Lexical Category Vulnerability in L1 Attrition: Evidence from Heritage Vocabulary among Kara Young Adults in Tanzania

Abstract

Studies investigating the lexical categories likely to attrit mostly focus on EFL contexts. In this regard, little is known about L1 attrition in the L1 context. Hitherto, in the EFL context, there has been a longstanding disagreement about which lexical items are more vulnerable to attrition and the reasons for their latent vulnerability. Consequently, this study identifies lexical categories that are more vulnerable to attrition in a non-EFL context and establishes the theoretical reasons for this vulnerability. It is a mixed research, employing the Cross-Linguistic Influence Hypothesis and the Activation Threshold Hypothesis, integrated into the concept of “Core and Peripheral lexicon”. The study obtained data from 15 Kara young adults aged 18-39 as the target group and 15 older adults aged 40 and above as the control group, purposively selected and recruited through the snowballing technique. Data collection involved proficiency-testing tools such as direct vocabulary elicitation, verbal fluency tests, and picture-naming tasks. Data analysis involved list development, which later formed the Six-Phase Thematic Analysis of information chunks. The study establishes that nouns are more vulnerable to attrition than verbs, primarily because they form the peripheral lexicon (easily affected by borrowing). Meanwhile, Adverbs, adjectives, and minor word classes demonstrated resilience because they constitute the core lexicon. The study establishes, therefore, that lexical attrition in a non-EFL context depends on the degree of interface between a lexical category and the language’s either internal or external system. Moreover, the study recommends further research across diverse contact situations to provide additional insights that will contribute significantly to the debate and yield new theoretically and empirically grounded perspectives on the phenomenon.