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Spanish Socio-Historical Linguistics: Isolation and contact
Edited by Whitney Chappell and Bridget Drinka
[Advances in Historical Sociolinguistics 12] 2021
► pp. 163–184

A socio-historical perspective on the origin and evolution of two Afro-Andean vernaculars

| University of Texas at Austin

This paper casts light on the socio-historical background of two Afro-Andean vernaculars: Yungueño Spanish (Bolivia) and Choteño Spanish (Ecuador). Contrary to what has been suggested in the literature (Lipski 2008; Perez 2015; Schwegler 1999, 2014), results indicate that a concomitance of sociodemographic factors significantly reduced the possibility of Spanish creoles forming in the colonial Andes. For this reason, this study provides new data that contribute to the long-lasting debate on the evolution of the Afro-Hispanic varieties of the Americas (McWhorter 2000; Lipski 2005; Sessarego 2019a). In particular, the evidence here reported appears to cast serious doubts on proposals suggesting that these and other Afro-Hispanic varieties may be conceived of as the result of a previous (de)creolization phase (Granda 1968 et seq.).

Keywords: Yungueño Spanish, Choteño Spanish, Afro-Andean Spanish, Spanish Creole debate, slavery, (de)creolization
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Decreolization and Afro-Andean Spanish
  • 3.A socio-historical sketch of black slavery in the Andes
    • 3.1First arrivals (16th century–mid-17th century)
    • 3.2The second wave (mid-17th century-last decades of the 18th century)
    • 3.3The gradual path to emancipation (last decades of the 18th century–present)
  • 4.A closer look at YS and CS
    • 4.1Yungas, Bolivia
    • 4.2Chota Valley, Ecuador
  • 5.Final remarks
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 May 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ahs.12.c07ses
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