Evaluates two hypotheses that argue that the Spanish demonstrative verbs "aqui" and "aca" can alternate in some contexts. The results of a quantitative study of Venezuelan Spanish show that the delimination hypothesis, which states that the place denoted by "aqui" is less limited and defined than the place denoted by "aca," is valid. (29…

The type of relatively rapid speech modification sometimes called "accommodation" was examined by tracking change on the part of speakers of Honduran Spanish newly resident among speakers of Northern Mexican Spanish. Final /n/ velarization and spirantization both changed toward local norms, but local contact resulted in greater change…

This sociolinguistic investigation analyzes an innovative usage of Spanish motion verbs, demonstratives, and locatives in Barcelona, Spain that involves crosslinguistic pragmatic transfer. Speakers in the two social networks examined (n=58) use these Spanish deictics following pragmatic rules that generally correspond to the rules for their…

The quantitative methodology of GOLDVARB is used to examine the variable distribution of lexical noun phrases representing core arguments of the verb in a corpus of spoken French and Spanish. The distribution is shown to conform to a grammatically and pragmatically motivated pattern known as Preferred Argument Structure. (Contains 26 references.)…

Develops analytical techniques to determine "borrowability," the ease with which a lexical item or category of lexical items can be borrowed by one language from another. These techniques are then applied to Spanish borrowings in Bolivian Quechua on the basis of a set of bilingual texts. (29 references) (MDM)