University Research Priority Program Language and Space

Carlota de Benito Moreno, Maxine Hofstetter, Mary Paz Muñoz Romanisches Seminar, University of Zurich

Morphosyntactic accommodation in Spanish: methodological challenges

Accommodation and language change Spreadoflinguis0cfeaturesassumedtotakeplaceviaface-to-facecontactbetweenspeakers1,2,3.

Repeatedshort-termaccommoda/on(interac/on)>long-termaccommoda/on>(ifcri/calmas)languagechange3

Goal Understandtheprocessesunderlyingmorphosyntac0cshort-termaccommoda0onbetweenspeakersofdifferentSpanishdialects.

Study design (inspired by Ruch 2013-2018) Pilotstudy:6par0cipants(2groups:femaleandmale),3Spanishdialects.Par0cipantswithsimilarsocialcharacteris0cs(allgraduatestudents,similarages).Withingroup,eachpar0cipant(typicallyin2days):1)  wasinterviewedindividually(“non-contaminated”speech),2)  hadaconversa0onwithanotherpar0cipant(interac0onwithonedialect),3)  wasimmediatelyinterviewedalone(speechaJerinterac0on),4)  hadaconversa0onwithanotherpar0cipant(interac0onwithanotherdialect),5)  wasimmediatelyinterviewedalone(speechaJerinterac0on).

Methodological challenges 1.  Researchingmorphosyntax

1.  Oppositetophone0cfeatures,morphosyntac0cfeatures:1.  donotsurfaceinreadingtasks–semi-freespeechisneeded.2.  needlargequan00esofspeechtobeobserved.

2.  Selec0onoffeaturesthatshowconsistentvaria0onacrossdialects:1.  Case-dis0nc0on in object pronouns (case-dis0nc0on in River Plate Spanish, gender-

dis0nc0oninCas0lianSpanish,generalisedleísmoinEcuadorianSpanish).2.  2sg personal pronouns and verb-agreement (vos + etymologically 2pl verb forms in

RiverPlateSpanish,tú+etymologically2plverbformsinRiverPlateSpanish,tú/vos+etymologically2plverbformsinEcuadorianSpanish).

3.  Findingpar0cipants1.  Ecuadorianspeakerswerehardtofind!

4.  Designoftheinterviews1.  Elici0ng 2sg personal pronouns in individual interviews is especially difficult, since

thereisnoclearinterlocutor(thecomputer)–askingforanecdotes.2.  Thelastindividualinterviewaddressedpercep0onofanda\tudestoownandothers’

speech.5.  Conduc0ngtheinterviews

1.  Itishardtospeaktothecomputer!2.  Interven0onof interviewersturnedouttobeunavoidable.Tokeepthis interven0on

consistent,interviewersalwaysspokeadifferentdialectthantheinterviewees.

Previous literature –  Short-termaccommoda0onliteraturefocuses(mostly)onthephone0clevel4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12.

–  Literatureonaccommoda0oninSpanishfocusesonlong-termaccommoda0on,mostlyonthemorphosyntac0clevel13,14,15,16.

Next steps… -  Transcrip0onoftheinterviewswitELAN(underway).-  Comparisonofusageofpronounsbefore,duringandaJertheconversa0ons.-  Analysisofself-correc0onsduringtheconversa0ons.

References

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4.  Pardo,J.S.(2006).“Onphone0cconvergenceduringconversa0onalinterac0on”.TheJournaloftheAcous?calSocietyofAmerica,119(4),2382-2393.5.  Llamas,C.,Wal,D.,&Johnson,D.E.(2009).“Linguis0caccommoda0onandthesalienceofna0onaliden0tymarkersinabordertown”.JournalofLanguageandSocialPsychology,28(4),381-407.6.  Babel2010-Babel,M.(2010).“DialectdivergenceandconvergenceinNewZealandEnglish”.LanguageinSociety,39(4),437-456.7.  Wal,D.,Llamas,C.,&EzraJohnson,D.(2010).“Levelsoflinguis0caccommoda0onacrossana0onalborder”.JournalofEnglishLinguis?cs,38(3),270-289.8.  Kim,M.,Horton,W.S.,&Bradlow,A.R.(2011).“Phone0cconvergenceinspontaneousconversa0onsasafunc0onofinterlocutorlanguagedistance”.Laboratoryphonology,2(1),125-156.9.  Macleod,B.(2012).TheEffectofPerceptualSalienceonPhone?cAccommoda?oninCross-DialectalConversa?oninSpanish.Ph.D.Thesis.UniversityofToronto.10.  Walker,A.,&Campbell-Kibler,K.(2015).“RepeatwhataJerwhom?Exploringvariableselec0vityinacross-dialectalshadowingtask”.Fron?ersinpsychology,6,546.11.  O‘Rourke&Potowski2016-O’Rourke,E.,&Potowski,K.(2016).Phone0caccommoda0oninasitua0onofSpanishdialectcontact:Coda/s/and/r̄/inChicago.StudiesinHispanicandLusophoneLinguis?cs,9(2),355–399.12.  Ruch,Hanna(2018).“Theroleofacous0cdistanceandsociolinguis0cknowledgeindialectiden0fica0on”.Fron?ersinPsychology9:818.13.  PalaciosAlcaine,A.(2007).“Cambioslingüís0cosdeidayvuelta :los0emposdepasadoenlavariedademergentedelosmigrantesecuatorianosenEspaña”.RevistaInternacionaldeLinguis?caIberoamericana,5(2),109–125.14.  Molina2010-MolinaMartos,I.(2010).“Procesosdeacomodaciónlingüís0cadelainmigraciónla0noamericanaenMadrid”.LenguayMigración,2(2),27–48.Mick&Palacios2013-Mick,C.,&Palacios,A.(2013).Mantenimientoosus0tuciónderasgoslingüís0cosindexadossocialmente:migrantesde

zonasandinasenLima.Lexis,37(2),341–380.15.  Romera,M.,&Elordieta,G.(2013).“Prosodicaccommoda0oninlanguagecontact:Spanishintona0oninMajorca”.Interna?onalJournaloftheSociologyofLanguage,221,127–151.16.  Mick,C.,&Palacios,A.(2013).“Mantenimientoosus0tuciónderasgoslingüís0cosindexadossocialmente:migrantesdezonasandinasenLima”.Lexis,37(2),341–380.