Spanish in Context - Volume 21, Issue 3, 2024

Resumen

En muchas variedades de español, más puede ser antepuesto o pospuesto relativo a las palabras negativas nada, nadie, nunca o ningún(o/a/os/as). Sin embargo, la frecuencia de anteposición fluctúa enormemente entre las diferentes variedades del español. En el presente estudio se expanden investigaciones previas de estas construcciones, analizando dos variedades adicionales del español, Panamá y Puerto Rico, y considerando el efecto de tres variables sintácticas no consideradas anteriormente, usando una muestra más amplia de datos. Se codificaron 676 ejemplos de estas construcciones de blogs de Panamá y 1237 ejemplos de blogs de Puerto Rico del Corpus del Español, y se consideró el efecto de ocho factores sintácticos y semánticos en esta alternancia. Los resultados indican que los factores que gobiernan esta variación difieren entre los dos países y que estas diferencias reflejan en parte distintas etapas en el cambio de más pospuesto a más antepuesto.

Resumen

En este estudio, llevamos a cabo una caracterización de la flexión verbal en español basándonos en los análisis de frecuencia del corpus PRESEEA-Santander. A partir de la comparación, principalmente con Bull (1947) y Juilland y Chang-Rodríguez (1964), nuestro objetivo es doble: en primer lugar, conocer las frecuencias de modo y tiempo junto a persona y número; en segundo lugar, observar las grandes diferencias de frecuencia entre las categorías gramaticales, a la vez que establecemos el grado de marcación gramatical. Llevamos a cabo, así, una caracterización de la flexión verbal en términos de frecuencia y marcación, acotada en un corpus oral. Los resultados apuntan al avance teórico en la estructura de la morfología verbal, donde parece existir una realidad bastante distinta a la trazada hasta el momento; se propone, por último, el uso del grado de marcación como herramienta útil para conocer la marca lingüística desde el punto de vista cuantitativo.

Abstract

By adopting a matched-guise technique, the present study examines covert and overt attitudes towards Asturian, a minoritized language spoken in Asturias (Northwestern Spain). The two phonetic Asturian variants empirically analyzed are Asturian ‘f-’ and ‘ll-’ vs. Spanish ‘h-’ and ‘l-’, respectively. Given the current stigmatization of Asturian, the hypothesis is that guises in which the Asturian linguistic variants are employed will be judged as used by lower social status speakers in comparison to those in which the Spanish variants are uttered. Results support this hypothesis. Furthermore, examples of covert prestige towards Asturian were found in traits such as friendliness, generosity, and kindness. This project on Asturian linguistic attitudes can provide insight into the types of initiatives that can be considered to restitute the language’s social prestige, and thus give it additional social support with regards to its legal status.

Abstract

This article aims to describe the use of mitigating reported speech concerning three general mitigation functions — self-protection, prevention, and repair — identified in the works of Albelda et al. (2014, 2021). This goal will be achieved through a review of relevant literature on this phenomenon and an analysis of 72 semi-structured interviews taken from the PRESEEA-Seville oral corpus. From a sociolinguistic perspective, we will also examine how the employ of mitigating reported speech functions is affected by three fundamental social criteria: gender, age, and level of education. Additionally, we will provide information on how frequently they are used. Generally, we observe a prevalence of the self-protection function, especially in the use of direct quotations. This helps to preserve the speaker’s face, resulting in a positive impact. In terms of social factors, this function is notable in both male and female participants with low levels of education, particularly among first-generation individuals.

Abstract

Although the US Southwest region has a long history of language contact between English and Spanish, the literature has provided mixed evidence for contact-induced language changes. The present study adds to this body of work with a variationist analysis of subject position with intransitive constructions in bilingual Arizonan Spanish and monolingual Mexican Spanish. Overall, our findings demonstrate that both varieties are influenced by the same linguistic factors with the same directionality of effects. However, the overall rate of post-verbal subjects is lower in bilingual Arizonan Spanish vis-à-vis monolingual Mexican Spanish within almost every linguistic factor, which suggests frequential copying from English’s less flexible word order. Additionally, there were differences between sociolinguistic generations, first generation bilingual and monolingual speakers, and the constraint hierarchies of each variety. Altogether, these findings provide preliminary evidence for language contact, and we outline future avenues to test for contact-induced change with this morphosyntactic variable.

Abstract

We explore self-reported use of the second-person singular pronoun vos by a group of speakers of Central American Spanish in the state of Nebraska. A specific case of interdialectal contact that takes place in five non-metropolitan communities in the Midwest is described. All speakers included in this study lived or had grown up in communities with low ethnolinguistic vitality for Spanish and intense contact with speakers of Mexican American and Mexican Spanish. Our analysis focuses on the pronoun vos because it is a feature absent from the dialects of Spanish spoken by the majority of Latinx Nebraskans, and because its use and intergenerational transmission are closely inosculated with social meaning. Respondents’ articulation of their sociolinguistic experience describes a situation that includes complex processes of language brokering, acquisition, loss, inter- and intra-dialectal contact, and intra- generational language planning. Three forces that foster the use of vos by speakers of Central American varieties of Spanish in Nebraska, and three factors that hinder it are identified.

Abstract

Impersonal expressions in Spanish are expressed in various forms, including use of impersonal se or with the indefinite uno and a third-person verb conjugation. Other forms of expression are becoming more frequent in both monolingual and bilingual contexts (Hurtado 2015; Guirado 2011; Morales 1995). The current study analyzes the forms of impersonal expression in three generations of eighteen total Spanish speakers in Texas. The pragmatic functions of first-person plural and second-person singular forms are analyzed based on their use for generalization, focalized generalization, speaker concealment, or inclusive defocalization (Pulido Astorga and Rivadeneira Valenzuela 2017). Results demonstrate the wide usage of various reference impersonals, signaling deictic extension (Fernández 2008). Furthermore, complementary distribution of forms across discursive function was identified, demonstrating the need for a comprehensive consideration at the discourse-pragmatic level for all reference impersonal forms. This study represents an initial step in the pragmatic consideration of impersonal expressions in US Spanish.

Resumen

Este estudio analiza las actitudes lingüísticas en torno a siete variedades del español y la variación léxica hispanoamericana en el ámbito digital. Nos centramos en los comentarios de la “batalla de idiomas”, un reto muy popular en YouTube que presenta prácticas lingüísticas lúdicas protagonizadas por hablantes de distintas variedades hispanohablantes. Analizamos los cien comentarios con más “Me gusta” de los dos retos con más visualizaciones, los clasificamos según el componente actitudinal predominante (afectivo, cognitivo y conativo) y los vinculamos con actitudes de prejuicio, prestigio, (des)lealtad e (in)seguridad lingüísticas en relación con las variedades representadas, así como los grupos asiático, latino e hispano. Aunque emerge una inclinación predominantemente positiva hacia el reconocimiento y el intercambio de las diferentes variedades del español, un número significativo de comentarios cuestionan la autenticidad, los orígenes, las expresiones y la representación de algunos de los participantes, y revelan aspectos controvertidos de la variación.

This article reviews Verb and Context. The impact of shared knowledge on TAME categories97890272127649789027254993

This article reviews Spanish So White: Conversations on the Inconvenient Racism of a “Foreign” Language Education978-1-80041689-5