Contact Spanish in the US

Instructor(s): Almeida Jacqueline Toribio and Barbara E. Bullock

Description:
This course presents an overview of the language situation of established and emerging Spanish-English bilingual communities in the United States. We will address language and dialect convergence in the domains of phonology/phonetics and morpho-syntax through the analysis of phenomena such as borrowing, code-switching, language attrition, leveling and accommodation. Particular attention is devoted to the dynamics between the language-internal and language-external factors that constrain the mechanisms and outcomes of contact between many different regional and social varieties of Spanish and of English. We will draw on seminal readings and more recent empirical studies that represent a broad array of research paradigms and interpretive frameworks.

Prerequisites:
Some familiarity with Spanish would be helpful.