This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Previous research on language mixing has revealed similarities in written and oral production wit... more Previous research on language mixing has revealed similarities in written and oral production with respect to syntactic and pragmatic patterns (e.g. Callahan 2004). In this study we find, however, that the two modes of expression diverge in loanword gender assignment. English-origin NPs inserted into written Spanish discourse (e.g. un baggie) were analyzed and compared to English-origin NPs in oral Spanish discourse. Results showed that loanwords are assigned feminine gender at significantly higher rates in written than in oral data. Also, our study shows that the reasons for assigning feminine gender are different for written and oral production. Phonological factors appeared to be influential in the oral, but not written, data. The ‘analogical criterion’, according to which the gender of the Spanish translation equivalent determines the gender assigned to the loanword, e.g. una letter (una carta), was a strong predictor of feminine gender in the written data, but had a weaker effect in the oral data.
Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, Mar 1, 2011
The present study aims to explore the linguistic attitudes towards the different regional varieti... more The present study aims to explore the linguistic attitudes towards the different regional varieties of Spanish in a group of college-educated native speakers of Spanish. A survey was conducted among participants from diverse Spanishspeaking countries who lived in the United States. The main goals of the study were, in the first place, to determine whether these individuals were able to spontaneously attribute more (or less) prestige to a specific Spanish variety over others. Second, I attempted to analyze the rationale - whether explicit or implicit - behind their choice of a certain variety as more (or less) prestigious. Finally, I examined the extent to which their linguistic attitudes were motivated (or not) by any sort of ethno-linguistic loyalty towards their own speech communities. The results of the study substantiate previous research carried out in this field, but also reveal unforeseen findings, especially in regards to the less prestigious varieties.
... worked out, as usual, and we got the best deal.'(3/96) These shifts constitute asides wh... more ... worked out, as usual, and we got the best deal.'(3/96) These shifts constitute asides which could be omitted, but by producing them in a different language it is as if they were not really there,like a whisper to ... The deck over the ocean was Us showed the apartment scary but nice. ...
Actas del XXIV Congreso Internacional de AESLA [Recurso electrónico]: aprendizaje de lenguas, uso del lenguaje y modelación cognitiva : perspectivas aplicadas entre disciplinas, 2007, ISBN 978-84-611-6897-2, 2007
Introduction In spoken discourse, code-switching--the alternating use of two (or more) languages ... more Introduction In spoken discourse, code-switching--the alternating use of two (or more) languages in the speech of bilingual individuals--has traditionally led to social prejudice and disgrace, being largely attributed to illiteracy or poor linguistic competence and earning somewhat derogatory labels such as "Tex-Mex" or "Spanglish." However, decades of research in this field have proved that this mode of communication serves a number of social and stylistic functions while also following distinct grammatical patterns. In fact, studies carried out on oral code-switching by Gumperz (1982), McClure (1981), Valdes-Fallis (1976b), and Zentella (1997), among others, have unanimously pointed out a series of discourse and socio-pragmatic functions fulfilled by this phenomenon. Most of these researchers have identified similar functions, such as quotations, repetition, exclamation, addressee specification, emphasis, clarification and elaboration, focus, attention retention, and topic and/ or role change, just to mention a few. Furthermore, the publication of bilingual magazines and the increasing growth of bilingual literature in the United States in the last few decades appear to indicate that code-switching in writing has finally acquired legitimacy. As Aparicio (1994) claims, "while some prescriptive linguists, editors, and authorities in education would judge the interference of Spanish and English as a deficit, a postmodern and transcreative approach would validate it as a positively creative innovation in literature" (797). The ultimate corroboration of this authentication process can be attested to by the fact that Dominican American writer and M.I.T professor Junot Diaz received the Pulitzer Prize for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a novel written in "a sort of streetwise brand of Spanglish," according to the critics. (1) Thus, it seems evident that the linguistic options available to US Latino Writers--just as to any other member of the bilingual community--are English, Spanish, and code-switching. (2) Yet it is clear that alternating languages in literature cannot be attributed to the lack of literacy of the authors. As Lipski (1982) points out, "it is obvious that language switching in literature is not the result of confusion or inability to separate the languages, but rather stems from a conscious desire to juxtapose the two codes to achieve some particular literary effect" (191). In fact, bilingual literature is not "new-fashioned." Leal (1993) tracks the practice of alternating languages in Mexican poetry as long ago as the sixteenth century, when poets such as Mateo Rosas de Oquendo and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz were using Spanish and Nahuatl in the same writing. (3) In the Southwest, the alternation of Spanish and English (instead of Nahuatl) became more prominent during the years of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), when English became widespread. In contemporary US Latino literature, the alternative use of both Spanish and English in the same literary text became popular and almost fashionable in the late 1960s at the time of the civil rights movement and continued through the 1970s. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 represented a crucial period for all minorities in the United States and a turning point for Latino literature. Kanellos (1995) explains how the Chicano literary movement sought to create a literary voice for illiterate migrant workers and how this was achieved for the most part by re-creating the language of these people--including their bilingualism. Nuyorican (contemporary mainland Puerto Rican) literature also emerged in the 1960s, and it was partly inspired by folk oral performances. Bilingual works were born out of the desire to depict the bilingual-bicultural reality of Nuyoricans in El Barrio and Losaida (Lower East Side). Cuban American literature appeared around the same period, after Fidel Castro's revolution, in the context of the Cuban diaspora, but while the first generations used to write exclusively in Spanish, the introduction of bilingualism in literature appeared in second or "one-and-a-half' generations of writers. …
While mixing languages in natural speech production has often been inaccurately ascribed to illit... more While mixing languages in natural speech production has often been inaccurately ascribed to illiteracy or lack of linguistic competence, doing so in writing is a long-standing practice in bilingual literature. This practice may fulfill stylistic or aesthetic purposes, be a source of credibility and/or communicate biculturalism, humor, criticism, and ethnicity, among other functions. Here, I analyze a selection of contemporary Spanish–English bilingual literature (poetry, drama, and fiction) written by Mexican American, Nuyorican, and Cuban American authors focusing on the types, and significance, of code-switching (CS) in their works. The aim of the study is to determine to what extent the socio-pragmatic functions that have been attested in natural bilingual discourse are present in literary CS, whether it is mimetic rather than rhetorical, and what differences exist both across literary genres and among the three US Latino groups. I also emphasize the cultural aspect of CS, a crucial element that has often been overlooked in the search for grammatical constraints.
Previous research on language mixing has revealed similarities in written and oral production wit... more Previous research on language mixing has revealed similarities in written and oral production with respect to syntactic and pragmatic patterns (e.g. Callahan 2004). In this study we find, however, that the two modes of expression diverge in loanword gender assignment. English-origin NPs inserted into written Spanish discourse (e.g.un baggie) were analyzed and compared to English-origin NPs in oral Spanish discourse. Results showed that loanwords are assigned feminine gender at significantly higher rates in written than in oral data. Also, our study shows that the reasons for assigning feminine gender are different for written and oral production. Phonological factors appeared to be influential in the oral, but not written, data. The ‘analogical criterion’, according to which the gender of the Spanish translation equivalent determines the gender assigned to the loanword, e.g.una letter(una carta), was a strong predictor of feminine gender in the written data, but had a weaker effect ...
Code-switching, a natural phenomenon that consists of alternating two or more languages in biling... more Code-switching, a natural phenomenon that consists of alternating two or more languages in bilinguals’ discourse, has traditionally been examined in its oral production. For over three decades, much attention has been devoted to its form, meaning, and grammatical patterns. However, very little research focuses on code-switching in writing. This study takes a look at a series of cases of codeswitching involving Spanish-English bilinguals in personal notes and letters, in an attempt to take a further step in the less-investigated area of Spanish-English written code-switching. The research question is twofold. First, I inquire whether bilingual individuals (who would or would not normally engage in code-switching when speaking) would switch languages when writing. Subsequently, assuming that those individuals do code-switch in written correspondence, I attempt to explain why they do it. The underlying hypothesis is that their writing displays social functions similar to those found in...
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Previous research on language mixing has revealed similarities in written and oral production wit... more Previous research on language mixing has revealed similarities in written and oral production with respect to syntactic and pragmatic patterns (e.g. Callahan 2004). In this study we find, however, that the two modes of expression diverge in loanword gender assignment. English-origin NPs inserted into written Spanish discourse (e.g. un baggie) were analyzed and compared to English-origin NPs in oral Spanish discourse. Results showed that loanwords are assigned feminine gender at significantly higher rates in written than in oral data. Also, our study shows that the reasons for assigning feminine gender are different for written and oral production. Phonological factors appeared to be influential in the oral, but not written, data. The ‘analogical criterion’, according to which the gender of the Spanish translation equivalent determines the gender assigned to the loanword, e.g. una letter (una carta), was a strong predictor of feminine gender in the written data, but had a weaker effect in the oral data.
Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, Mar 1, 2011
The present study aims to explore the linguistic attitudes towards the different regional varieti... more The present study aims to explore the linguistic attitudes towards the different regional varieties of Spanish in a group of college-educated native speakers of Spanish. A survey was conducted among participants from diverse Spanishspeaking countries who lived in the United States. The main goals of the study were, in the first place, to determine whether these individuals were able to spontaneously attribute more (or less) prestige to a specific Spanish variety over others. Second, I attempted to analyze the rationale - whether explicit or implicit - behind their choice of a certain variety as more (or less) prestigious. Finally, I examined the extent to which their linguistic attitudes were motivated (or not) by any sort of ethno-linguistic loyalty towards their own speech communities. The results of the study substantiate previous research carried out in this field, but also reveal unforeseen findings, especially in regards to the less prestigious varieties.
... worked out, as usual, and we got the best deal.'(3/96) These shifts constitute asides wh... more ... worked out, as usual, and we got the best deal.'(3/96) These shifts constitute asides which could be omitted, but by producing them in a different language it is as if they were not really there,like a whisper to ... The deck over the ocean was Us showed the apartment scary but nice. ...
Actas del XXIV Congreso Internacional de AESLA [Recurso electrónico]: aprendizaje de lenguas, uso del lenguaje y modelación cognitiva : perspectivas aplicadas entre disciplinas, 2007, ISBN 978-84-611-6897-2, 2007
Introduction In spoken discourse, code-switching--the alternating use of two (or more) languages ... more Introduction In spoken discourse, code-switching--the alternating use of two (or more) languages in the speech of bilingual individuals--has traditionally led to social prejudice and disgrace, being largely attributed to illiteracy or poor linguistic competence and earning somewhat derogatory labels such as "Tex-Mex" or "Spanglish." However, decades of research in this field have proved that this mode of communication serves a number of social and stylistic functions while also following distinct grammatical patterns. In fact, studies carried out on oral code-switching by Gumperz (1982), McClure (1981), Valdes-Fallis (1976b), and Zentella (1997), among others, have unanimously pointed out a series of discourse and socio-pragmatic functions fulfilled by this phenomenon. Most of these researchers have identified similar functions, such as quotations, repetition, exclamation, addressee specification, emphasis, clarification and elaboration, focus, attention retention, and topic and/ or role change, just to mention a few. Furthermore, the publication of bilingual magazines and the increasing growth of bilingual literature in the United States in the last few decades appear to indicate that code-switching in writing has finally acquired legitimacy. As Aparicio (1994) claims, "while some prescriptive linguists, editors, and authorities in education would judge the interference of Spanish and English as a deficit, a postmodern and transcreative approach would validate it as a positively creative innovation in literature" (797). The ultimate corroboration of this authentication process can be attested to by the fact that Dominican American writer and M.I.T professor Junot Diaz received the Pulitzer Prize for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a novel written in "a sort of streetwise brand of Spanglish," according to the critics. (1) Thus, it seems evident that the linguistic options available to US Latino Writers--just as to any other member of the bilingual community--are English, Spanish, and code-switching. (2) Yet it is clear that alternating languages in literature cannot be attributed to the lack of literacy of the authors. As Lipski (1982) points out, "it is obvious that language switching in literature is not the result of confusion or inability to separate the languages, but rather stems from a conscious desire to juxtapose the two codes to achieve some particular literary effect" (191). In fact, bilingual literature is not "new-fashioned." Leal (1993) tracks the practice of alternating languages in Mexican poetry as long ago as the sixteenth century, when poets such as Mateo Rosas de Oquendo and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz were using Spanish and Nahuatl in the same writing. (3) In the Southwest, the alternation of Spanish and English (instead of Nahuatl) became more prominent during the years of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), when English became widespread. In contemporary US Latino literature, the alternative use of both Spanish and English in the same literary text became popular and almost fashionable in the late 1960s at the time of the civil rights movement and continued through the 1970s. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 represented a crucial period for all minorities in the United States and a turning point for Latino literature. Kanellos (1995) explains how the Chicano literary movement sought to create a literary voice for illiterate migrant workers and how this was achieved for the most part by re-creating the language of these people--including their bilingualism. Nuyorican (contemporary mainland Puerto Rican) literature also emerged in the 1960s, and it was partly inspired by folk oral performances. Bilingual works were born out of the desire to depict the bilingual-bicultural reality of Nuyoricans in El Barrio and Losaida (Lower East Side). Cuban American literature appeared around the same period, after Fidel Castro's revolution, in the context of the Cuban diaspora, but while the first generations used to write exclusively in Spanish, the introduction of bilingualism in literature appeared in second or "one-and-a-half' generations of writers. …
While mixing languages in natural speech production has often been inaccurately ascribed to illit... more While mixing languages in natural speech production has often been inaccurately ascribed to illiteracy or lack of linguistic competence, doing so in writing is a long-standing practice in bilingual literature. This practice may fulfill stylistic or aesthetic purposes, be a source of credibility and/or communicate biculturalism, humor, criticism, and ethnicity, among other functions. Here, I analyze a selection of contemporary Spanish–English bilingual literature (poetry, drama, and fiction) written by Mexican American, Nuyorican, and Cuban American authors focusing on the types, and significance, of code-switching (CS) in their works. The aim of the study is to determine to what extent the socio-pragmatic functions that have been attested in natural bilingual discourse are present in literary CS, whether it is mimetic rather than rhetorical, and what differences exist both across literary genres and among the three US Latino groups. I also emphasize the cultural aspect of CS, a crucial element that has often been overlooked in the search for grammatical constraints.
Previous research on language mixing has revealed similarities in written and oral production wit... more Previous research on language mixing has revealed similarities in written and oral production with respect to syntactic and pragmatic patterns (e.g. Callahan 2004). In this study we find, however, that the two modes of expression diverge in loanword gender assignment. English-origin NPs inserted into written Spanish discourse (e.g.un baggie) were analyzed and compared to English-origin NPs in oral Spanish discourse. Results showed that loanwords are assigned feminine gender at significantly higher rates in written than in oral data. Also, our study shows that the reasons for assigning feminine gender are different for written and oral production. Phonological factors appeared to be influential in the oral, but not written, data. The ‘analogical criterion’, according to which the gender of the Spanish translation equivalent determines the gender assigned to the loanword, e.g.una letter(una carta), was a strong predictor of feminine gender in the written data, but had a weaker effect ...
Code-switching, a natural phenomenon that consists of alternating two or more languages in biling... more Code-switching, a natural phenomenon that consists of alternating two or more languages in bilinguals’ discourse, has traditionally been examined in its oral production. For over three decades, much attention has been devoted to its form, meaning, and grammatical patterns. However, very little research focuses on code-switching in writing. This study takes a look at a series of cases of codeswitching involving Spanish-English bilinguals in personal notes and letters, in an attempt to take a further step in the less-investigated area of Spanish-English written code-switching. The research question is twofold. First, I inquire whether bilingual individuals (who would or would not normally engage in code-switching when speaking) would switch languages when writing. Subsequently, assuming that those individuals do code-switch in written correspondence, I attempt to explain why they do it. The underlying hypothesis is that their writing displays social functions similar to those found in...
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