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Article published In:
Spanish in Context
Vol. 13:1 (2016) ► pp.53–79

Subject expression in Spanish

Contrasts between native and non-native speakers for first and second-person singular referents

Research on variation demonstrates that analyses of frequency and predictors of use contribute to our understanding of languages. Investigations of subject expression in Spanish in particular have identified differences across person and number of the verb that suggest that linguists should focus their analyses exclusively on a single category of that variable (e.g., Torres-Cacoullos and Travis 2010). The current paper examines the subject-expression forms produced in first- and second-person contexts in separate analyses, exploring the degree to which patterns of use generalize across verbal person categories. Data from 32 sociolinguistic interviews with native and non-native speakers of Spanish in the same speech community were coded for independent linguistic variables, such as switch reference, perseveration, tense, mood and aspect of the verb form, verbal negation, presence of object pronouns, specificity and reference cohesiveness. Separate multivariate analyses for first- and second-person referents show subtle differences between NSs and NNSs.
Keywords: Spanish, verbal subjects, second language
Published online: 14 April 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/sic.13.1.03gee
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Cited by (10)

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Geeslin, Kimberly L. & Stephen Fafulas
2022. Chapter 7. Linguistic variation and second language Spanish. In Variation in Second and Heritage Languages [Studies in Language Variation, 28], ► pp. 159 ff. DOI logo
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2022. The role of referent cohesiveness in variable subject expression in L2 Spanish. Spanish in Context 19:3 ► pp. 508 ff. DOI logo
Limerick, Philip P.
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2021. Korean Learners’ Acquisition and Use of Variable First-Person Subject Forms in Spanish. Languages 6:4 ► pp. 208 ff. DOI logo
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2020. Chapter 4. The effect of grammatical person on subject pronoun expression in the oral narratives of Spanish second language learners. In Current Theoretical and Applied Perspectives on Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 27], ► pp. 85 ff. DOI logo
Limerick, Philip
2020. The Interaction Effects on the Variable Subject Pronoun Expression in Spanish. Lingüística y Literatura 41:77 ► pp. 299 ff. DOI logo
Long, Avizia Yim & Kimberly L. Geeslin
2020. Chapter 7. Examining the role of instructor first language in classroom-based oral input. In Cross-theoretical Explorations of Interlocutors and their Individual Differences [Language Learning & Language Teaching, 53], ► pp. 160 ff. DOI logo
de Prada Pérez, Ana
2018. Subject pronoun expression and language mode in bilingual Spanish. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 11:2 ► pp. 303 ff. DOI logo
Gurzynski-Weiss, Laura, Kimberly L. Geeslin, Danielle Daidone, Bret Linford, Avizia Yim Long, Ian Michalski & Megan Solon
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