This paper presents an overview of research on the multilingual lexicon as well as the highly complex storage of words in the multilingual mind. Furthermore, it deals with word recognition processes and discusses the issue of a language selective versus language nonselective access. The second part of this paper is concerned with the various ways in which different languages are interconnected and influence each other. Based on this, the phenomenon of codeswitching is illustrated as a widespread example of crosslinguistic interaction in the multilingual lexicon. This paper aims at presenting an overview of the complex characteristics of the multilingual lexicon. It should also give an idea of the immense amount of linguistic knowledge that is stored and processed within the multilingual mind and, most importantly, emphasize the significant linguistic awareness and cognitive skills that multilinguals display.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- The multilingual lexicon
- Storage of words
- Word recognition
- Research evidence for a language nonselective access
- Language interconnection
- Crosslinguistic influence (CLI)
- Crosslinguistic interaction (CLIN)
- Codeswitching (CS)
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This paper provides a comprehensive overview of research on the multilingual lexicon, exploring the complex organization of words in the multilingual mind and the processes of word recognition and production. The paper also investigates the interconnectedness of languages in a multilingual's mind, highlighting the influence of different languages on each other.
- The structure and organization of the multilingual lexicon
- Word recognition and production processes in multilinguals
- The influence of different languages on each other in the multilingual mind
- The concept of language selective versus language nonselective access
- The phenomenon of codeswitching as an example of crosslinguistic interaction
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Introduction: The introduction establishes the context of multilingualism in today's globalized world and highlights the growing importance of understanding the multilingual mind. It emphasizes the lack of research on multilingualism compared to bilingualism and introduces the central questions of how languages interact and influence each other in the multilingual lexicon.
- The multilingual lexicon: This chapter explores the mental lexicon as a highly complex storage system for words in monolinguals and multilinguals. It discusses the massive amount of information stored in the multilingual lexicon, including orthography, phonology, semantics, morphology, pragmatics, and language membership information. The concept of a multidimensional storage space with language distance is introduced to explain the organization of this vast database.
- Storage of words: This section delves into the specific details of how words are stored in the multilingual lexicon. It emphasizes the importance of language membership information and describes the multidimensional storage space organized by various linguistic dimensions. The concept of language distance is explained, highlighting how the greater the differences between languages, the more distant their word representations are in the mental lexicon.
- Word recognition: This chapter introduces the Interactive Activation (IA) model, a well-established framework for explaining visual word recognition in monolinguals. It explains the model's various levels of processing, including feature, letter, word, and higher levels, and the concept of lateral inhibition between word candidates. The chapter then extends the IA model to a Multilingual Interactive Activation (MIA) model, highlighting the challenges of increased competition between words in the multilingual lexicon.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The primary focus of this paper lies on the multilingual lexicon, word recognition processes, crosslinguistic influence and interaction, and codeswitching. The paper explores the complex organization of words in the multilingual mind, the interconnectedness of languages, and the challenges and strategies involved in retrieving the right word in a multilingual context. Key concepts include language membership information, multidimensional storage space, language distance, Interactive Activation model, Multilingual Interactive Activation model, language selective versus nonselective access, and codeswitching.
- Citation du texte
- Anonym (Auteur), 2017, The multilingual lexicon. An overview of research, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/379172
