Variants of intervocalic /d/ as markers of sociolinguistic identity among Spanish-Portuguese bilinguals

Abstract

The border shared by Brazil and Uruguay represents a situation of sustained, intimate cultural and linguistic contact between Spanish and Portuguese speakers. Previous research on the bilingualism of this region has focused primarily on Dialectos Portugueses del Uruguay ‘Portuguese Dialects of Uruguay’ (DPU) (Carvalho 1998, 2003a, 2003b; Elizaincín 1976, 1992a, 1992b; Elizaincín, Behares & Barrios 1987; Hensey 1971, 1972; Rona 1965). Surprisingly, however, the Spanish of Uruguay spoken along this border has never been extensively studied. The current research focuses on the role of sociolinguistic identity in the conditioning of language-specific variants of intervocalic /d/ in the Spanish of 63 bilinguals living in Rivera, Uruguay. Unlike in monolingual varieties of Spanish, in which intervocalic /d/ is realized as either a fricative or a phonetic zero, this phoneme is also variably realized as an occlusive in the bilingual Spanish of Rivera in accordance with Portuguese phonological norms. Perceptions of sociolinguistic identity within this speech community are based on four independent factor groups. These are: (1) frequency of language use, (2) language preference, (3) attitudes toward local Portuguese and (4) attitudes toward language mixing. Results from multivariate analysis reveal that Portuguese-dominant speakers tend to incorporate occlusive variants of intervocalic /d/ into their Spanish to a much greater extent than Spanish-dominant speakers. Conversely, the deletion of this consonant, which has garnered covert prestige within the community due to its association with non-border varieties of Spanish, is statistically favored among speakers who prefer this language. These results provide evidence in support of the hypothesis that the ease of access of phonological exemplars from stored memory is greater for those encoding frequent, recent experiences (Pierrehumbert 2001). With regards to sociolinguistic attitudes, statistical analysis shows that speakers who have positive attitudes toward local Portuguese favor the use of occlusive variants, which serve as markers of Brazilian identity. Somewhat counter intuitively, speakers who have positive attitudes toward language mixing favor deletion. When these attitudes are cross-tabulated with speakers’ occupation, however, it becomes clear that only students have overwhelmingly positive attitudes toward language mixing. Not surprisingly, they are also the least conservative group in the community and lead the way for phonological change (Waltermire 2008).

Cognate similarity and intervocalic /d/ production in Riverense Spanish

“…Nevertheless, though perhaps not as robust as for older speakers, influence from Portuguese is also emblematic of the Spanish spoken by residents under the age of 25. The present research adds to the growing body of recent work (Engelhardt et al, 2018;Waltermire, 2008Waltermire, , 2010Waltermire, , 2014Waltermire & Gradoville, 2020) that supports claims of Portuguese phonological influence on Border Uruguayan Spanish. The purpose of this study is to analyze the nature of phonetic influence from Portuguese on the Spanish spoken in Rivera, specifically the variable use of a stop articulation of intervocalic /d/, which is typically realized in Spanish as an approximant.…”

“…The effect of language use on the realization of intervocalic /d/ may potentially rein in some of these changes as shown in Blas Arroyo ( 2006), Waltermire (2010), and Michnowicz (2011). Blas Arroyo ( 2006) found that Spanish-dominant speakers in Catalonia reduce intervocalic /d/ far more often than do Catalan-dominant speakers, while Waltermire (2010) showed a similar trend in the bilingual community of Rivera, Uruguay.…”

“…The effect of language use on the realization of intervocalic /d/ may potentially rein in some of these changes as shown in Blas Arroyo ( 2006), Waltermire (2010), and Michnowicz (2011). Blas Arroyo ( 2006) found that Spanish-dominant speakers in Catalonia reduce intervocalic /d/ far more often than do Catalan-dominant speakers, while Waltermire (2010) showed a similar trend in the bilingual community of Rivera, Uruguay. Using self-reported frequencies of language use according to multiple interlocutors and domains (with overall percentages of use being averaged for each participant), Waltermire (2010) found that Spanish-dominant speakers delete /d/ to a far greater extent than do Portuguese-dominant speakers.…”

“…However, there are significant linguistic differences between the two, namely that there are few Brazilians living in Santana that speak Spanish. The use of monolingual Portuguese in neighboring Santana has impacted community perceptions of the bilingual Portuguese spoken in Rivera, which is seen as impure and riddled with errors by Brazilians (and many Uruguayans, consequently) (see Waltermire, 2010Waltermire, , 2014. The stigma that Uruguayan Portuguese suffers is due partly to historical attempts to quash the use of Portuguese in Uruguayan schools (Elizaincín, 1992).…”

The role of discourse context frequency in phonological variation: A usage-based approach to bilingual speech production

“…The realizations and allophonic distribution of /d/ exhibit 'extensive regional variability' (Amastae, 1989, p. 170;Waltermire, 2010), as well as 'a certain amount of variability within a given dialect or idiolect' (Cole, Hualde, & Iskarous, 1999, p. 2). Articulations of /d/ vary considerably, ranging from 'a complete stop to a vocalic glide' (Cole et al, 1999, p. 2), to outright deletions [Ø], although such deleted segments may be stigmatized (Barrutia & Schwegler, 1994, p. 120).…”