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All Outputs (12)

The origins of the shape bias: Evidence from the Tsimané (2022)
Journal Article
Jara-Ettinger, J., Levy, R., Sakel, J., Huanca, T., & Gibson, E. (2022). The origins of the shape bias: Evidence from the Tsimané. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 151(10), 2437–2447. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001195

In the United States, children often generalize the meaning of new words by assuming that objects with the same shape have the same name. We propose that this shape bias is influenced by children’s exposure to objects of different categories (artifac... Read More about The origins of the shape bias: Evidence from the Tsimané.

Transfer and language contact: The case of Pirahã (2012)
Journal Article
Sakel, J. (2012). Transfer and language contact: The case of Pirahã. International Journal of Bilingualism, 16(1), 37-52. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006911403212

In this article the author argues that the language contact situation between Pirahã (Muran) and Portuguese can best be explained in a framework combining the theoretical approaches to language contact and transfer. In this contact situation, Portugu... Read More about Transfer and language contact: The case of Pirahã.

New perspectives on language transfer (2012)
Journal Article
Treffers-Daller, J., & Sakel, J. (2012). New perspectives on language transfer. International Journal of Bilingualism, 16(1),

Mosetén and Chimane argument coding: A layered system (2011)
Journal Article
Sakel, J. (2011). Mosetén and Chimane argument coding: A layered system. International Journal of American Linguistics, 77(4), 537-557. https://doi.org/10.1086/662159

This paper discusses the argument-coding system of Mosetenan, a small language family spoken in the Bolivian Amazon. While there is no case marking on nouns, all coding of arguments is found in the cross-reference ending of verbs. Intransitive verbs... Read More about Mosetén and Chimane argument coding: A layered system.

Grammatical borrowing from Spanish/Portuguese in some native languages of Latin America (2010)
Journal Article
Sakel, J. (2010). Grammatical borrowing from Spanish/Portuguese in some native languages of Latin America. STUF - Language Typology and Universals, 63(1), 65-78. https://doi.org/10.1524/stuf.2010.0006

In this paper I investigate how different factors can influence the range of grammatical categories affected by language contact, drawing on a sample of ten native languages of Latin America. The languages are all in contact with the highly dominant... Read More about Grammatical borrowing from Spanish/Portuguese in some native languages of Latin America.

Investigating the mechanisms of pattern replication in language convergence (2007)
Journal Article
Sakel, J., & Matras, Y. (2007). Investigating the mechanisms of pattern replication in language convergence. Studies in Language, 31(4), 829-865. https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.31.4.05mat

This publication is an important contribution to language contact theory. Taking a typological perspective to contact-induced change, the authors investigate the ways in which grammatical structures from one language can be integrated into another. T... Read More about Investigating the mechanisms of pattern replication in language convergence.

Language contact between Spanish and Mosetén: A study of grammatical integration (2007)
Journal Article
Sakel, J. (2007). Language contact between Spanish and Mosetén: A study of grammatical integration. International Journal of Bilingualism, 11(1), 25-53. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069070110010301

This publication is a comprehensive study of the grammatical elements borrowed from Spanish into Mosetén. The author addresses the ways in which these elements are integrated, divides them into different groups of elements and compares how these rela... Read More about Language contact between Spanish and Mosetén: A study of grammatical integration.

Language contact between Spanish and Mosetén: A study of grammatical integration (2007)
Journal Article
Sakel, J. (2007). Language contact between Spanish and Mosetén: A study of grammatical integration. International Journal of Bilingualism, 11(1), 25-53. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069070110010301

Mosetén (Mosetenan) is spoken by approximately 800 people in the foothills of the Bolivian Andes. All of the speakers are bilingual in Spanish and Mosetén. Spanish is highly dominant and as expected, Mosetén has borrowed many structures from this lan... Read More about Language contact between Spanish and Mosetén: A study of grammatical integration.

Investigating the mechanisms of pattern replication in language convergence* (2007)
Journal Article
Matras, Y., & Sakel, J. (2007). Investigating the mechanisms of pattern replication in language convergence*. Studies in Language, 31(4), 829-865. https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.31.4.05mat

The replication of concrete formal-structural material (morpho-phonological forms with attached meanings) from one language in another is universally understood to instantiate grammatical and lexical 'borrowing' (we follow mainstream usage here and a... Read More about Investigating the mechanisms of pattern replication in language convergence*.