Spanish/English contact in rural Puerto Rico: Sociolinguistic variation, context, and text

This article presents three perspectives in the study of Spanish/English contact in a community of rural Puerto Rico. First, it presents an analysis of variation based on the presence of English forms in recorded conversational Spanish. Second, it provides a view of the social context of Spanish/English contact by examining responses to a sociological questionnaire focusing on the use of “Spanish Only” versus Spanish and English in spheres of community life. Third, it highlights speaker commentary on social factors in relation to the use of Spanish and English. The study shows that the presence of English in the recorded conversational Spanish is extremely limited and that Spanish dominates in community life. Nevertheless, the presence of English in both conversational Spanish and social spheres within the community reveals patterns in relation to social factors recognized by speakers.