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The discursive distribution of subject pronouns in Spanish spoken in Georgia: A weakening of pragmatic constraints?

  • Philip P. Limerick EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: September 6, 2018

Abstract

This study examines subject expression from a pragmatic perspective in an emerging bilingual community of Roswell, Georgia, an exurb of Atlanta. Using sociolinguistic interviews conducted in Roswell, first-person singular subject pronoun (SP) usage is analyzed among 10 Mexican speakers within five distinct pragmatic contexts: salient referent, switch focus, contrastive focus, pragmatic weight, and epistemic parentheticals. A comparison is made between Georgia speakers and monolingual Mexican speakers in Querétaro in order to explore the possible weakening of pragmatic constraints due to English contact. Results indicate that a contact hypothesis is not supported in terms of overall overt pronoun usage as evidenced by similar frequencies when compared to monolingual Mexican varieties. However, an increased use of overt SPs in the context of salient referent as well as a diminished use of overt SPs in switch focus contexts is found, suggesting a potential weakened sensitivity to such pragmatic constraints.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Pilar Chamorro and Margaret Lubbers Quesada for their helpful suggestions on earlier versions of this paper as well as three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments. I would also like to thank Anna Wilson for the use of her data.

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Published Online: 2018-09-06
Published in Print: 2019-05-27

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