Dissertation

Languages in contact: A morphosyntactic analysis of Paraguayan Spanish from a historical and sociolinguistic perspective

Choi, Jinny Kyungjin

1998

Overview

This study presents an analysis of morphosyntactic peculiarities of Paraguayan Spanish, and considers their possible multiple origins. I consider the influence of the Guarani language with which Spanish has coexisted for more than four centuries in a society which is still composed of 48.9% Spanish-Guarani bilinguals. However, I show that the interference of the Guarani language on local Spanish or other genetic causes of an external nature cannot provide a complete explanation or formulate a cohesive argument for the linguistic phenomena under consideration in this study. I also argue that an internal explanation is incomplete for the analysis of some features found in Paraguayan Spanish. In view of this, in this study I use the theoretical framework of multiple causation, considering internal and external factors equally, and not favoring one explanation over another. Additionally, I study the genesis and development of the linguistic structures considered here, examining their diachronic context. Synchronically, I examine data collected in Paraguay, as well as the use of the same features in other Spanish dialects and Romance languages. Chapter 1 presents the historical background of the unique linguistic situation found in Paraguay. This diachronic information is fundamental to a better understanding of the complex synchronic situation, the concept of national bilingualism, and hypotheses for the genesis of the morphosyntactic structures discussed in chapters 2-4. With this as a foundation, chapter 2 turns to the phenomenon called voseo. The use of vos, originally a second person plural pronoun, and its verb forms, instead of tu as the second person singular pronoun, is one of the peculiar phenomena of Paraguayan Spanish. I present a diachronic evolution of the pronominal and verb forms of voseo. This chapter also discusses another related feature, the alternation of the informal second person singular, vos, with usted, the formal one. I argue that this alternation is the result of the linguistic situation where there are languages in contact. In the case of Paraguay, the interference of Guarani, which lacks the distinction between the second person singular of respect and familiarity, is a crucial factor. Chapter 3 examines leismo, les $>$ le, and (-human) object drop. I study the genesis and provide a diachronic account of the structures in the 16th-century Spanish texts, as well as modern registers in different Spanish dialects and other languages to prove that a strictly substratal theory cannot offer a complete explanation of why these phenomena are maintained in the Spanish spoken in Paraguay. Finally, in chapter 4 I discuss three linguistic structures that have been previously considered as the exclusive results of interference via direct transfer from Guarani: double negation (e.g., Nadie no vino), use of the preposition en with directional verbs (e.g., Voy en Asuncion), and the combination of indefinite article or demonstrative adjective + possessive + noun (e.g., Un mi hermano, Ese mi amigo).

• Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subject: Linguistics
• ISBN: 9780599053403, 0599053402