Priming as a Diagnostic of Grammatical Constructions: Second-Person Singular in Chilean Spanish
Structural priming has been described as a measure of association between constructions. Here, we apply priming as a diagnostic to assess the status of the Chilean second-person singular (2sg) <i>voseo</i>, which exists in variation with the more standard <i>tuteo</i>. Despit...
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| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-12-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/6/1/1 |
| _version_ | 1818062818569617408 |
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| author | Matthew Callaghan Catherine E. Travis |
| author_facet | Matthew Callaghan Catherine E. Travis |
| author_sort | Matthew Callaghan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Structural priming has been described as a measure of association between constructions. Here, we apply priming as a diagnostic to assess the status of the Chilean second-person singular (2sg) <i>voseo</i>, which exists in variation with the more standard <i>tuteo</i>. Despite being the majority variant in informal interactions, Chileans are reported to have little metalinguistic awareness of <i>voseo</i> and they avoid the <i>vos</i> pronoun, in some cases using the <i>tú</i> pronoun with <i>voseo</i> verb forms, leading to proposals that <i>tuteo</i> and <i>voseo</i> are conflated into a single mixed form. The patterning for priming, however, indicates otherwise. Analyses of some 2000 2sg familiar tokens from a corpus of conversational Chilean Spanish reveal that a previous <i>tuteo</i> or <i>voseo</i> favors the repetition of that same form, indicating that speakers do treat these forms as distinct. We also observe that invariable forms with historically <i>tuteo</i> morphology are associated with neither <i>voseo</i> nor <i>tuteo</i>, while the invariable <i>voseo</i> discourse marker <i>cachái</i> ‘you know’ retains a weak association with <i>voseo</i>. Furthermore, while <i>tuteo</i> is favored with a <i>tú</i> subject pronoun, this effect does not override the priming effect, evidence that, even with a <i>tú</i> pronoun, <i>voseo</i> and <i>tuteo</i> are distinct constructions in speakers’ representations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T14:10:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f4040be9757545a6af9108ab5912d3c5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-471X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T14:10:15Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
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| series | Languages |
| spelling | doaj.art-f4040be9757545a6af9108ab5912d3c52022-12-22T01:45:30ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2020-12-0161110.3390/languages6010001Priming as a Diagnostic of Grammatical Constructions: Second-Person Singular in Chilean SpanishMatthew Callaghan0Catherine E. Travis1ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, School of Literature, Languages, and Linguistics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, AustraliaARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, School of Literature, Languages, and Linguistics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, AustraliaStructural priming has been described as a measure of association between constructions. Here, we apply priming as a diagnostic to assess the status of the Chilean second-person singular (2sg) <i>voseo</i>, which exists in variation with the more standard <i>tuteo</i>. Despite being the majority variant in informal interactions, Chileans are reported to have little metalinguistic awareness of <i>voseo</i> and they avoid the <i>vos</i> pronoun, in some cases using the <i>tú</i> pronoun with <i>voseo</i> verb forms, leading to proposals that <i>tuteo</i> and <i>voseo</i> are conflated into a single mixed form. The patterning for priming, however, indicates otherwise. Analyses of some 2000 2sg familiar tokens from a corpus of conversational Chilean Spanish reveal that a previous <i>tuteo</i> or <i>voseo</i> favors the repetition of that same form, indicating that speakers do treat these forms as distinct. We also observe that invariable forms with historically <i>tuteo</i> morphology are associated with neither <i>voseo</i> nor <i>tuteo</i>, while the invariable <i>voseo</i> discourse marker <i>cachái</i> ‘you know’ retains a weak association with <i>voseo</i>. Furthermore, while <i>tuteo</i> is favored with a <i>tú</i> subject pronoun, this effect does not override the priming effect, evidence that, even with a <i>tú</i> pronoun, <i>voseo</i> and <i>tuteo</i> are distinct constructions in speakers’ representations.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/6/1/1structural primingconstructionsmetalinguistic awarenesssecond-person singularChilean Spanish<i>voseo</i> |
| spellingShingle | Matthew Callaghan Catherine E. Travis Priming as a Diagnostic of Grammatical Constructions: Second-Person Singular in Chilean Spanish Languages structural priming constructions metalinguistic awareness second-person singular Chilean Spanish <i>voseo</i> |
| title | Priming as a Diagnostic of Grammatical Constructions: Second-Person Singular in Chilean Spanish |
| title_full | Priming as a Diagnostic of Grammatical Constructions: Second-Person Singular in Chilean Spanish |
| title_fullStr | Priming as a Diagnostic of Grammatical Constructions: Second-Person Singular in Chilean Spanish |
| title_full_unstemmed | Priming as a Diagnostic of Grammatical Constructions: Second-Person Singular in Chilean Spanish |
| title_short | Priming as a Diagnostic of Grammatical Constructions: Second-Person Singular in Chilean Spanish |
| title_sort | priming as a diagnostic of grammatical constructions second person singular in chilean spanish |
| topic | structural priming constructions metalinguistic awareness second-person singular Chilean Spanish <i>voseo</i> |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/6/1/1 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT matthewcallaghan primingasadiagnosticofgrammaticalconstructionssecondpersonsingularinchileanspanish AT catherineetravis primingasadiagnosticofgrammaticalconstructionssecondpersonsingularinchileanspanish |