Chapter 5. Spanish and Palenquero
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John M. Lipski
Abstract
The Afro-Colombian creole language Palenquero, spoken in the village of San Basilio de Palenque, has been in contact with its historical lexifier, Spanish, for several centuries. The lexicons of the two languages are more than 90% cognate, including complete identity (based on the local vernacular variety of Spanish) and predictable phonological modifications resulting from the historical development of Palenquero in contact with Kikongo and other Central African languages, in addition to some less predictable correspondences. Previous research has demonstrated that Palenquero-Spanish bilinguals are influenced by key grammatical items in on-line (real-time) identification of the language of an utterance (all-Spanish, all-Palenquero, or mixed). The present study examines the role of regular Palenquero-Spanish phonotactic correspondences in facilitating language identification by Palenquero-Spanish bilinguals. Three experiments provide data: a single-word language identification task, an on-line rapid language identification task, and an on-line processing task in which participants signal points of transition between Palenquero and Spanish. The results point to a subtle but real role for Palenquero-Spanish phonological predictability in language identification, with enhanced importance for young L2 Palenquero speakers. More generally, the observations are relevant to other revitalization efforts that involve a minority language substantially cognate with the dominant language. The data from L2 Palenquero speakers suggest that sociophonetic awareness can aid in bootstrapping emergent grammatical competence in the minority language.
Abstract
The Afro-Colombian creole language Palenquero, spoken in the village of San Basilio de Palenque, has been in contact with its historical lexifier, Spanish, for several centuries. The lexicons of the two languages are more than 90% cognate, including complete identity (based on the local vernacular variety of Spanish) and predictable phonological modifications resulting from the historical development of Palenquero in contact with Kikongo and other Central African languages, in addition to some less predictable correspondences. Previous research has demonstrated that Palenquero-Spanish bilinguals are influenced by key grammatical items in on-line (real-time) identification of the language of an utterance (all-Spanish, all-Palenquero, or mixed). The present study examines the role of regular Palenquero-Spanish phonotactic correspondences in facilitating language identification by Palenquero-Spanish bilinguals. Three experiments provide data: a single-word language identification task, an on-line rapid language identification task, and an on-line processing task in which participants signal points of transition between Palenquero and Spanish. The results point to a subtle but real role for Palenquero-Spanish phonological predictability in language identification, with enhanced importance for young L2 Palenquero speakers. More generally, the observations are relevant to other revitalization efforts that involve a minority language substantially cognate with the dominant language. The data from L2 Palenquero speakers suggest that sociophonetic awareness can aid in bootstrapping emergent grammatical competence in the minority language.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Spain
- Chapter 1. The role of social cues in the perception of final vowel contrasts in Asturian Spanish 15
- Chapter 2. Covert and overt attitudes towards Catalonian Spanish laterals and intervocalic fricatives 39
- Chapter 3. Dialectology meets sociophonetics 85
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South America
- Chapter 4. Regional identity in Highland Ecuador 125
- Chapter 5. Spanish and Palenquero 153
- Chapter 6. The role of social networks in cross-dialectal variation in the perception of the Rioplatense assibilated pre-palatal [ʃ] 187
- Chapter 7. The social perception of intervocalic /k/ voicing in Chilean Spanish 211
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North America
- Chapter 8. The sociophonetic perception of heritage Spanish speakers in the United States 239
- Chapter 9. Spoken word recognition and shesheo in Northwestern Mexico 265
- Chapter 10. The perception-production connection 287
-
Future Directions
- Chapter 11. Of intersectionality, replicability, and holistic perspectives 315
- Chapter 12. Future directions for sociophonetic research in Spanish 327
- Index 341
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Spain
- Chapter 1. The role of social cues in the perception of final vowel contrasts in Asturian Spanish 15
- Chapter 2. Covert and overt attitudes towards Catalonian Spanish laterals and intervocalic fricatives 39
- Chapter 3. Dialectology meets sociophonetics 85
-
South America
- Chapter 4. Regional identity in Highland Ecuador 125
- Chapter 5. Spanish and Palenquero 153
- Chapter 6. The role of social networks in cross-dialectal variation in the perception of the Rioplatense assibilated pre-palatal [ʃ] 187
- Chapter 7. The social perception of intervocalic /k/ voicing in Chilean Spanish 211
-
North America
- Chapter 8. The sociophonetic perception of heritage Spanish speakers in the United States 239
- Chapter 9. Spoken word recognition and shesheo in Northwestern Mexico 265
- Chapter 10. The perception-production connection 287
-
Future Directions
- Chapter 11. Of intersectionality, replicability, and holistic perspectives 315
- Chapter 12. Future directions for sociophonetic research in Spanish 327
- Index 341
