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Fuchs, Zuzanna

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Zuzanna

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Fuchs, Zuzanna

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Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.33640bf5-bdae-4647-a43d-73053549e987

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Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
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    Heritage language and linguistic theory
    (Frontiers Media SA, 2015) Scontras, Gregory; Fuchs, Zuzanna; Polinsky, Maria
    This paper discusses a common reality in many cases of multilingualism: heritage speakers, or unbalanced bilinguals, simultaneous or sequential, who shifted early in childhood from one language (their heritage language) to their dominant language (the language of their speech community). To demonstrate the relevance of heritage linguistics to the study of linguistic competence more broadly defined, we present a series of case studies on heritage linguistics, documenting some of the deficits and abilities typical of heritage speakers, together with the broader theoretical questions they inform. We consider the reorganization of morphosyntactic feature systems, the reanalysis of atypical argument structure, the attrition of the syntax of relativization, and the simplification of scope interpretations; these phenomena implicate diverging trajectories and outcomes in the development of heritage speakers. The case studies also have practical and methodological implications for the study of multilingualism. We conclude by discussing more general concepts central to linguistic inquiry, in particular, complexity and native speaker competence.
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    The differential representation of number and gender in Spanish
    (Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2015) Fuchs, Zuzanna; Polinsky, Maria; Scontras, Gregory
    This paper investigates the geometry of phi-features with a special emphasis on number and gender in Spanish. We address (i) whether number and gender evidence single- or multi-valued systems for their respective features, and (ii) whether number and gender are bundled together or split. Given the lack of consensus on these issues based on primary data, we approach these questions experimentally, using the phenomenon of agreement attraction: a situation in which ungrammatical sequences are perceived as grammatical when one of the NPs is erroneously identified as determining agreement. Our results indicate that number but not gender in Spanish is multi-valued and offer novel support in favor of an agreement model in which number and gender are in separte projections and are valued independently. We also offer some considerations concerning parametric variation in such valuation.