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Language Variation and Change in Spanish
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Language Variation and Change in Spanish

A special issue of Languages (ISSN 2226-471X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 33307

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Ian MacKenzie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, NE1 7RU, UK
Interests: diachronic Spanish syntax; Romance syntax; Spanish dialects; standardization; quantitative analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Contributions are invited for a special issue of Languages focusing on language variation and change in Spanish. Submissions may explore the relationship between variation and change, looking, for example, at phonological restructuring (Penny 2000), syntactic reanalysis (Mackenzie 2019) or the evolving morphology (Rini 1999), or they may focus more narrowly on particular changes that have occurred or which are currently underway. Papers which build on or interrogate recent developments in quantitative analysis (see e.g. Kauhanen and Walkden 2017 or Rosemeyer and Enrique Arias 2016) are particularly welcome, as are papers which situate Spanish-specific change within broader theoretical debates (parametric change, DP/nP structure, Tobler–Mussafia effects, interface issues, I- versus E-language, etc.). Topics which fall within the special issue’s scope include, but are not limited to, the following:

(i)        Diachronic syntax

(ii)       Sound change

(iii)      Statistical modelling

(iv)      Dialect mixing

(v)       Analogy

(vi)      Manuscript studies

(vii)     Discursive traditions

(viii)    Lexis

This special thematic issue of Languages is intended to blend quantitative research with more abstract or qualitative work. As such, it should be an excellent complement not just to collections focusing on the linguistic evolution of Spanish, such as the multi-volume work edited by Company Company (2006–2014) or the scholarly Festschrift assembled by Blake et al. (1999), but also to tomes which explore the external history of the language, such as Del Valle (2013).

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400-600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editor ([email protected]) or to Languages editorial office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

Tentative completion schedule:

  • Abstract submission deadline: 1 March 2021
  • Notification of abstract acceptance: 15 March 2021
  • Full manuscript deadline: 31 December 2021

References:

Blake, Robert J., Diana L. Ranson and Roger Wright (eds). 1999. Essays in Hispanic linguistics dedicated to Paul M. Lloyd. Newark: Juan de la Cuesta.

Company Company, Concepción (ed.). 2006–2014. Sintaxis histórica de la lengua española (multiple volumes). Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica/Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Del Valle, José. 2013. A political history of Spanish. The making of a language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kauhanen, Henri and George Walkden. 2017. ‘Deriving the Constant Rate Effect.’ Natural Language and Linguistic Theory (Open access). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-017-9380-1.

Mackenzie, Ian. 2019. Language structure, variation and change: the case of Old Spanish syntax. Cham: Springer Nature.

Penny, Ralph. 2000. Variation and change in Spanish. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rini, Joel. 1999. Exploring the role of morphology in the evolution of Spanish. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Rosemeyer, Malte and Andrés Enrique Arias. 2016. ‘A match made in heaven: using parallel corpora and multinomial logistic regression to analyze the expression of possession in Old Spanish.’ Language Variation and Change 28, 3: 307–334.

Prof. Dr. Ian MacKenzie
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Languages is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • diachronic syntax
  • language change
  • Old Spanish
  • parameters
  • quantitative
  • Renaissance Spanish
  • S-curve
  • sound change
  • Spanish
  • variation

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 458 KiB  
Article
A Historical-Variationist Analysis of Subject Pronoun Expression in 19th and Early 20th Century Arizonan Spanish
by Álvaro Cerrón-Palomino, Sergio Loza and Rosti Vana
Languages 2023, 8(1), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8010025 - 13 Jan 2023
Viewed by 2685
Abstract
This diachronic study is a variationist analysis of subject pronoun expression (SPE) in two key Spanish-language Arizonan newspapers, El Fronterizo (1878–1914) and El Tucsonense (1915–1957), following Tucson’s annexation to the United States through the Gadsden Purchase, a period of great social change during [...] Read more.
This diachronic study is a variationist analysis of subject pronoun expression (SPE) in two key Spanish-language Arizonan newspapers, El Fronterizo (1878–1914) and El Tucsonense (1915–1957), following Tucson’s annexation to the United States through the Gadsden Purchase, a period of great social change during which the Spanish-speaking population in the city underwent a gradual process of anglicization. Since some research on SPE in Spanish in the United States suggests that English-Spanish bilingualism increases the use of overt subject personal pronouns (SPPs) because of their almost categorical use in English, this study’s main aim is to track the initial stages of such progression in a period when social bilingualism was steadily extending in Tucson. In this respect, our results show that the presence of overt SPPs does increase over time in the data analyzed; however, lower rates of overt SPPs in contemporary Tucson and Phoenix spoken Spanish raise the possibility that the percentage surge in the aforementioned period is rather due to the offline written nature of the newspapers, which, for instance, weakens the effect of online constraints, such as switch reference, ambiguous TAM endings, and non-reflexive verbs. Even so, regression analyses with the mixed-effects statistical software Rbrul reveal that the linguistic factor groups shaping SPE in the diachronic data are essentially the same ones found operating in contemporary varieties of Spanish. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Variation and Change in Spanish)
32 pages, 5168 KiB  
Article
Language Contact and Phonological Innovation in the Voiced Prepalatal Obstruents of Judeo-Spanish
by Travis G. Bradley and Claire Julia Lozano
Languages 2022, 7(4), 313; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7040313 - 19 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 5647
Abstract
This article traces the development of voiced prepalatal obstruents /dʒ⌢/ and /ʒ/ in Judeo-Spanish, the language spoken by the Sephardic Jews since before their expulsion from late-15th century Spain. Using Medieval Spanish as a comparative starting point, we examine [...] Read more.
This article traces the development of voiced prepalatal obstruents /dʒ⌢/ and /ʒ/ in Judeo-Spanish, the language spoken by the Sephardic Jews since before their expulsion from late-15th century Spain. Using Medieval Spanish as a comparative starting point, we examine diachronic innovations in the phonological status and distribution of affricate /dʒ⌢/ and fricative /ʒ/ in Judeo-Spanish during the diaspora, focusing in particular on the effects of lexical borrowing from Turkish and French in territories of the former Ottoman Empire. In contemporary Sephardic communities that are in contact with non-Sephardic varieties of Mainstream Spanish, some speakers occasionally replace syllable-initial /∫/, /dʒ⌢/, and /ʒ/ in certain Judeo-Spanish words by a voiceless velar /x/ in efforts to accommodate the pronunciation of the corresponding Mainstream Spanish cognate form. We provide a novel analysis of Judeo-Spanish voiced prepalatal obstruents, including their diachronic and synchronic variation under language contact. The analysis combines a constraint-based approach to phonological alternations, as formalized in Optimality Theory, with a usage-based representation of the mental lexicon, as proposed in Exemplar Theory, to account for speaker- and word-specific variability. A hybrid theoretical model provides a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between lexicon and grammar in Judeo-Spanish phonology than is available in previous structuralist descriptions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Variation and Change in Spanish)
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16 pages, 2463 KiB  
Article
Variation of Relative Complementizers in Yucatecan Spanish: A Comparison of Monolingual and Bilingual Speakers
by Patrick Auhagen and Melanie Uth
Languages 2022, 7(4), 279; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7040279 - 1 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1850
Abstract
The starting point of this article is the occurrence of determiner-less and bare que relative complementizers like (en) que, ‘(in) that’, instead of (en) el que, ‘(in) which’, in Yucatecan Spanish (southeast Mexico). While reference grammars treat [...] Read more.
The starting point of this article is the occurrence of determiner-less and bare que relative complementizers like (en) que, ‘(in) that’, instead of (en) el que, ‘(in) which’, in Yucatecan Spanish (southeast Mexico). While reference grammars treat complementizers with a determiner as the standard option, previous diachronic research has shown that determiner-less complementizers actually predate relative complementizers with a determiner. Additionally, Yucatecan Spanish has been in long-standing contact with Yucatec Maya. Relative complementation in Yucatec Maya differs from that in Spanish (at least) in that the non-complex complementizer tu’ux (‘where’) is generally the only option for locative complementation. The paper explores monolingual and bilingual data from Yucatecan Spanish to discuss the question whether the determiner-less and bare que relative complementizers in our data constitute a historic remnant or a dialectal recast, possibly (but not necessarily) due to language contact. Although our pilot study may not answer these far-reaching questions, it does reveal two separate, but intertwined developments: (i) a generally increased rate of bare que relative complementation, across both monolingual speakers of Spanish and Spanish Maya bilinguals, compared to other Spanish varieties, and (ii) a preference for donde at the cost of other locative complementizer constructions in the bilingual group. Our analysis thus reveals intriguing differences between the complementizer preferences of monolingual and bilingual speakers, suggesting that different variational patterns caused by different (socio-)linguistic factors can co-develop in parallel in one and the [same] region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Variation and Change in Spanish)
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18 pages, 2131 KiB  
Article
The Genesis of Spanish /θ/: A Revised Model
by Ian Mackenzie
Languages 2022, 7(3), 191; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7030191 - 22 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3232
Abstract
This article proposes a revised model of the genesis of Castilian Spanish /θ/, based on (i) precise tracking across the Late Middle Ages of the orthographical d → z change in preconsonantal coda position and (ii) the potential for auditory indeterminacy between denti-alveolar [...] Read more.
This article proposes a revised model of the genesis of Castilian Spanish /θ/, based on (i) precise tracking across the Late Middle Ages of the orthographical d → z change in preconsonantal coda position and (ii) the potential for auditory indeterminacy between denti-alveolar variants of [s] and the non-sibilant [θ]. According to the findings, two non-sibilant phonemes, /θ/ and /ð/, are likely to have come into existence by the early 1500s, merger at the expense of /ð/ occurring shortly thereafter. This effectively inverts the normally assumed chronology, according to which devoicing preceded and indeed was implicated in the genesis of /θ/. The revised chronology weakens the teleological analysis of /θ/, which treats its genesis in terms of a functionally motivated widening of the articulatory distance between similar-sounding sibilants. Instead, the emergence of Castilian /θ/ is argued to be a natural reflex of the auditory permeability between the denti-alveolar type of [s] and the non-sibilant [θ], with analogous evolutions occurring outside the domain of Castilian Spanish. As part of this overall approach, the article assumes dissibilation (understood as the converse of assibilation) to be the fundamental process in the genesis of /θ/, rather than interdentalization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Variation and Change in Spanish)
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50 pages, 4718 KiB  
Article
Variation in Spanish /s/: Overview and New Perspectives
by Eva Núñez-Méndez
Languages 2022, 7(2), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7020077 - 29 Mar 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 11941
Abstract
The natural tendency for language variation, intensified by Spanish’s territorial growth, has driven sibilant changes and mergers across the Spanish-speaking world. This article aims to present an overview of the most significant processes undergone by sibilant /s/ in various Spanish-speaking areas: devoicing, weakening, [...] Read more.
The natural tendency for language variation, intensified by Spanish’s territorial growth, has driven sibilant changes and mergers across the Spanish-speaking world. This article aims to present an overview of the most significant processes undergone by sibilant /s/ in various Spanish-speaking areas: devoicing, weakening, aspiration, elision, and voicing. Geographically based phonetic variations, sociolinguistic factors, and Spanish language contact situations are considered in this study. The sibilant merger and its chronological development in modern Spanish, along with geographic expansion, have resulted in multiple contemporary dialectal variations. This historical lack of stability in these sounds has marked modern regional variations. Tracing and framing the sibilants’ geo-linguistic features has received much attention from scholars, resulting in sibilants being one of the most studied variables in Spanish phonetics. In this article, we provide a concise approach that offers the reader an updated sociolinguistic view of the modern cross-dialectal realizations of /s/. It is essential to study sibilant development to describe Spanish dialects, the differences between Transatlantic and Castilian varieties, and the speech features found in Spanish speaking communities in the Americas. Examining sibilance from different approaches with a representative variety of Spanish dialects as examples advances the importance of sociolinguistic phenomena to index language changes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Variation and Change in Spanish)
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28 pages, 2328 KiB  
Article
More on Sibilant Devoicing in Spanish Diachrony: An Initial Phonetic Approach
by Assumpció Rost Bagudanch
Languages 2022, 7(1), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7010027 - 30 Jan 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3103
Abstract
The devoicing of sibilants took place in Early Modern Spanish, a phenomenon which has been considered problematic to account for due to its occurrence context (medial intervocalic position). Traditional explanations invoked Basque influence or a structural reorganization in search for a more balanced [...] Read more.
The devoicing of sibilants took place in Early Modern Spanish, a phenomenon which has been considered problematic to account for due to its occurrence context (medial intervocalic position). Traditional explanations invoked Basque influence or a structural reorganization in search for a more balanced system. However, phonetically based reasons were proposed by some scholars. This research is a preliminary attempt to support these proposals with experimental data from a comparative grammar perspective. The Catalan sibilant system, which is very similar to the Medieval Spanish one, is acoustically and perceptively studied in order to investigate the acoustic cues of voicing and to determine if devoicing is possible. Results indicate that (a) voicing relies mainly in the proportion of unvoiced frames of the segments, on its duration, and, to a lesser extent, on its intensity; (b) sibilant devoicing occurs in all voiced categories; (c) auditorily, confusion between voiced and voiceless segments can be attested for every sibilant pair, and (d) the misparsings are more common in affricate and in palatal sibilants, [d͡ʒ] being the most prone to be labelled as unvoiced. These findings prove that the historical process in Spanish could have a phonetic basis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Variation and Change in Spanish)
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15 pages, 399 KiB  
Article
The Use of the Future Subjunctive in Colonial Spanish Texts: Evidence of Vitality or Demise?
by Sonia Kania
Languages 2021, 6(4), 157; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6040157 - 29 Sep 2021
Viewed by 2251
Abstract
This article examines the use of the future subjunctive in two corpora of colonial Mexican texts. The first corpus consists of 255 documents dated 1561–1646 pertaining primarily to the historical area of New Galicia and dealing with matters of the Real Audiencia of [...] Read more.
This article examines the use of the future subjunctive in two corpora of colonial Mexican texts. The first corpus consists of 255 documents dated 1561–1646 pertaining primarily to the historical area of New Galicia and dealing with matters of the Real Audiencia of Guadalajara. The second consists of 191 documents dated 1681–1816 written in the altiplano central of Mexico, which covers a large geographical area from Mexico City to Zacatecas. After describing the syntactic distribution of the future subjunctive in Medieval Spanish, we examine the evidence of its patterns of usage in Peninsular Spanish in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. From there, we analyze the quantitative and qualitative data related to the 428 tokens of -re forms found in our corpora and the syntactic structures in which they appear. The data support findings that the future subjunctive first fell out of use in temporal adverbial clauses, while exhibiting the most apparent productivity in relative clauses. However, the corpora examined provide no evidence that the paradigm survived longer in Latin American Spanish than in Peninsular Spanish, as has been argued. Rather, this study suggests that by the eighteenth century, the future subjunctive was a highly stylized marker of formality or politeness in written Spanish. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Variation and Change in Spanish)
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