Home General Interest Chapter 4. Afro-Hispanic contact varieties at the syntax/pragmatics interface
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Chapter 4. Afro-Hispanic contact varieties at the syntax/pragmatics interface

Pro-drop phenomena in Chinchano Spanish
  • Sandro Sessarego and Javier Gutiérrez-Rexach✝
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
To Publisher Page
Language Variation and Contact-Induced Change
This chapter is in the book Language Variation and Contact-Induced Change

Abstract

The Null Subject Parameter (NSP) has been the focus of much debate in the syntactic and pragmatic literature. Within the realm of Spanish and Portuguese, the analysis of two dialects that do not follow its predictions (Dominican Spanish (DS) and Brazilian Portuguese (BP)) has led to the postulation of new hypotheses to account for their unexpected syntactic patterns. The present study pays attention to yet another dialect of Spanish that does not conform to the NSP, Chinchano Spanish (CS), an Afro-Hispanic variety spoken in Chincha, Peru. In so doing, this paper provides an analysis of null and overt subjects that partially deviates from previous accounts of similar pro-drop phenomena. Additionally, this study proposes a model of contact-induced language transmission that explains why CS – as well as many other Afro-Hispanic languages of the Americas (AHLAs) – presents patterns that do not align this dialect with either null-subject languages (NSLs) like Italian or non-null-subject languages (NNSLs) like English.

Abstract

The Null Subject Parameter (NSP) has been the focus of much debate in the syntactic and pragmatic literature. Within the realm of Spanish and Portuguese, the analysis of two dialects that do not follow its predictions (Dominican Spanish (DS) and Brazilian Portuguese (BP)) has led to the postulation of new hypotheses to account for their unexpected syntactic patterns. The present study pays attention to yet another dialect of Spanish that does not conform to the NSP, Chinchano Spanish (CS), an Afro-Hispanic variety spoken in Chincha, Peru. In so doing, this paper provides an analysis of null and overt subjects that partially deviates from previous accounts of similar pro-drop phenomena. Additionally, this study proposes a model of contact-induced language transmission that explains why CS – as well as many other Afro-Hispanic languages of the Americas (AHLAs) – presents patterns that do not align this dialect with either null-subject languages (NSLs) like Italian or non-null-subject languages (NNSLs) like English.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. Population migration and contact-induced language change
  5. Chapter 1. Spatial reconfigurations of Spanish in postmodernity 11
  6. Chapter 2. Female migration and its impact on language choice and use among Afro-Costa Rican women 35
  7. Chapter 3. Hard come, easy go 63
  8. Part II. Internal and external factors in pragmatic variation
  9. Chapter 4. Afro-Hispanic contact varieties at the syntax/pragmatics interface 85
  10. Chapter 5. Borrowed Spanish discourse markers in narrative 111
  11. Chapter 6. Hasta perder la última gota de mi sangre 127
  12. Chapter 7. Discourse markers in variation 153
  13. Part III. Morphosyntactic variation and change
  14. Chapter 8. Yo no le conocí a mi abuela 175
  15. Chapter 9. Attitudes toward morphosyntactic variation in the Spanish of Valencian speakers 199
  16. Chapter 10. Stable variation or change in progress? A sociolinguistic analysis of pa(ra) in the Spanish of Venezuela 223
  17. Part IV. Current issues in bilingual variation
  18. Chapter 11. El futuro es perifrástico 249
  19. Chapter 12. L2 Spanish in the U.S. and the question of motivation 279
  20. Chapter 13. Espero estén todos 299
  21. Index 335
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.340.05ses

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. Population migration and contact-induced language change
  5. Chapter 1. Spatial reconfigurations of Spanish in postmodernity 11
  6. Chapter 2. Female migration and its impact on language choice and use among Afro-Costa Rican women 35
  7. Chapter 3. Hard come, easy go 63
  8. Part II. Internal and external factors in pragmatic variation
  9. Chapter 4. Afro-Hispanic contact varieties at the syntax/pragmatics interface 85
  10. Chapter 5. Borrowed Spanish discourse markers in narrative 111
  11. Chapter 6. Hasta perder la última gota de mi sangre 127
  12. Chapter 7. Discourse markers in variation 153
  13. Part III. Morphosyntactic variation and change
  14. Chapter 8. Yo no le conocí a mi abuela 175
  15. Chapter 9. Attitudes toward morphosyntactic variation in the Spanish of Valencian speakers 199
  16. Chapter 10. Stable variation or change in progress? A sociolinguistic analysis of pa(ra) in the Spanish of Venezuela 223
  17. Part IV. Current issues in bilingual variation
  18. Chapter 11. El futuro es perifrástico 249
  19. Chapter 12. L2 Spanish in the U.S. and the question of motivation 279
  20. Chapter 13. Espero estén todos 299
  21. Index 335
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 29.12.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/cilt.340.05ses/html
Scroll to top button