Abstract

AVELLANA, Alicia. SPANISH IN CONTACT WITH TOBA (QOM): TRANSFERENCE AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION PHENOMENA. Forma funcion, Santaf, de Bogot, D.C. [online]. 2012, vol.25, n.1, pp.83-111. ISSN 0120-338X.

In this paper, we analyze various grammatical phenomena found in bilingual speakers, as well as in speakers of Spanish as a second language in a linguistic contact situation (Toba-Spanish) in Argentina. On the one hand, we describe a number of structures that could be attributed to transference from the indigenous language; on the other hand, we examine some grammatical properties related to the process of second language acquisition which have no direct connection to the Toba grammar. Assuming this distinction as a starting point, we analyze the kind of grammatical element involved in each case. To do so, we adopt the Generative Grammar theoretical model and, especially, the proposal of the Distributed Morphology (Halle & Marantz 1993 and subsequent work) in order to adscribe the aforementioned phenomena to precise grammatical aspects. Beyond the descriptive goal of this paper, the analysis of the data allows us to conclude that the transference processes and the second language acquisition phenomena show differences, and that these could be related to different grammatical "places". In addition, this analysis contributes to the general idea that variation across languages is formalizable, and that contact phenomena could help in this formalization.

Keywords : linguistic contact; Toba-Spanish (Argentina); transference; second language acquisition; morphosyntax; Generative Grammar.

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