Dialectology as a matter of gradience
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Borja Alonso Pascua
Abstract
This article demonstrates how corpus linguistics may help to unveil the gradience of dialectal phenomena through a study of the remote present perfect (PP) in European Spanish. I will address how the fulfilment of certain conditions may account for the use of Spanish aoristic PP, and whether this is reflected in a geographical pattern mirroring its degree of grammaticalization. To this end, a sample taken from the Audible Corpus of Spoken Rural Spanish is analysed and mapped. The evidence supports the proposal that Spanish remote PP exhibits traits of a geographically influenced gradient phenomenon, as strongly grammaticalized PPs concentrate in focal areas, while those whose presence is more easily explained from context are spread out around the periphery.
Abstract
This article demonstrates how corpus linguistics may help to unveil the gradience of dialectal phenomena through a study of the remote present perfect (PP) in European Spanish. I will address how the fulfilment of certain conditions may account for the use of Spanish aoristic PP, and whether this is reflected in a geographical pattern mirroring its degree of grammaticalization. To this end, a sample taken from the Audible Corpus of Spoken Rural Spanish is analysed and mapped. The evidence supports the proposal that Spanish remote PP exhibits traits of a geographically influenced gradient phenomenon, as strongly grammaticalized PPs concentrate in focal areas, while those whose presence is more easily explained from context are spread out around the periphery.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Data collection
- On the validity of crowdsourced data 10
- Variation in space and society 34
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Part II. Methodology
- The Phonologie du français contemporain project in Quebec 60
- “Going standard” on a blank page 84
- Sociogeographical differences in the pronunciation of Anglicisms in Spanish 106
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Part III. Case studies
- Historical corpora and linguistic geography of Spanish 134
- Dialectology as a matter of gradience 154
- Testing Twitter data on a morphosyntactic variable 176
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Part IV. Theory
- Sketching out a virtual framework for Romance geolinguistics 198
- Index 217
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Data collection
- On the validity of crowdsourced data 10
- Variation in space and society 34
-
Part II. Methodology
- The Phonologie du français contemporain project in Quebec 60
- “Going standard” on a blank page 84
- Sociogeographical differences in the pronunciation of Anglicisms in Spanish 106
-
Part III. Case studies
- Historical corpora and linguistic geography of Spanish 134
- Dialectology as a matter of gradience 154
- Testing Twitter data on a morphosyntactic variable 176
-
Part IV. Theory
- Sketching out a virtual framework for Romance geolinguistics 198
- Index 217
