A Cross-Generational Analysis of Spanish-to-English Lexico-Semantic Phenomena in Emerging Miami English

Authors

Kristen Mullen, Masters of Linguistics StudentFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Major/Program

English

First Advisor's Name

Phillip M. Carter

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Melissa Baralt

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Ellen Thompson

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

Lexico-semantic, phenomena, Miami English, cross-generational, calques

Date of Defense

3-20-2015

Abstract

Sociolinguists have documented the substrate influence of various languages on the formation of dialects in numerous ethnic-regional setting throughout the United States. This literature shows that while phonological and grammatical influences from other languages may be instantiated as durable dialect features, lexical phenomena often fade over time as ethnolinguistic communities assimilate with contiguous dialect groups. In preliminary investigations of emerging Miami Latino English, we have observed that lexical forms based on Spanish lexical forms are not only ubiquitous among the speech of the first generation Cuban Americans but also of the second. Examples, observed in field work, casual observation, and studied formally in an experimental context include the following: “get down from the car,” which derives from the Spanish equivalent, bajar del carro instead of “get out of the car”. The translation task administered to thirty-one participants showed a variety lexical phenomena are still maintained at equal or higher frequencies.

Identifier

FI15050206

Recommended Citation

Mullen, Kristen, "A Cross-Generational Analysis of Spanish-to-English Lexico-Semantic Phenomena in Emerging Miami English" (2015). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1801.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1801