Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

French

Supervisor

Heap, David

Abstract

According to the extended projection principle, subjects are mandatory in tensed clauses (Chomsky 1982). Languages, however, vary in their use of null and overt subjects. Languages like English, which are [-null subject] languages, require overt subjects (1a), rendering phrases with null subjects ungrammatical (1b), while languages like Spanish, which are [+ null subject] languages, allow for both overt (2a) and null subjects (2b).

(1) a. She wants bread.

b. *Ø wants bread.

(2) a. Ella quiere pan.

b. Ø quiere pan.

“(She) wants bread”

In Spanish the variable use of Spanish subject personal pronouns (SPPs) has been studied in monolingual (Cameron 1992; Orozco 2015) and bilingual populations (Otheguy et al. 2007, Montrul 2004), and studies have shown that the rate of use of null vs. overt subject pronouns varies between different varieties of Spanish. In bilingual populations, an increase in use of overt SPPs has been documented in some populations (Otheguy et al. 2007). However, it is debated whether this is due to contact with English, a [- null subject] language, or with other varieties of Spanish which show a higher rate of use of overt SPPs such as Caribbean varieties of Spanish (Flores-Ferrán 2004).

In this dissertation, the results of an investigation regarding the variable use of SPPs in two generations of Colombian Spanish speakers (N(1Gen)=10, N(2Gen)=10) living in London, Ontario are reported. A total of 2366 tokens from 20 sociolinguistic interviews are used to calculate frequency of use of overt SPPs for each generation, and to determine the social (generation, age, gender, and interview modality), and linguistic factors (pronoun person and number, switch reference, semantic verb type, clause negation, position of pronoun in relation to verb, verb tense, verb mood, and clause type) that condition variable use of SPPs in this population. In addition, this study adopts an embedded mixed-methods approach by also considering the data from a qualitative perspective to examine whether the attitudes, language use habits, and ties to cultural identity of Colombian speakers align with factors known to favour heritage language maintenance across generations. This approach also provides valuable contextual information for the quantitative analyses.

Summary for Lay Audience

Although all languages require the use of subjects for tensed clauses (Chomsky 1982), languages vary in how they use subject pronouns. For instance, while languages like English require that subjects are expressed (1a), rendering phrases with non-expressed subjects ungrammatical (1b), in languages like Spanish subjects can be expressed (2a) or they can be omitted (2b).

(1) a. She wants bread.

b. *Ø wants bread.

(2) a. Ella quiere pan.

b. Ø quiere pan.

“(She) wants bread”

In Spanish this variable use of subject pronouns has been studied in monolingual (Cameron 1992, Orozco 2015) and bilingual populations (Otheguy et al. 2007, Montrul 2004), and studies have shown that the frequency of use of null vs. overt subject pronouns varies between varieties of Spanish. In bilingual populations, an increase in the use of expressed subject pronouns has been documented in second generation immigrant speakers of Spanish (Otheguy et al. 2007). However, it is debated whether this effect is due to contact with English or with other varieties of Spanish, which also show a higher use of expressed subject pronouns, such as Caribbean varieties of Spanish (Flores-Ferrán 2004).

In this dissertation, I report on the results of my investigation on the variable expression of subject pronouns in two generations of Colombian Spanish speakers living in London, Ontario (N_1Gen=10, N_2Gen=10). A total of 2366 tokens from sociolinguistic interviews are used to calculate the frequency of use of expressed subject pronouns for each generation, and to determine the social (generation, age, gender, and interview modality), and linguistic factors (grammatical person and number, switch reference, semantic verb type, clause negation, position of pronoun in relation to verb, verb tense, verb mood, and clause type) that condition the variable expression of subject pronouns in this population. In addition, this study uses a mixed-methods approach by considering quantitative and qualitative data. The use of qualitative data provides valuable contextual information to the quantitative analysis and allows me to investigate whether the attitudes, language use habits, and ties to cultural identity of Colombian speakers align with factors known to favour heritage language maintenance across generations.

Download

Share

COinS