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The Spanish of the United States. Part 1: Sociolinguistic Perspectives

Authors

  • Manuel J. Gutiérrez University of Houston
  • Marta Fairclough University of Houston

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32870/vel.vi24.259

Keywords:

U.S. Spanish, linguistic contact, linguistic variation, linguistic change, bilingualism

Abstract

This paper presents a review of historical and sociolinguistic aspects related to the Spanish of the United States. On the one hand, it describes how the growing Hispanic community has struggled to maintain its language in social contexts in which the contact language, English, has made significant advances, displacing the language of the Hispanic community. On the other hand, a series of phenomena of linguistic change, variation, transfer, and simplification that occur in all the components of the structure of Spanish as a natural result of linguistic contact between the two languages are presented. The phenomena of linguistic change are also explored in situations in which two or more dialects of Spanish have remained in contact for an extended time, which has given rise to accommodation phenomena in which speakers, for example, originating from the American lowlands have adopted linguistic uses of highland Spanish dialects (Parodi, 2014). This would be explained by the fact that these latter communities have a longer history in this territory and a significantly larger number of speakers. Among the conclusions of the study, the variety of strategies that Hispanic speakers use creatively to maintain Spanish stands out.

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Published

2024-07-23 — Updated on 2024-09-19

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How to Cite

Gutiérrez, M. J., & Fairclough , M. (2024). The Spanish of the United States. Part 1: Sociolinguistic Perspectives. Verbum Et Lingua: Didáctica, Lengua Y Cultura, (24). https://doi.org/10.32870/vel.vi24.259 (Original work published July 23, 2024)