Publications

Publication details [#63674]

Limerick, Philip P. 2017. Language contact in the US Southeast. The case of Spanish subject expression in an emerging bilingual community in Georgia. Spanish in Context 14 (1) : 53–78.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Place, Publisher
John Benjamins
Journal DOI
10.1075/sic

Annotation

This study examines the use of subject pronouns among Spanish speakers in the Southeastern US and explores the incipient stages of language contact through a case study of speakers in Roswell, Georgia, an emergent (recently developing) variety that thus far has rarely been studied in the literature. Sociolinguistic interviews were conducted in Roswell (Wilson 2013) and transcribed to allow for analysis of pronouns and factors that may influence subject expression (e.g. person/number) as well as social variables (e.g. length of residency). Results indicate an overall pronoun rate of 21%, similar to that of Mainland newcomers in New York (Otheguy, Zentella, and Livert 2007). However, results from the multivariate analysis suggest that pronoun usage in Roswell diverges from these communities, with differential effects observed for factors such as Coreferentiality Index (subject continuity). This analysis of subject expression reveals an intermediate stage of language shift in this particular community.