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On the nature of cross-linguistic transfer: A case study of Andean Spanish*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2012

ANTJE G. MUNTENDAM
ANTJE G. MUNTENDAM*
Affiliation:
Radboud University Nijmegen
*
*Address for correspondence: Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, Postbus 9103, 6500 HD Nijmegen, The Netherlandsa.muntendam@let.ru.nl
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Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study on cross-linguistic transfer in Andean Spanish word order. In Andean Spanish the object appears in preverbal position more frequently than in non-Andean Spanish, which has been attributed to an influence from Quechua (a Subject–Object–Verb language). The high frequency of preverbal objects could be explained by focus fronting. The main syntactic properties of focus fronting in Spanish are weak crossover and long distance movement. Two elicitation studies designed to test for these properties in non-Andean Spanish, Andean Spanish and Quechua show no evidence of syntactic transfer from Quechua into Andean Spanish. Rather, the analysis of naturalistic data and an elicitation study on question–answer pairs show that there is pragmatic transfer from Quechua into Andean Spanish. The study has implications for theories of syntax and language contact, and especially for the debate on the nature of cross-linguistic transfer.

Keywords

language contactsyntaxpragmaticsAndean SpanishQuechua
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 111 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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Footnotes

*

This research has been funded by Letterenfonds (Leiden University, 2000–2001), Leids Universiteits Internationaal Studie Fonds (2000–2001), Spanish, Italian and Portuguese Summer Research Fellowship (University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, 2004), Tinker Field Research Grant (University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, 2004), Dissertation Travel Grant (University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, 2006), and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). I would like to thank Karlos Arregi, Rakesh Bhatt, Silvina Montrul, Pieter Muysken, three anonymous reviewers, and Carmen Silva-Corvalán for their useful comments on previous versions of this paper. Any errors are, of course, my own responsibility.

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