Article published in:
Extending the notion of near-synonymy: Studies in morphological, syntactic and pragmatic equivalenceEdited by Renata Enghels
[Languages in Contrast 18:1] 2018
► pp. 35–68
At the boundaries of linguistic convergence: Variation in presentational haber / haver-hi
A sociolinguistic comparative analysis of Spanish and Catalan grammars
José Luis Blas Arroyo | Universitat Jaume I
In this paper, we focus on an eventual convergence outcome (the pluralization of presentational haber/haver-hi) in the grammar of two Romance languages, Spanish and Catalan, which have been living side-by-side for centuries in Eastern Spain. Taking into account the sociolinguistic comparative method and on the basis of several representative corpora of the two languages in contact, the data from this research offer evidence that points to a notable congruence between the underlying grammars of both languages, which would, at least partially, account for a similar diffusion of these vernacular pluralizations. Moreover, some of the few cases of disagreement found can be explained on the basis of both internal (such as the existence of points of structural conflict in some verbal paradigms) and external factors (such as hypercorrection), which certain social groups particularly sensitive to normative pressure are more receptive to.
Keywords: presentational haber / haver-hi
, convergence, comparative sociolinguistics, languages in contact, Catalan/Spanish
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The singularity of haber /haver-hi in syntax
- 2.1The linguistic variable in Spanish
- 2.2The linguistic variable in Catalan
- 3.Methodological issues
- 3.1Corpus and data processing
- 3.2Coding the linguistic variable
- 4.Results and analysis
- 4.1Pluralization in Spanish-speaking America
- 4.2Pluralization in Spain
- 4.3Pluralization in Catalan
- 4.4Comparative analysis (so far…)
- 4.5The envelope of variation
- 4.5.1Factors selected as significant in the two languages
- 4.5.2Factors not selected as significant in the two languages
- 4.5.3Differentiating factors
- 5.Final: variation, hypercorrection, koineization in a convergence outcome
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
Published online: 22 February 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/lic.00003.bla
https://doi.org/10.1075/lic.00003.bla
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