Grammatical gender—the way languages assign masculine, feminine, or neutral categories to nouns—might seem like a linguistic quirk. However, this study suggests these grammatical structures fundamentally influence how our brains encode and retrieve information. Imagine a cognitive landscape where words carry subtle gendered resonances, creating invisible pathways that guide memory and recognition.
The research illuminates a deeper truth about human cognitive flexibility. By investigating how simultaneous bilinguals navigate complex grammatical systems, we glimpse the remarkable adaptability of human memory and language processing. These findings invite us to reconsider how linguistic diversity shapes our understanding of cognition, memory, and the intricate ways different languages might enhance or transform our mental experiences.
Abstract
This study examines the impact of grammatical gender on memory recall among simultaneous bilinguals with two three-gendered languages (Ukrainian and Russian). Ukrainian−Russian bilinguals and English monolingual controls were tested on their ability to remember names assigned to objects with either matching or mismatching grammatical genders across their two languages. Results showed that bilinguals recalled names more accurately when the biological sex of the names was congruent with the grammatical gender of objects in both languages (e.g., recalling a male name assigned to a noun with masculine grammatical gender in both L1s, rather than a female name). English monolinguals, in contrast, showed no difference in recall. However, when grammatical gender mismatched across Ukrainian and Russian, the expected influence of the more proficient language on recall accuracy was not observed. These findings suggest that converging grammatical information from two L1s creates stronger memory associations, enhancing recall accuracy of simultaneous bilinguals. Conversely, mismatching grammatical genders appear to negate this effect. Taken together, these findings highlight the interconnected nature of bilingual conceptual representation.