ERIC Number: ED578635
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 130
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 978-0-3551-3282-3
ISSN: EISSN-
EISSN: N/A
A Study of Sociolinguistic Variation in a Small Community: Puerto Rican Spanish in Amsterdam, New York
Mumin, Zahir
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York at Albany
The objective of the current study is to contribute to the larger body of sociophonetic variation research by describing and analyzing Spanish as spoken in a small Puerto Rican community in the US. First, I describe phonological and morphosyntactic features of Spanish as used by four different groups of Puerto Rican informants in Amsterdam, New York based on the duration of time that they have lived on the Island of Puerto Rico. Previous research on Puerto Rican Spanish in the US has focused particularly on final /s/ deletion (Poplack, 1980b, 1980c), final liquid production of /l/ and [alveolar flap] (Ramos-Pellicia, 2007), and code switching (Otheguy & Zentella, 2012). The results of these studies show that final /s/ is frequently deleted, final [alveolar flap] is commonly lateralized, and that code switching is also a common behavior among bilinguals with high levels of competence in both languages. On the other hand, the results of the current study show that, across the four groups of informants, the production of final /s/ is relatively stable and informants tend to favor aspiration and deletion in word-final contexts and retention in word-internal contexts. Also, these results show that lateralization of final [alveolar flap] appears in the speech of all four of these groups. Finally, code switching is more prevalent in the data of speakers who have spent less time in Puerto Rico. Given the nature of the cyclical Puerto Rican migration to the US, this study offers a new approach to the study of Spanish in contact with English that focuses on time of residence in Puerto Rico rather than generation and place of birth. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Spanish, Language Variation, Bilingualism, Morphology (Languages), Syntax, Phonology, Code Switching (Language), Pronunciation, Speech Communication, Puerto Ricans, Immigrants, Sociolinguistics
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A