Skip to main content
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Lectal coherence in a border bilingual community

  • EMAIL logo , , and
Published/Copyright: May 6, 2024
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Author Information Explore this Subject
Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics
From the journal Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics Volume 17 Issue 1

Abstract

While studies of lectal coherence, the extent to which speakers’ uses of multiple linguistic variables correlate, have not historically been frequent within sociolinguistics, recent studies have added to our knowledge of co-variation between variables. The present study contributes to this growing body of knowledge by analyzing co-variation of the Spanish voiced obstruent series /bdɡ/ in the bilingual border community of Rivera, Uruguay. On the basis of 5,569 tokens from sociolinguistic interview data from 40 Riverense Spanish speakers, we acoustically analyze mean constriction of /bdɡ/ for each speaker and each phoneme, taking into consideration the influence of Portuguese cognates and Spanish orthography on /b/. Results show positive correlations between constriction of /d/, /ɡ/, and /b/ (when the latter is spelled <b> and has a /b/ cognate), which is expected given the parallel social patterning for these sounds. However, the relationship between these portions of the data and the contrast of /b/ on the basis of orthography and cognates is much weaker. While one factor that could contribute to this empirical observation is methodological in nature, individual lects reflect the unique linguistic histories of their users, including who their interlocutors are, and in a linguistically diverse community, diverse lects can be expected.

Keywords: lectal coherence; sociophonetic variation; language contact; cognates; Uruguayan Spanish
Corresponding author: Michael Gradoville, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA, E-mail:
The authors thank the audience at the 2022 Hispanic Linguistics Symposium and two anonymous reviewers for suggestions that led to significant improvements in this article. We assume responsibility for any remaining deficiencies.

References

Amengual, Mark. 2012. Interlingual influence in bilingual speech: Cognate status effect in a continuum of bilingualism. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 15(3). 517–530. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1366728911000460.Search in Google Scholar

Barrera-Tobón, Carolina. 2013. Contact-induced changes in word order and intonation in the Spanish of New York City bilinguals. New York: The Graduate Center of the City University of New York dissertation.Search in Google Scholar

Barrios, Graciela. 2008. Discursos hegemónicos y representaciones lingüísticas sobre lenguas en contacto y de contacto: español, portugués y portuñol fronterizos. In Dermeval da Hora & Rubens Marques de Lucena (eds.), Política lingüística na América Latina, 79–103. Joăo Pessoa: Idéia/Editora Universitária.Search in Google Scholar

Bates, Douglas, Martin Maechler, Ben Bolker & Steve Walker. 2015. Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software 67(1). 1–48. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01.Search in Google Scholar

Beaman, Karen V. & Konstantin Sering. 2022. Measuring change in lectal coherence across real- and apparent-time. In Karen V. Beaman & Gregory R. Guy (eds.), The coherence of linguistic communities, 87–105. Abingdon: Routledge.10.4324/9781003134558-8Search in Google Scholar

Boersma, Paul & David Weenink. 2017. Praat. Doing phonetics by computer [Computer program]. Version 6.2.06. http://www.praat.org/ (accessed 11 February 2017).Search in Google Scholar

Bookhammer, Kevin. 2013. The variable grammar of the Spanish subjunctive in second-generation bilinguals in New York City. New York: The Graduate Center of the City University of New York dissertation.Search in Google Scholar

Brown, Esther L. 2015. The role of discourse context frequency in phonological variation: A usage-based approach to bilingual speech production. International Journal of Bilingualism 19(4). 387–406. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006913516042.Search in Google Scholar

Bybee, Joan L. 2010. Language, usage, and cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511750526Search in Google Scholar

Carvalho, Ana Maria. 2004. I speak like the guys on TV: Palatalization and the urbanization of Uruguayan Portuguese. Language Variation and Change 16(2). 127–151. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954394504162030.Search in Google Scholar

Carvalho, Ana Maria. 2006. Spanish (s) aspiration as a prestige marker on the Uruguayan-Brazilian Border. Spanish in Context 3(1). 85–114. https://doi.org/10.1075/sic.3.1.07car.Search in Google Scholar

Carvalho, Ana M. & Joseph Kern. 2019. The permeability of tag questions in a language contact situation: The case of Spanish-Portuguese bilinguals. Pragmatics 29. 463–492. https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.18068.car.Search in Google Scholar

Cristófaro Silva, Thais. 1999. Fonética e fonologia do português: Roteiro de estudos e guia de exercícios. São Paulo: Contexto.Search in Google Scholar

Croft, William. 2000. Explaining language change. An evolutionary approach. Harlow: Pearson Education.Search in Google Scholar

D’Introno, Francesco & Juan Manuel Sosa. 1986. Elisión de la /d/ en el español de Caracas. Aspectos sociolingüísticos e implicaciones teóricas. In Rafael A. Núñez Cedeño, Iraset Páez Urdaneta & Jorge M. Guitart (eds.), Estudios sobre la fonología del español del Caribe, 135–163. Caracas: Ediciones La Casa de Bello.Search in Google Scholar

Díaz-Campos, Manuel, Stephen Fafulas & Michael Gradoville. 2011. Going retro. An analysis of the interplay between socioeconomic class and age in Caracas Spanish. In Jim Michnowicz & Robin Dodsworth (eds.), Selected proceedings of the 5th workshop on Spanish sociolinguistics, 65–78. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Search in Google Scholar

Eddington, David. 2011. What are the contextual phonetic variants of /β ð ɣ/ in colloquial Spanish? Probus 23(1). 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1515/prbs.2011.001.Search in Google Scholar

Erker, Daniel & Ricardo Otheguy. 2016. Contact and coherence: Dialectal leveling and structural convergence in NYC Spanish. Lingua 172–173. 131–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2015.10.011.Search in Google Scholar

Gradoville, Michael. 2011. Validity in measurements of fricative voicing. Evidence from Argentine Spanish. In Scott Alvord (ed.), Selected proceedings of the 5th conference on laboratory approaches to Romance phonology, 59–74. Somerville: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Search in Google Scholar

Gradoville, Michael, Mark Waltermire, Audrey Chery, Sofía Fernandez & Avizia Long. 2023. Intervocalic /ɡ/ realization in Border Uruguayan Spanish. Spanish in Context. https://doi.org/10.1075/sic.00096.gra (Epub ahead of print).Search in Google Scholar

Gradoville, Michael, Mark Waltermire & Julie Engelhardt. In Press. Variable contrast in Border Uruguayan Spanish /b/: From cognates to orthographic loyalty. Journal of Language Contact.Search in Google Scholar

Gradoville, Michael, Mark Waltermire & Avizia Long. 2021. Cognate similarity and intervocalic /d/ production in Riverense Spanish. International Journal of Bilingualism 25(3). 727–746. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006921996807.Search in Google Scholar

Guy, Gregory R. 2013. The cognitive coherence of sociolects: How do speakers handle multiple variables? Journal of Pragmatics 52. 63–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.12.019.Search in Google Scholar

Guy, Gregory R. & Frans Hinskens. 2016. Linguistic coherence: Systems, repertoires and speech communities. Lingua 172–173. 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2016.01.001.Search in Google Scholar

Hualde, José Ignacio. 2014. Los sonidos del español: Spanish language edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511719943Search in Google Scholar

Hualde, José Ignacio, Miquel Simonet & Marianna Nadeu. 2011. Consonant lenition and phonological recategorization. Laboratory Phonology 2. 301–329. https://doi.org/10.1515/labphon.2011.011.Search in Google Scholar

Lope Blanch, Juan M. 1988. La labiodental sonora en el español de México. Nueva Revista de Filología Hispánica 36(1). 153–170. https://doi.org/10.24201/nrfh.v36i1.670.Search in Google Scholar

Michnowicz, Jim. 2011. Dialect standardization in Merida, Yucatan: The case of /bdg/. Revista Internacional de Lingüística Iberoamericana 18. 191–212.Search in Google Scholar

Michnowicz, Jim. 2023. Real and apparent (time) changes in Yucatan Spanish. In Sara Fernández Cuenca, Tiffany Judy & Lauren Miller (eds.), Innovative approaches to research in hispanic linguistics: Regional, diachronic, and learner profile variation, 130–151. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/ihll.38.06micSearch in Google Scholar

Oushiro, Lívia. 2016. Social and structural constraints in lectal cohesion. Lingua 172. 116–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2015.10.015.Search in Google Scholar

Oushiro, Lívia & Gregory R. Guy. 2015. The effect of salience on co-variation in Brazilian Portuguese. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 21(2). 157–166.Search in Google Scholar

Poplack, Shana & Marjory Meechan. 1998. How languages fit together in codemixing. International Journal of Bilingualism 2. 127–138. https://doi.org/10.1177/136700699800200201.Search in Google Scholar

R Core Team. 2019. R. A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Available at: http://www.r-project.org/.Search in Google Scholar

Raña Risso, Rocío. 2013. A corpus-based sociolinguistic study of subject pronoun placement. New York: The Graduate Center of the City University of New York dissertation.Search in Google Scholar

Rao, Rajiv. 2014. On the status of the phoneme /b/ in heritage speakers of Spanish. Sintagma 26. 37–54.Search in Google Scholar

Rao, Rajiv. 2015. Manifestations of /bdg/ in heritage speakers of Spanish. Heritage Language Journal 12(1). 48–74. https://doi.org/10.46538/hlj.12.1.3.Search in Google Scholar

Rona, José P. 1965. El dialecto fronterizo del norte del Uruguay. Montevideo: Universidad de la República.Search in Google Scholar

Sadowsky, Scott. 2009. El alófono labiodental sonoro [v] del fonema /b/ en el castellano de Concepción (Chile). Una investigación exploratoria. Estudios de Fonética Experimental 19. 231–261.Search in Google Scholar

Schwegler, Armin, Jürgen Kempff & Ana Ameal-Guerra. 2010. Fonética y fonología españolas, 4th edn. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Search in Google Scholar

Thun, Harald & Adolfo Elizaincín. 2000. El Atlas lingüístico diatópico y diastrático del Uruguay (ADDU Norte). Kiel: Westensee.Search in Google Scholar

Torres Cacoullos, Rena & Fernanda Ferreira. 2000. Lexical frequency and voiced labiodental-bilabial variation in New Mexican Spanish. Southwest Journal of Linguistics 19(2). 1–17.Search in Google Scholar

Trovato, Adriano. 2017. Presence of the voiced labiodental fricative segment [v] in Texas Spanish. In Ruth Lopes, Juanito Avelar & Sonia Cyrino (eds.), Selected papers from the 45th linguistic symposium on Romance languages (LSRL), Campinas, Brazil, 259–274. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/rllt.12.16troSearch in Google Scholar

Ulsh, Jack L. 1971. From Spanish to Portuguese. Arlington, VA: Foreign Service Institute.Search in Google Scholar

Waltermire, Mark. 2006. Social and linguistic correlates of Spanish-Portuguese bilingualism on the Uruguayan-Brazilian border. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico dissertation.Search in Google Scholar

Waltermire, Mark. 2008. Social stratification and the use of language-specific variants of intervocalic /d/ along the Uruguayan-Brazilian border. Sociolinguistic Studies 2(1). 31–60. https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.v2i1.31.Search in Google Scholar

Waltermire, Mark. 2010. Variants of intervocalic /d/ as markers of sociolinguistic identity among Spanish-Portuguese bilinguals. Spanish in Context 7(2). 279–304. https://doi.org/10.1075/sic.7.2.06wal.Search in Google Scholar

Waltermire, Mark. 2012. The differential use of Spanish and Portuguese along the Uruguayan-Brazilian border. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 15(5). 509–531. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2011.637618.Search in Google Scholar

Waltermire, Mark. 2014. Language use and attitudes as stimuli for phonological change in Border Uruguayan Spanish. In Dominic Watt & Carmen Llamas (eds.), Language, borders and identity, 70–89. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.10.1515/9780748669783-009Search in Google Scholar

Waltermire, Mark. 2021. Syllable-final /s/-variation in a Uruguayan Spanish-Portuguese contact variety. In Eva Núñez-Méndez (ed.), Sociolinguistic approaches to sibilant variation in Spanish, 279–300. London: Routledge.10.4324/9781003153948-14Search in Google Scholar

Waltermire, Mark. 2023. The influence of Portuguese on the realization of intervocalic /bdɡ/ in Border Uruguayan Spanish. In Mark Waltermire & Kate Bove (eds.), Mutual influence in situations of Spanish language contact in the Americas, 178–195. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Waltermire, Mark & Michael Gradoville. 2020. The interaction of social factors in the acoustically gradient realization of intervocalic /d/ in Border Uruguayan Spanish. In Rajiv Rao (ed.), Spanish phonetics and phonology in contact: Studies from Africa, the Americas, and Spain, 263–292. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/ihll.28.10walSearch in Google Scholar
Published Online: 2024-05-06
Published in Print: 2024-05-27

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. Y luego un tiburón blanco ha abrido la boca: Spanish children’s overregularization of irregular past participles
  4. Lectal coherence in a border bilingual community
  5. Bilinguismo, língua inglesa e mercantilização de línguas: investigando ideologias linguísticas de escolas com programas bilíngues no contexto brasileiro
  6. Spanish–English bilinguals’ use of demonstratives esta and esa
  7. Inalienable possession (and lack thereof) in Spanish
  8. Usos temporales de construcciones gramaticales con verbos de movimiento con dirección inherente: Proyecciones metafóricas y restricciones cognitivo-semánticas en la lengua española
https://doi.org/10.1515/shll-2024-2002
Keywords for this article
lectal coherence; sociophonetic variation; language contact; cognates; Uruguayan Spanish

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. Y luego un tiburón blanco ha abrido la boca: Spanish children’s overregularization of irregular past participles
  4. Lectal coherence in a border bilingual community
  5. Bilinguismo, língua inglesa e mercantilização de línguas: investigando ideologias linguísticas de escolas com programas bilíngues no contexto brasileiro
  6. Spanish–English bilinguals’ use of demonstratives esta and esa
  7. Inalienable possession (and lack thereof) in Spanish
  8. Usos temporales de construcciones gramaticales con verbos de movimiento con dirección inherente: Proyecciones metafóricas y restricciones cognitivo-semánticas en la lengua española
Downloaded on 23.4.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/shll-2024-2002/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button