Linguistic and Social Variables in Yucatan Spanish
Open Access
- Author:
- Michnowicz, James Casimir
- Graduate Program:
- Spanish
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- April 19, 2006
- Committee Members:
- John Lipski, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Almeida Jacqueline Toribio, Committee Member
Chip Gerfen, Committee Member
Barbara E Bullock, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Spanish linguistics
sociolinguistics
dialectology
Yucatan
Mexico - Abstract:
- The dialect of Spanish spoken in Yucatan, Mexico is of interest to sociolinguists and linguistics in general for numerous reasons. First, Yucatan Spanish has been in contact with an indigenous language, Yucatec Mayan, for 500 years. Second, Yucatan has been historically isolated from the linguistic trends of the rest of Mexico. At present, this isolation is rapidly diminishing with the influx of immigrants from central Mexico; this environment has fostered a strong sense of local identity within the Yucatan. Importantly, Yucatan Spanish is currently at a crossroads, as an important demographic shift is accompanied by equally rapid linguistic changes. Previous studies of the dialect have identified several phonetic variables as representative of the dialect. These include: final labialized nasals [m]; lack of the Spanish stop-fricative alternation in favor of stops [b d g]; the aspiration of voiceless stops (data from (k) is examined here); and the maintenance of hiatus across word boundaries via the insertion of glottal stops. Data was collected in the Yucatan with the goal of examining the correlation of these linguistic variables and social factors. Using sociolinguistic interview techniques, the researcher interviewed 40 speakers of Yucatan Spanish balanced for gender, age, and social class. Knowledge of the Mayan language was also examined. Data analysis demonstrated two competing trends in Yucatan Spanish. All variables except one are decreasing in frequency as the dialect adopts pan-Hispanic norms. The remaining variable, [m], shows increased use among middle-aged and younger speakers, as the regional variant [m] is adopted and extended as a marker of local identity in the face of increased immigration, especially for women who are obtaining more education and entering the workforce. Both gender and age are consistently important factors in the use of Yucatan variants. Likewise, all of the typical Yucatan variants correlated with knowledge of Mayan, lending weight to the argument that these variants are due to prolonged contact and linguistic convergence. Class did not show a consistent effect across variables. Further data and conclusions are discussed.