35312725 PMCID: PMC8936441 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Monolingualism has typically been understood as a homogeneous phenomenon. The linguistic experiences of monolinguals are usually overlooked when analysing the impact of foreign language experiences on language processing and cognitive functioning. In this study, we analyse the linguistic experiences of 962 English-speaking individuals from the United Kingdom (UK) who identified as monolinguals. Through an online survey, we found that more than 80% of these monolinguals had learned at least one foreign language, dialect, or type of jargon. More than half of this 80% of monolinguals also used languages they had learned at some point in their lives. Moreover, nearly 40% of all the studied monolinguals confirmed that they had been passively exposed to foreign languages or dialects in their environment; approximately a fourth of these monolinguals who declared exposure to at least one foreign language (or dialect) confirmed that they also used these languages. Furthermore, activities that involved passive use of languages (i.e., activities that require reading or listening but do not require speaking or writing; e.g., watching TV) were occasionally carried out in foreign languages: around 26% of these monolinguals confirmed the passive use of more than one language. Lastly, around 58% of monolinguals who had visited one or more non-English-speaking countries declared the active use of foreign languages during their stay(s). These results suggest that the linguistic experiences of monolinguals from the UK often include exposure to and use of foreign languages. Moreover, these results show the need to consider the specificity of the monolingual language experience when analysing the impact of foreign languages on cognitive functioning, as differences in the language experiences of bilinguals also have divergent impacts on cognition. Lastly, monolingual experiences are different from bilingual experiences; therefore, existing questionnaires that evaluate language experiences should be adapted to capture the particular linguistic experiences of monolinguals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofía Castro
- Psychology of Language and Bilingualism Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
- * E-mail:
| | - Zofia Wodniecka
- Psychology of Language and Bilingualism Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Kalinka Timmer
- Psychology of Language and Bilingualism Lab, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
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