Reviving the unicorn
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Rachel Varra
Abstract
This chapter engages the debate on the term Spanglish. Ricardo Otheguy asserts that the term Spanglish has no real-world referent and is “technically flawed.” In response, it is argued that the term Spanglish is neither objectively inaccurate nor technically flawed because the term Spanglish refers to a ‘real’ linguistic phenomenon. Furthermore, the necessary conditions for labeling linguistic varieties as varieties are theoretically untenable or practically unimplementable. The chapter also highlights that linguistic systems are mental objects whose existence is inferred from behavioral epiphenomena and that such a set of behavioral epiphenomena is in evidence for Spanglish. The chapter concludes that sufficient linguistic and sociolinguistic evidence exists to posit the existence of, and thereby justify the use of, the term Spanglish.
Abstract
This chapter engages the debate on the term Spanglish. Ricardo Otheguy asserts that the term Spanglish has no real-world referent and is “technically flawed.” In response, it is argued that the term Spanglish is neither objectively inaccurate nor technically flawed because the term Spanglish refers to a ‘real’ linguistic phenomenon. Furthermore, the necessary conditions for labeling linguistic varieties as varieties are theoretically untenable or practically unimplementable. The chapter also highlights that linguistic systems are mental objects whose existence is inferred from behavioral epiphenomena and that such a set of behavioral epiphenomena is in evidence for Spanglish. The chapter concludes that sufficient linguistic and sociolinguistic evidence exists to posit the existence of, and thereby justify the use of, the term Spanglish.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- First principles in linguistic inquiry 1
- Categories of grammar and categories of speech 7
- Letter from Ricardo Otheguy to Shana Poplack 35
- Variable grammars 45
- Discovering structure 67
- The justification of grammatical categories 91
- Spooky grammatical effects 133
- Ditransitives and the English System of Degree of Control 157
- LatinUs* and linguistics 189
- Reviving the unicorn 209
- Bilingual acquisition 245
- An incomplete disquisition against ‘incomplete acquisition’ 269
- Index 291
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- First principles in linguistic inquiry 1
- Categories of grammar and categories of speech 7
- Letter from Ricardo Otheguy to Shana Poplack 35
- Variable grammars 45
- Discovering structure 67
- The justification of grammatical categories 91
- Spooky grammatical effects 133
- Ditransitives and the English System of Degree of Control 157
- LatinUs* and linguistics 189
- Reviving the unicorn 209
- Bilingual acquisition 245
- An incomplete disquisition against ‘incomplete acquisition’ 269
- Index 291
