This study investigates individual factors and workplace practices associated with self-perceived communication competence in the workplace (SPCCW) at a university in Norway. Via an online survey, 313 international academic staff members reported their SPCCW in Norwegian as a second language (L2). Although 92% of the permanent staff who responded reported having taken formal training in L2 Norwegian, only 54% of these felt that they knew enough Norwegian to perform their work effectively. Findings showed that, in addition to length of residence in Norway, having a Germanic first language (other than English) was a significant predictor of SPCCW. Qualitative comments indicated that activities in Norwegian outside of work and having patient interaction partners to practise with were perceived as beneficial for L2 confidence in the workplace. The findings are discussed from a second language acquisition perspective and add to our understanding of how the language competencies needed for work in higher education can be developed.
This paper analyses the diminutive system of Vi & ouml;l Danish, a now extinct Scandinavian dialect once spoken in the former Duchy of Schleswig (Northern Germany). We argue that the dialect had two productive diminutive constructions: a suffixal diminutive in -ken and a 'gender-shift' diminutive involving only a change in grammatical gender. While the two constructions shared the core meaning 'small', they had different semantic extensions and connotations. The Vi & ouml;l Danish system appears to be unique among Scandinavian varieties, but has close parallels in continental West Germanic and other languages. We suggest that while the system arose partly through contact with Low German, it had developed its own dynamics in Vi & ouml;l Danish as recorded in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
This article examines the V3 particle s & aring; in Fenno-Swedish, where the particle can follow both initial arguments and adjuncts in root clauses. In Mainland Scandinavian, this distribution is rather strictly limited to the latter context. The starting point is that the V3-pattern-triggering s & aring; is the 'general adverbial resumptive' in copy-left dislocation. In copy-left dislocation, an agreeing resumptive item causes a similar V3 pattern, where the adverbial spell-outs of the resumptive are partially interchangeable with s & aring;. Three hypotheses are considered. Firstly, s & aring; may have become fully generalised resumptive being interchangeable with all spell-outs. Secondly, the distribution could include all initial elements, also wh-phrases and negation markers, that are not pure operators. Finally, the paper suggests that the phenomenon is partially prosodic, and s & aring; satisfies a preference of having an anacrusis in the prosodic constituent including the finite verb.
In this study, we explore L1 and L2 speakers' use of degree modifiers (DMs) aika/melko/ihan and quite/rather/fairly in a cross-linguistic setting, with academic Finnish and English as languages of interest. As a method, we apply a multivariate approach that considers the constructional features of the DMs. The statistical modelling showed reliably that, in both languages, L1 and L2 speakers made partially different choices when using the DMs. The model predicted the DM use of both languages well, although it explained the variation of the Finnish DMs better. In general, the English L2 use of the DMs was closer to English L1 use than was the case in Finnish, where the populations had a clearly different favourite among the three DM variants. The results suggest that the examined DM group is more fixed in academic Finnish, whereas in academic English the choice between the examined DM variants is more open.
In three empirical studies, we compare one syntactic and one semantic approach to agreement preferences in so-called pancake constructions (pcs) in Swedish, as in Senap & auml;r starkt 'Mustard is strong'. pcs are either substance-denoting, naming an inherent property of the subject, or situation-denoting, naming a property of the subject that is linked to some event. These two types were found to differ in predicative agreement patterns when their subjects were modified (e.g. Sk & aring;nsk senap & auml;r & mldr; 'Scanian mustard is'). The studies also indicate that the presence of a modal verb can affect agreement patterns differently in the two types: substance-denoting pcs were affected by modification and modality to a much larger extent than situation-denoting ones. We conclude that the two approaches can explain some patterns, but leave others unexplained, and the results lend partial support to analyses that make a syntactic difference between the two types of pcs.
Avertives refer to (mainly past) situations the outcome of which is interrupted, averted, or frustrated instead of completed, as in Meinasin kaatua, mutta ihmeen kaupalla onnistuin pysym & auml;& auml;n jaloillani 'I was about to fall, but miraculously managed to stay on my feet'. The aim of this paper is to describe and compare three verbal constructions in Finnish which are frequently used as avertives by means of collostructional analysis (Stefanowitsch & Gries 2003). We propose that these constructions, namely olla + mAisillA 'to be V-ing', olla + INFA 'to be to V', and meinata + INFA 'to mean, intend to V', which all correspond to 'be about to do something', constitute a family of related avertive constructions. We first describe them by means of collexeme analyses based on corpus data consisting of online written conversation extracted from the Suomi24 corpus. We then compare the constructions and situate them on Caudal's (2023) continuum for characterising different kinds of avertive markers. Finally, we offer a box chart characterisation of the constructions at two distinct levels of schematicity, the schematic AUX + INFX construction and a specific usage instance of olla + INFA, following Fried & & Ouml;stman (2004).
This paper explores temporal relations between clauses in complex sentences. We focus on a specific type of temporal reference, which we call long-distance (relative) temporal reference (LDTR), and which only occurs in deeply embedded clauses. This type of temporal reference is instantiated when the state of affairs expressed in the clause is placed in time relative to the state of affairs of another clause, which is not its immediate matrix clause but appears higher in the embedding structure. Looking for factors that evoke LDTR, we identify some key features of the sentences in which the phenomenon occurs. In the studied sample, the immediate matrix clause of the clause with LDTR has relative temporal reference and is often a complement clause. We also consider the phenomenon of LDTR in a wider context, suggesting that it challenges the idea of recursion as a fundamental property of language.
Authenticity has been a central concept in sociolinguistics and in the study of literary representations of dialect. This article examines the ideology of dialect authenticity in the context of literary fiction from the point of view of language users. Two Finnish reading groups comprising members with different dialect backgrounds read one Finnish novel, in which the Far Northern dialects of Finnish are represented in a partly unconventional manner. Thematic analysis was applied to two video-recorded reading group discussions to investigate how the groups discuss the novel's dialect representation and its (in)authenticity. The analysis revealed that instead of adhering to a static and essentialist ideal of authenticity, the readers overlooked the unconventional representation of literary dialect and viewed authenticity as a dynamic process. The study contributes to theoretical discussions on dialect authenticity and employs an experimental approach to exploring language ideologies through reading groups.
Utterance-final weakening refers to a prosodic feature found at the right periphery of some clauses in Pite Saami. This paper provides the most thorough general description of this prosodic phenomenon to date. The dataset used comes from an annotated corpus of spontaneous speech collected during the last 60 years. The phonetic-acoustic correlates are a complete devoicing of all segments in the final syllables of the affected clause, although creaky or breathy voice may also be present. Typically only one syllable is affected, but sometimes multiple syllables are affected. No syntactic units appear to correlate with this, and the weakening phase can even cross word boundaries. The phenomenon marginally correlates with gender, dialect, and age, with the speech of older speakers tending to feature it more frequently and with a longer prosodic scope. Similar utterance-final weakening phenomena are likely found in other languages, especially those in surrounding areas.
This article contributes to research on pragmatic borrowings through its exploration of their prosodic features in interactional turns. The pragmatic borrowings focused on are actual or enacted responses that demonstrate a stance towards the interlocutor's previous turn. The data are drawn from podcast conversations in Finland Swedish. The qualitative exploration of the data, which draws on principles from Interactional Linguistics and uses sequential and acoustic analyses, focuses on an in-depth analysis of four examples of response tokens. Our analysis illustrates that borrowed response tokens are not used frequently, but when they are used, they are marked by speakers prosodically, rendering them stylistically salient within the context of the interaction. The borrowed response tokens demonstrate specific interactional meanings, such as affect, humor, farce and upgrading. These findings demonstrate that, like other pragmatic borrowings, responses are integrated into the overall repertoire of the receiving speech community, serving as stylistic variants alongside heritage forms.
This study compares the uses of the acronym wtf ('what the fuck') in digitally mediated text-based interactions in three typologically distinct languages: American English (source language), and Finnish and Chilean Spanish (recipient languages). The data consist of tweets extracted from the social media platform X. Interactional Linguistics and Digital Conversation Analysis are employed to examine the functions performed by wtf in different positions in a tweet and interaction. Instances of wtf were annotated to describe its uses in the source language and to compare them with those observed in the recipient languages. The study shows that in all three languages, wtf is used in various tweet-internal and sequential positions. These uses expressed the writer's disbelief, astonishment, and a problem in acceptance towards prior content. The analysis concludes that the pragmatic functions of wtf in American English undergo a narrowing when it is used in Finnish and Chilean Spanish.
This article examines the use of fuck and fucking in Danish, with a focus on their interactional functions for assessing. Data consist of 76 cases found in informal Danish conversations, analyzed within the framework of Interactional Linguistics. Fuck functions as a reactive interjection that prefaces various types of clauses. However, fuck followed by a copula clause develops an assessment out of a telling. Followed by hvor 'how' and an adjective, fuck performs agreeing assessment. Hvad fuck 'what the fuck' may occur in questions. Fucking is commonly used in copula clause assessments but also within noun phrases when no response is elicited. The study concludes that the use of fuck and fucking in Danish differs from their use in English, but also from the Danish swearword fanden 'the devil, damn'. The conclusions indicate that interactional functions and constructions are an important factor for understanding the pragmatics of borrowing and swearing.
This paper presents a study focusing on the morphological variations in Southwestern Norwegian preschool children's role-play register. Within this register, the children switch between their local Southwestern Norwegian dialect and a Central Eastern Norwegian variety similar to the Oslo dialect. Although the majority of the children (with the exception of two) employ this Central Eastern Norwegian variety in role-play, two children exhibited a significantly greater degree of usage compared to the others. Consequently, these two children were selected for an in-depth analysis. The detailed analysis reveals that while the Central Eastern Norwegian variety is used for most variables by both children, the extent to which they code-switch depends on the individual child and the specific variable in question. The observed variation across variables and between the children is examined and discussed in the paper.
The aim of the study is to compare the use of two different particles that are used in Icelandic conversation: the native form ha and the English borrowing what . The research questions are as follows: (1) What are the similarities and differences between the two forms in terms of turn-position, sequential placement, prosody, and functions?, and (2) What can the comparison tell us about the borrowing of discourse particles from one language to another? The data consisted of 28 hours and 36 minutes of conversation. The methodology employed in the study is that of interactional linguistics. The study shows that although ha and what have some similarities in certain environments, there are certain differences between the two forms. What is more limited in use than ha , both in terms of functions and position within a turn.
This paper starts by observing that an old loan word from English, the previously unstudied Finnish response particle jep ‘yep’, has recently become more frequent and gained new interactional uses. Using Conversation Analysis as a method, the paper outlines the contemporary uses of jep in messaging interaction collected in 2015–2023. It suggests that jep does not merely function as an affirmative answer, as suggested in contemporary dictionaries. Instead, it occurs in agreement and affiliation-relevant contexts, and it is used to confirm the validity of the previous speaker’s point of view and to construct it as an opinion that is shared between the participants. Although the article focuses on synchronic analyses, it also presents observations on the changes in the use of jep , paving the way for a more diachronically oriented study on the particle.
This article presents an investigation of the ongoing change in grammatical gender in Norwegian dialects, specifically the dialect of Oslo. We find that the feminine indefinite article ei and the prenominal possessives mi/di/si have disappeared from the Oslo dialect, resulting in a two-gender system with common and neuter. While the feminine definite suffix - a and the postnominal possessives mi/di/si have been found in previous studies to be generally retained in other dialects, we find less use of these forms in Oslo. We argue that the erosion of these two forms is due to the loss of feminine gender, resulting in a common gender with two competing declension classes. We consider the theoretical status of these forms and argue that our empirical data is better explained within an analysis where definite suffixes are analysed as declension class markers and the postnominal possessive no longer expresses feminine gender.
This paper examines the development and use of Finnish referative constructions, which are formed with a participle, from the sixteenth century to the present. The study aims to determine how the use and frequency of these structures have evolved throughout the history of written Finnish. It examines six Finnish translations of the New Testament from 1548 to 2020, comparing participial referative constructions to corresponding subordinate clauses formed with the conjunction ett & auml; ('that'), typically used to report speech, thoughts, or perceptions. The findings reveal that the preference for certain matrix verbs to occur with either referative constructions or subordinate clauses has changed during the period examined. Initially, the frequency of referative constructions increased, but it later declined steadily. Referative constructions with a different semantic subject from the main clause are more complex than same-subject constructions, thus being more likely to be changed to subordinate clauses or other constructions.
