Journal article 106 views
Word associations in a minoritised language: the case of Cymraeg (Welsh)
Theo Mills,
Tess Fitzpatrick,
Steve Morris 
International Journal of Applied Linguistics
Swansea University Authors:
Theo Mills, Tess Fitzpatrick, Steve Morris
Full text not available from this repository: check for access using links below.
DOI (Published version): 10.1111/ijal.70183
Abstract
As with many research strands in linguistics, word association (WA) literature is dominated by English language data. This paper (i) explores the extent to which methodologies developed to date are applicable to other languages – specifically, Welsh (Cymraeg) – and (ii) investigates what WA analysis...
| Published in: | International Journal of Applied Linguistics |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0802-6106 1473-4192 |
| Published: |
Wiley
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71688 |
| first_indexed |
2026-03-31T10:56:08Z |
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| last_indexed |
2026-04-05T04:35:57Z |
| id |
cronfa71688 |
| recordtype |
SURis |
| fullrecord |
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| spelling |
2026-04-04T18:43:57.7934065 v2 71688 2026-03-31 Word associations in a minoritised language: the case of Cymraeg (Welsh) 6ca7c4c6f0a0e3afb0a5f4cec0a2ef13 Theo Mills Theo Mills true false 9597ef45279e137ada70fc75832a45de Tess Fitzpatrick Tess Fitzpatrick true false c696b0282208e9edd88c35b049a8c8d8 0000-0003-3789-1233 Steve Morris Steve Morris true false 2026-03-31 As with many research strands in linguistics, word association (WA) literature is dominated by English language data. This paper (i) explores the extent to which methodologies developed to date are applicable to other languages – specifically, Welsh (Cymraeg) – and (ii) investigates what WA analysis can reveal about lexical organisation and retrieval in bilinguals’ two languages; its minoritised language context means that Welsh speakers are bilingual with English. Two complementary datasets are used. The first comprises responses to 900 Welsh cues from 85 expert users of Welsh, and forms the basis of the first Welsh language WA norms list. The second is bilingual, comprising responses from 85 Welsh speakers and learners to two lists of 100 cue words, one in Welsh and one in English. Language-specific methodological challenges emerge, including management of mutated word forms, diacritics and orthographic variation. Decisions relating to these as the first dataset was converted into a norms list (now informing Welsh language teaching materials), are documented. Language-specific features that facilitate understanding of WA processes, such as grammatical mutation and inflection, are also reported. Bilingual data associations were categorised to obtain “profiles” for each dataset. Systematic differences between the profiles for each task (Welsh and English) were identified. A pairwise comparison of profiles revealed that while individuals’ profiles are distinct from each other, their own profiles are similar across each of their two languages; this closeness is most pronounced in expert users of Welsh. Journal Article International Journal of Applied Linguistics Wiley 0802-6106 1473-4192 0 0 0 0001-01-01 10.1111/ijal.70183 In press COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) WJEC/CBAC; Swansea University SPIN; Arts and Humanities Research Council (Grant Number: AH/Y003020/1) 2026-04-04T18:43:57.7934065 2026-03-31T11:47:05.9443283 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics Theo Mills 1 Tess Fitzpatrick 2 Steve Morris 0000-0003-3789-1233 3 |
| title |
Word associations in a minoritised language: the case of Cymraeg (Welsh) |
| spellingShingle |
Word associations in a minoritised language: the case of Cymraeg (Welsh) Theo Mills Tess Fitzpatrick Steve Morris |
| title_short |
Word associations in a minoritised language: the case of Cymraeg (Welsh) |
| title_full |
Word associations in a minoritised language: the case of Cymraeg (Welsh) |
| title_fullStr |
Word associations in a minoritised language: the case of Cymraeg (Welsh) |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Word associations in a minoritised language: the case of Cymraeg (Welsh) |
| title_sort |
Word associations in a minoritised language: the case of Cymraeg (Welsh) |
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6ca7c4c6f0a0e3afb0a5f4cec0a2ef13 9597ef45279e137ada70fc75832a45de c696b0282208e9edd88c35b049a8c8d8 |
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6ca7c4c6f0a0e3afb0a5f4cec0a2ef13_***_Theo Mills 9597ef45279e137ada70fc75832a45de_***_Tess Fitzpatrick c696b0282208e9edd88c35b049a8c8d8_***_Steve Morris |
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Theo Mills Tess Fitzpatrick Steve Morris |
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Theo Mills Tess Fitzpatrick Steve Morris |
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International Journal of Applied Linguistics |
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Swansea University |
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0802-6106 1473-4192 |
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10.1111/ijal.70183 |
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Wiley |
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Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
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| description |
As with many research strands in linguistics, word association (WA) literature is dominated by English language data. This paper (i) explores the extent to which methodologies developed to date are applicable to other languages – specifically, Welsh (Cymraeg) – and (ii) investigates what WA analysis can reveal about lexical organisation and retrieval in bilinguals’ two languages; its minoritised language context means that Welsh speakers are bilingual with English. Two complementary datasets are used. The first comprises responses to 900 Welsh cues from 85 expert users of Welsh, and forms the basis of the first Welsh language WA norms list. The second is bilingual, comprising responses from 85 Welsh speakers and learners to two lists of 100 cue words, one in Welsh and one in English. Language-specific methodological challenges emerge, including management of mutated word forms, diacritics and orthographic variation. Decisions relating to these as the first dataset was converted into a norms list (now informing Welsh language teaching materials), are documented. Language-specific features that facilitate understanding of WA processes, such as grammatical mutation and inflection, are also reported. Bilingual data associations were categorised to obtain “profiles” for each dataset. Systematic differences between the profiles for each task (Welsh and English) were identified. A pairwise comparison of profiles revealed that while individuals’ profiles are distinct from each other, their own profiles are similar across each of their two languages; this closeness is most pronounced in expert users of Welsh. |
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0001-01-01T10:44:43Z |
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11.103362 |