On the tenacity of Andean Spanish
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John M. Lipski
Abstract
The present study draws on field data from communities of Quechua-dominant late bilinguals in northern Ecuador, a configuration typical of literary and folkloric portrayals of Andean Spanish. A comparison of contemporary data with earlier literary imitations as well as more trustworthy transcriptions reveals a combination of (possibly Quechua-induced) L2 Spanish features and a group of traits that cannot be reasonably analyzed as arising spontaneously and consistently generation after generation. Among the latter are the enclitic particles -ca and -tan, gerunds instead of finite verbs, and some specific lexical variants. Since it has generally been assumed that Quechua-Spanish interlanguage is an idiolectally variable and transitory register used primarily with monolingual interlocutors, the trans-generational survival of a cluster of Andean Spanish traits requires further explanation. This study presents a model for intra-community recycling, using data from ethnographic interviews, sociolinguistic inquiries, and interactive tasks performed by a broad cross-section of Spanish-Quechua bilinguals. The approach is offered as an addition to the toolkit for the analysis of long-standing language contact environments.
Abstract
The present study draws on field data from communities of Quechua-dominant late bilinguals in northern Ecuador, a configuration typical of literary and folkloric portrayals of Andean Spanish. A comparison of contemporary data with earlier literary imitations as well as more trustworthy transcriptions reveals a combination of (possibly Quechua-induced) L2 Spanish features and a group of traits that cannot be reasonably analyzed as arising spontaneously and consistently generation after generation. Among the latter are the enclitic particles -ca and -tan, gerunds instead of finite verbs, and some specific lexical variants. Since it has generally been assumed that Quechua-Spanish interlanguage is an idiolectally variable and transitory register used primarily with monolingual interlocutors, the trans-generational survival of a cluster of Andean Spanish traits requires further explanation. This study presents a model for intra-community recycling, using data from ethnographic interviews, sociolinguistic inquiries, and interactive tasks performed by a broad cross-section of Spanish-Quechua bilinguals. The approach is offered as an addition to the toolkit for the analysis of long-standing language contact environments.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgments ix
- Introduction xi
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Part I. Cutting-edge Methodologies in Sociolinguistics
- Quantitative analysis in language variation and change 3
- Combining population genetics (DNA) with historical linguistics 33
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Part II. Bilingualism
- Los Angeles Vernacular Spanish 91
- On the tenacity of Andean Spanish 109
- Spanish and Valencian in contact 135
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Part III. Language Acquisition
- Children’s Spanish subject pronoun expression 157
- The role of social networks in the acquisition of a dialectal features during study abroad 177
- Lexical frequency and subject expression in native and non-native Spanish 197
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Part IV. Phonological Variation
- On glottal stops in Yucatan Spanish 219
- Vowel raising and social networks in Michoacán 241
- Bilingualism and aspiration 261
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Part V. Morpho-Syntactic Variation
- Spanish and Portuguese parallels 285
- The tuteo of Rocha, Uruguay 305
- A corpus-based sociolinguistic study of contact-induced changes in subject placement in the Spanish of New York City bilinguals 323
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Part VI. Lexical Variation
- Social factors in semantic change 345
- Attitudes towards lexical Arabisms in sixteenth-century Spanish texts 363
- “Trabajar es en español, en ladino es lavorar” 381
- Index 401
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgments ix
- Introduction xi
-
Part I. Cutting-edge Methodologies in Sociolinguistics
- Quantitative analysis in language variation and change 3
- Combining population genetics (DNA) with historical linguistics 33
-
Part II. Bilingualism
- Los Angeles Vernacular Spanish 91
- On the tenacity of Andean Spanish 109
- Spanish and Valencian in contact 135
-
Part III. Language Acquisition
- Children’s Spanish subject pronoun expression 157
- The role of social networks in the acquisition of a dialectal features during study abroad 177
- Lexical frequency and subject expression in native and non-native Spanish 197
-
Part IV. Phonological Variation
- On glottal stops in Yucatan Spanish 219
- Vowel raising and social networks in Michoacán 241
- Bilingualism and aspiration 261
-
Part V. Morpho-Syntactic Variation
- Spanish and Portuguese parallels 285
- The tuteo of Rocha, Uruguay 305
- A corpus-based sociolinguistic study of contact-induced changes in subject placement in the Spanish of New York City bilinguals 323
-
Part VI. Lexical Variation
- Social factors in semantic change 345
- Attitudes towards lexical Arabisms in sixteenth-century Spanish texts 363
- “Trabajar es en español, en ladino es lavorar” 381
- Index 401
