Spanish in Context - Volume 18, Issue 2, 2021

Abstract

This study analyzes the linguistic landscape (LL) of Azogues, Ecuador, by analyzing 171 photographs of business signs, taken during the summer of 2017. It analyzes cases of language mixing from a polylanguaging perspective (Jørgensen et al. 2011) and applies the concept of bivalency (Woolard 1999) to understand how linguistic features are used on signs in the LL to index membership in multiple groups and to construct multiple identities through the use of Spanish and English. It investigates the use of bivalency in lexical items, orthography and other linguistic features. This study analyzes the use of English as an outcome of globalization and examines the use of bivalency as a strategy to index global identity when access to English is limited.

Abstract

In this paper, we study the elements of political discourse where persuasion is present as communicative strategy. In particular, we focus on the analysis of intonation and affectivity in a two-candidate Spanish electoral debate (Hidalgo Downing and Nieto y Otero 2014; Ponsonnet 2014; Reber 2012).The methodology consisted in selecting the openings and closings of each turn, taking the act as analysis unit (Briz 2003); for the acoustic analysis we have examined three parameters – fundamental frequency, intensity and vowel durations –, and four strategies for the positive affective bonds: assertiveness, inclusion, specificity and naturalization, in order to pursue the initial hypothesis on whether it is possible to find relations between intonation and affectivity. The analysis shows that both candidates use affective bonds and intonation to enhance persuasion, although there are interesting differences between candidates and between openings and closings. While openings show greater number and variety of strategies, both verbal and intonational, closings show lower intonational contours and less variation, therefore openings showing higher use of positive persuasive strategies, whereas in closings, there are no strategies addressed to the hearer, the most frequent being assertiveness. As for intonational contours, there is a general lowering in all values.

Abstract

Although vos is common in speech in Medellín, it is considered non-prestigious for writing (Agudelo Montoya et al. 2016). Nonetheless, vos is an important marker of local identity (Jang 2013) that increasingly appears in writing (Weyers 2016a). Its presence suggests a potential upward shift in its prestige. For that to happen, favorable attitudes toward its use in writing are called for. Here we examine the linguistic attitudes of 222 medellinenses toward vos, tú, and their corresponding verb forms in advertising. We find that (1) all speakers prefer vos; (2) they favor the pronoun vos over its corresponding verb forms; (3) younger speakers prefer vos over their older counterparts; and (4) men prefer voseo verb forms while women prefer tuteo forms. Given the overall positive attitudes toward vos, it is possible that its prestige will increase.

Resumen

Este artículo adopta una perspectiva política y económica para explorar la evolución de las representaciones del mundo laboral en los libros de texto del español como lengua extranjera (ELE) desde mediados de los setenta hasta la actualidad. Utilizando el marco teórico del análisis crítico del discurso, examinamos históricamente el contenido laboral en libros de ELE a la luz de las transformaciones del capitalismo en las últimas cuatro décadas. Los resultados del análisis del contenido indican un incremento de referencias neoliberales coincidiendo con el auge del neoliberalismo como paradigma político y económico dominante. También se constata un cambio de orientación de las actividades que pasan a centrarse en la promoción del espíritu empresarial y la empleabilidad de los aprendices. El artículo concluye destacando la necesidad de estudiar los cambios en la esfera económica y material de la sociedad para comprender mejor cuestiones relacionadas con la lengua y su contexto.

Abstract

In Spanish, a SVO language with variable word order, post-verbal subjects have been proposed to be favored for particular verb categories. For instance, based on agentivity, unaccusatives are proposed to favor VS as a whole. Motion verbs are regarded as unaccusatives generally favoring VS order. An alternative analysis is presented here, using data from two conversational corpora. Motion verbs are recategorized based on their predicted tendency to include adverbials in the sentence and compared with other unaccusatives. Motion verbs are divided according to their Deictic Function (Talmy 2000) into “come” verbs (i.e., “motion-toward-the-center,” that is, the speaker), and “go” verbs. “Come” verbs do not often require target specification through an adverbial, whereas “go” verbs do. Adverbials were found to appear as post-verbal path specification in “go” verbs; due to weight factors, such specifiers favor pre-verbal subjects. Importantly, even when no modifier is present, trends persist, suggesting entrenchment of usage patterns.

Abstracta

El estudio de los géneros discursivos académicos ha recibido una especial atención en la última década. No obstante, los estudios sobre el género tesis de licenciatura son escasos, especialmente desde la perspectiva léxico-gramatical. Nuestro objetivo es describir léxico-gramaticalmente cada movimiento del género tesis de licenciatura en lingüística, a partir de la extracción y cuantificación de trigramas de lemas en 33 tesis de licenciatura en lingüística. Para ello se utiliza la lingüística de corpus, pues permite etiquetar automáticamente sus unidades léxicas e identificar patrones de lemas usados para el análisis estadístico. Entre los hallazgos se destaca que los trigramas de lemas diferencian en un 99,3% los movimientos. Además, se identifican los trigramas propios de cada movimiento, estos se relacionan funcionalmente con los propósitos comunicativos. Los hallazgos establecen una clara relación entre las formas lingüísticas y las funciones comunicativas en este género. Los resultados tienen aplicaciones para el desarrollo de herramientas de apoyo a la escritura desde una pedagogía basada en el género.

This article reviews Palabras invasoras: el español de las nuevas tecnologías

This article reviews Palabras en lluvia minuciosa. Veinte visitas a la gramática del español inspiradas por Ángela Di Tullio978-84-1692-288-8 Iberoamericana978-3-95487-743-0 Vervuert978-3-95487-756-0 eBook