AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE PHONETIC AND PHONOLOGICAL INTERLINGUAL INTERFERENCE IN BILINGUAL ALBANIANS DURING THE TRANSITION PERIOD (AFTER THE FALL OF THE COMMUNIST REGIME)

Abstract

In this article, interference is defined as the incorrect and mostly unconscious transfer of linguistic features from one language to another by bilingual speakers (namely Albanians during the democratic transition period), caused by the mutual impact of both languages (German and Albanian). The aim of the present article is to make an exhaustive list of the interference occurrences at the phonetic and phonological level among bilingual Albanians during the transition period, to describe them and draw appropriate conclusions about such linguistic phenomena. The present study draws on important scientific findings as well as the collected data of an empirical study on Albanian-German bilingualism (including a questionnaire and corresponding interviews). According to the interviews carried out, this fact is put down to the Albanian language level of the test subjects which indicates that even those who pretend to be bilingual speakers cannot completely differentiate between the two language systems (Albanian and German). Phonetic and phonological interferences have often been noticeable among the German-speaking Albanians: Probably this might be caused by the significant difference in nature between the German and the Albanian language.