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26 - Semantics of Heritage Languages

from Part III - Grammatical Aspects of Heritage Languages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2021

By
Tania Ionin
Edited by
Silvina Montrul  and
Maria Polinsky
Silvina Montrul
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Maria Polinsky
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
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Summary

This chapter provides an overview of the research on semantics and related interface phenomena in heritage language grammars, focusing on three main questions: (i) whether the phenomena under investigation are subject to incomplete acquisition and/or attrition in heritage language grammars; (ii) whether heritage language grammars are subject to cross-linguistic influence from the dominant language; and (iii) whether interface phenomena are particularly vulnerable in incomplete acquisition and/or attrition. These questions are investigated in four linguistic domains that fall at the interface between syntax and semantics where there has been a substantial body of research with heritage speakers: semantics of the verbal domain, such as tense/aspect and unaccusativity; semantics of the nominal domain, such as definiteness and genericity; semantics of subject and object expression, including binding and case-marking; and quantifier semantics.

Keywords

semanticssyntax/semantics interfaceaspectdefinitenessgenericityreferencebindingcasedifferential object markingquantifiers
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics , pp. 668 - 690
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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