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Article published In: Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 31:1 (2018) ► pp.64–93

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Dialectal variation of the preterit and imperfect

A closer look to Puerto Rican and Buenos Aires Spanish

 | Indiana University
Published online: 27 August 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.15048.del
Abstract
This investigation examines the use of the pretérito and imperfecto forms in Puerto Rican and Buenos Aires Spanish. These dialects were chosen because the pretérito can express a perfect event in Buenos Aires Spanish while this use has not been documented in Puerto Rican Spanish. This may cause differences in the use of these forms. The main goal of this investigation was to contrast the linguistic predictors in both dialects in order to determine if there are dialectal differences and if they are due to different grammaticalization pathways. The results indicate that there are some differences between the Spanish spoken by Puerto Ricans and that of the Argentines of Buenos Aires. Among the results, it was found that these two dialects had different predictors for the pretérito and imperfecto. These results show preliminary evidence that indicates that these dialects follow different grammaticalization paths.
Resumen
Este trabajo investiga el uso del pretérito y el imperfecto en el español de Puerto Rico y Buenos Aires. Se seleccionaron estos dialectos, porque el pretérito puede expresar eventos perfectos en el español de Buenos Aires mientras que este uso no ha sido documentado en el español de Puerto Rico. Esto podría causar discrepancias en el uso de estas formas. El propósito principal de esta investigación es contrastar los predictores lingüísticos que favorecen el uso de ambas formas en cada dialecto para dar cuenta de si hay diferencias dialectales. Los resultados indican que hay diferencias entre el español de Puerto Rico y el de Buenos Aires. Cabe destacar que los factores que favorecieron el uso del pretérito y el imperfecto en cada dialecto fueron distintos. Los resultados de esta investigación arrojan evidencia preliminar de que estos dialectos siguen vías de gramaticalización diferentes.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The Spanish ‘pretérito’ and ‘imperfecto’
    • 1.2Grammaticalization
    • 1.3Previous research
  • 2.Justification and research questions
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Coding scheme
    • 3.3Type of analysis
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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