15. Apuntes preliminares sobre el contacto lingüístico y dialectal en el uso pronominal del español en Nueva York
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Ricardo Otheguy
Abstract
This paper investigates the alternation of null and pronominal subjects across six dialects and various generations of Spanish speakers in New York City. Although past research of this variable has found virtually no social conditioning, a close analysis revealed a pattern of social influence derived in part from the source dialects, in part from regional dialects, and in part from English influence. A basic division exists between Dominican Spanish versus all others. There is some evidence to support a further distinction of Mexican Spanish from all others. However, with respect to pronominal subject expression, this data does not support considering Puerto Rican or Cuban or Ecuadorian or Columbian Spanishes as separate dialects. In contrast, a regional division of the dialects does emerge if one groups the six dialect groups into two: Caribbean speakers, with a relatively high rate of pronominal expression, and South American speakers, with a somewhat lower rate. In addition, the influence of English is identified through a close comparison of recent arrivals to long-term residents of New York City. The frequency of subject pronouns in New York Spanish is changing, slowly, as speakers from these two regional sets converge and as they continue to live in contact with English over many years.
Abstract
This paper investigates the alternation of null and pronominal subjects across six dialects and various generations of Spanish speakers in New York City. Although past research of this variable has found virtually no social conditioning, a close analysis revealed a pattern of social influence derived in part from the source dialects, in part from regional dialects, and in part from English influence. A basic division exists between Dominican Spanish versus all others. There is some evidence to support a further distinction of Mexican Spanish from all others. However, with respect to pronominal subject expression, this data does not support considering Puerto Rican or Cuban or Ecuadorian or Columbian Spanishes as separate dialects. In contrast, a regional division of the dialects does emerge if one groups the six dialect groups into two: Caribbean speakers, with a relatively high rate of pronominal expression, and South American speakers, with a somewhat lower rate. In addition, the influence of English is identified through a close comparison of recent arrivals to long-term residents of New York City. The frequency of subject pronouns in New York Spanish is changing, slowly, as speakers from these two regional sets converge and as they continue to live in contact with English over many years.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction ix
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Part I. Heritage Spanish in the United States
- 1. Subjects in early dual language development 3
- 2. Interpreting mood distinctions in Spanish as a heritage language 23
- 3. Anglicismos en el léxico disponible de los adolescentes hispanos de Chicago 41
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Part II. Education and policy issues
- 4. Teaching Spanish in the U.S. 61
- 5. The politics of English and Spanish aquí y allá 81
- 6. Language attitudes and the lexical de-Castilianization of Valencian 101
- 7. Are Galicians bound to diglossia? 119
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Part III. Pragmatics and contact
- 8. Addressing peers in a Spanish-English bilingual classroom 135
- 9. Style variation in Spanish as a heritage language 153
- 10. “Baby I'm Sorry, te juro, I'm Sorry” 173
- 11. Cross-linguistic influence of the Cuzco Quechua epistemic system on Andean Spanish 191
- 12. La negación en la frontera domínico-haitiana 211
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Part IV. Variation and contact
- 13. On the development of contact varieties 237
- 14. Linguistic and social predictors of copula use in Galician Spanish 253
- 15. Apuntes preliminares sobre el contacto lingüístico y dialectal en el uso pronominal del español en Nueva York 275
- 16. Is the past really the past in narrative discourse? 297
- 17. The impact of linguistic constraints on the expression of futurity in the Spanish of New York Colombians 311
- 18. Quantitative evidence for contact-induced accommodation 329
- 19. Está muy diferente a como era antes 345
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Part V. Bozal Spanish
- 20. Where and how does bozal Spanish survive? 359
- 21. The appearance and use of bozal language in Cuban and Brazilian neo-African literature 377
- Index 395
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction ix
-
Part I. Heritage Spanish in the United States
- 1. Subjects in early dual language development 3
- 2. Interpreting mood distinctions in Spanish as a heritage language 23
- 3. Anglicismos en el léxico disponible de los adolescentes hispanos de Chicago 41
-
Part II. Education and policy issues
- 4. Teaching Spanish in the U.S. 61
- 5. The politics of English and Spanish aquí y allá 81
- 6. Language attitudes and the lexical de-Castilianization of Valencian 101
- 7. Are Galicians bound to diglossia? 119
-
Part III. Pragmatics and contact
- 8. Addressing peers in a Spanish-English bilingual classroom 135
- 9. Style variation in Spanish as a heritage language 153
- 10. “Baby I'm Sorry, te juro, I'm Sorry” 173
- 11. Cross-linguistic influence of the Cuzco Quechua epistemic system on Andean Spanish 191
- 12. La negación en la frontera domínico-haitiana 211
-
Part IV. Variation and contact
- 13. On the development of contact varieties 237
- 14. Linguistic and social predictors of copula use in Galician Spanish 253
- 15. Apuntes preliminares sobre el contacto lingüístico y dialectal en el uso pronominal del español en Nueva York 275
- 16. Is the past really the past in narrative discourse? 297
- 17. The impact of linguistic constraints on the expression of futurity in the Spanish of New York Colombians 311
- 18. Quantitative evidence for contact-induced accommodation 329
- 19. Está muy diferente a como era antes 345
-
Part V. Bozal Spanish
- 20. Where and how does bozal Spanish survive? 359
- 21. The appearance and use of bozal language in Cuban and Brazilian neo-African literature 377
- Index 395
