Synchronic change in a multidialectal Spanish community
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Laura Domínguez
Abstract
Recent developments in linguistic theory have successfully reconciled diachronic syntactic change (Biberauer & Roberts, 2006; Breibarth, Lucas, & Willis, 2008; Roberts, 2007) and intra-speaker variation (Adger & Smith, 2005, 2010; Henry, 1995; Barbiers, 2005) with Minimalist models of the language faculty. Cases of L1 attrition, however, whereby morphosyntactic properties in stable adult grammars undergo change, remain unaccounted for by Minimalist theory. Using evidence from the realisation of null and postverbal subjects in the grammar of two groups of native Spanish speakers in different bilingual settings, (Miami and the U.K.) we demonstrate that L1 attrition in language contact situations can similarly be accommodated within Minimalist theory, driven by changes to the lexical feature specifications of functional categories (Adger & Smith, 2010; Gallego, 2011; Holmberg, 2010).
Abstract
Recent developments in linguistic theory have successfully reconciled diachronic syntactic change (Biberauer & Roberts, 2006; Breibarth, Lucas, & Willis, 2008; Roberts, 2007) and intra-speaker variation (Adger & Smith, 2005, 2010; Henry, 1995; Barbiers, 2005) with Minimalist models of the language faculty. Cases of L1 attrition, however, whereby morphosyntactic properties in stable adult grammars undergo change, remain unaccounted for by Minimalist theory. Using evidence from the realisation of null and postverbal subjects in the grammar of two groups of native Spanish speakers in different bilingual settings, (Miami and the U.K.) we demonstrate that L1 attrition in language contact situations can similarly be accommodated within Minimalist theory, driven by changes to the lexical feature specifications of functional categories (Adger & Smith, 2010; Gallego, 2011; Holmberg, 2010).
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction ix
- Towards a theory of assertion structure 1
- Towards a theory of pronominal verb constructions in Spanish 21
- On the grammaticality of recomplementation in Spanish 39
- Synchronic change in a multidialectal Spanish community 53
- Exploring the syntax-semantics-prosody interface 73
- Generalized gradability and extremeness in Puerto Rican Spanish 95
- On the mistaken identity of negated epistemics 111
- The mestizo speech 131
- Stressed clitics in Argentine Spanish 149
- On the simplification of a prosodic inventory 171
- Segmental anchoring in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish intonation 191
- The prosody-pragmatics interface in the pragmaticalization of ¡Hombre! as a discourse marker 211
- Sociolinguistic implications on perception 241
- Vosotros , ustedes , and the myth of the symmetrical Castilian pronoun system 263
- Microvariation in the Null Subject Parameter 281
- An analysis of subjunctive frequency and semantic predictors of mood in Central Argentinian Spanish 301
- The future is in the past 317
- Double possession in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish 335
- Index 355
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction ix
- Towards a theory of assertion structure 1
- Towards a theory of pronominal verb constructions in Spanish 21
- On the grammaticality of recomplementation in Spanish 39
- Synchronic change in a multidialectal Spanish community 53
- Exploring the syntax-semantics-prosody interface 73
- Generalized gradability and extremeness in Puerto Rican Spanish 95
- On the mistaken identity of negated epistemics 111
- The mestizo speech 131
- Stressed clitics in Argentine Spanish 149
- On the simplification of a prosodic inventory 171
- Segmental anchoring in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish intonation 191
- The prosody-pragmatics interface in the pragmaticalization of ¡Hombre! as a discourse marker 211
- Sociolinguistic implications on perception 241
- Vosotros , ustedes , and the myth of the symmetrical Castilian pronoun system 263
- Microvariation in the Null Subject Parameter 281
- An analysis of subjunctive frequency and semantic predictors of mood in Central Argentinian Spanish 301
- The future is in the past 317
- Double possession in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish 335
- Index 355
