33.2171, Review: English; Spanish; Historical Linguistics; Sociolinguistics; Typology: Perez, Hundt, Kabatek, Schreier (2021)

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Subject: 33.2171, Review: English; Spanish; Historical Linguistics; Sociolinguistics; Typology: Perez, Hundt, Kabatek, Schreier (2021)

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Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2022 12:14:51
From: Jean Danic [calkinsjean at gmail.com]
Subject: English and Spanish

 
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36778517


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/32/32-3262.html

EDITOR: Danae  Perez
EDITOR: Marianne  Hundt
EDITOR: Johannes  Kabatek
EDITOR: Daniel  Schreier
TITLE: English and Spanish
SUBTITLE: World Languages in Interaction
PUBLISHER: Cambridge University Press
YEAR: 2021

REVIEWER: Jean Danic, Hillsborough Community College

SUMMARY

The first chapter, “Introduction: English and Spanish in Contact - World
Languages in Interaction,” states the book’s overall purpose: The volume aims
to compare the social and linguistic development, along with the rise and
expansion of, the titular languages to their current places of dominance.  It
also provides a brief summary of what is to come in the text as well as
describing its general layout, which is a division into three sections. These
include separate descriptions of the sociolinguistic situation of each
language, typological status and standardization descriptions of each
language, and case studies of usage for both languages. All combine to
systematically examine the similarities and differences in the historical
development of English and Spanish. 

Chapter 2, “The Emergence of Global Languages - Why English?”, by Edgar W.
Schneider, explores the global dominance of English in culture, business, and
as a second language. Of all languages, English has been given this special
global position, and this chapter seeks to explore the reasons for its
prevalence. First, the chapter dispels the myth that English is popular due to
inherent simplicity. Instead, the chapter summarizes and builds upon the
theory of David Crystal, which essentially posits that a series of historic
coincidences led to the widespread usage and acceptance of English. The author
adds several other factors, including colonization, industrialization,
globalization, new varieties of English, and ethnic neutrality. He also cites
reasons why learning English is so attractive and practical for second
language learners around the world. Then the author explores the question of
why Spanish has not risen to an equal position, the answers to which are
deeply rooted in history.

The third chapter, “Some (Unintended) Consequences of Colonization - The Rise
of Spanish as a Global Language”, by J. Clancy Clements, shifts the focus from
English to Spanish. This section explores why this language is so
widely-spoken today and the reasons why it includes so many diverse varieties.
The concepts of language communities and invasive speech communities are
defined before pivoting toward a historical explanation of how Spanish came to
be an invasive language in parts of the globe due to colonization and past
land divisions between historically dominant global powers. As examples to
illustrate the rise of Spanish in Latin America, the author describes the
history and advancement of Spanish in Mantaro Valley, Peru and Salta,
Argentina. The author explains the general situation in the Andean region and
the gradual trend toward linguistic assimilation within the legal and
educational systems. The growth of a specific Andean dialect is explained. In
all, Spanish has vastly overtaken Quechua in these regions but adopted many of
its linguistic forms, resulting in a distinct dialect of Andean Spanish.

“Dialect Contact and the Emergence of New Varieties of English,” by Raymond
Hickey, describes the ways in which language contact has produced new
varieties of English. It also explores dialects for which contact is a
possible explanation, but not the only one. This chapter describes the history
of the spread of English overseas and how, through colonialism and
immigration, contact with other languages gave rise to many focused varieties.
The author compares linguistic features of differing dialects and the features
of the language varieties from which they are thought to have been derived.
While contact is often the easy explanation, the author describes varieties
which may have shared features through coincidence or due to the nature of the
language itself, called “shared innovations.” The chapter ends with a short
comparison to the development of Spanish creoles and dialects.

“The Emergence of Latin American Spanish,” by Volker Noll, describes the
course of events which led to differing varieties of Spanish, specifically
Latin American Spanish as opposed to European Spanish. Topics include
Castilian and Adalusian features and whether the andalucista theory, the idea
that Latin American Spanish is a result of contact with people on the
Andalusian seashore, holds. The author describes the phonetic/phonological
features shared by Andalusian Spanish speakers and how features of Caribbean
Spanish varieties may have formed. Several phonetic changes occurring over
time within dialects are explored. The author questions the origin of these
features and proposes that many or all of them originated organically without
proof of Andalusian influences. The conclusion of this chapter reiterates the
idea that the andalucista theory is based on circumstantial evidence for which
there are other explanations. The modern varieties of Spanish spoken outside
of Europe are almost certainly not solely the result of Andalusian influence,
but also of factors like rekoineisation, dialect leveling, time-shifted
change, and spread of prestige accents.

Chapter 6, “Creole Distinctiveness? - Insights from English-Lexifier Pidgins,
Creoles, and Related Varieties,” by Stephanie Hackert, focuses on the
development of pidgins and creoles resulting from contact between English
speakers and speakers of other languages. The chapter begins with an in-depth
examination of how pidgins and creoles are formed, delving into several
theories and countertheories regarding their genesis. The author posits that
while these ideas represent progress in understanding creoles, they raise
questions. The chapter then pivots to an examination of recent findings on how
to separate pidgins and creoles from the lexifier languages. Several methods
with examples are detailed, and graphics of different varieties mapped and
clustered by shared features are shown. The chapter concludes by restating the
difficulties of answering the major questions posed in the title, but
asserting that much progress has been made in sorting pidgins and creoles
based on sociohistorical information and linguistic patterns.

The seventh chapter, “Contact Scenarios and Varieties of Spanish beyond
Europe,” by Danae M. Perez, provides historical circumstances which have led
to current varieties of Spanish. The chapter also introduces and clearly
explains Spanish Contact linguistics. The chapter begins by listing the areas
and languages which have had contact with Spanish and the varieties spawned by
these interactions. Certain varieties are termed by the author as
“high-contact varieties,” including Caribbean Spanish and Andean Spanish. The
dialects’ features formed due to contact between languages are detailed and
exemplified. The text explores areas in which code-switching between Spanish
and another language (e.g. English, Portuguese) is employed. Three
Spanish-Lexified creoles, Papiamentu, Palenquero, and Chabacano, which differ
from other varieties in their distinctness from Spanish, are discussed.
Afro-Hispanic varieties that are more difficult to categorize are introduced,
and the complicated nature of their place in the grand scheme of Spanish
dialects and creoles is detailed. Implications for future studies are
proposed.

Chapter 8, “Pluricentricity and Codification in World English,” by Pam Peters,
is an in-depth overview of English as a pluricentric language and the
available lexicographic and lexicogrammatical references which have been
published as a means of codifying certain “settler” and “indigenous” strands.
Schneider’s evolutionary model for new varieties of English is used to
describe the codification process/stage of each variety. The author explains
that differences in social acceptance and status can lead to differences in
official codification. Instruments of codification described in this chapter
include dictionaries, grammar guides, usage guides, and style manuals. Their
influence on language codification is discussed but remains in question.
Dictionaries specifically are a challenging issue, of which the chapter
describes four types, each with varying purposes and uses. The key differences
involve the inclusion or lack of regional items. Four varieties of English
(United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) are said to have reached
stage 5 in Schneider’s framework, and thus have a wealth of reference tools
readily available. Four other varieties (South Africa, India, The Philippines,
and Singapore) are considered “indigenous” varieties, and these are said to
have reached stage 4. All have a dearth of usage guides. The author concludes
by asserting that reference guides and books have been instrumental in
advanced language codification.

The ninth chapter, “Spanish Today - Pluricentricity and Codification,” by
Bernhard Pöll, explains the titular topics relative to Spanish as the previous
chapter did for English. However, the situation for Spanish is far different
from that of English for three reasons: The Real Academia Española (RAE),
efforts to bolster prestigious varieties, and norms based on unity or
standardization. The inception and goals of two organizations, the RAE and the
Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (ASALE), are explained. The
criticisms these organizations face is mentioned. The next section addresses
questions of who speaks the asserted language norms, how they are codified,
and their regional and communicative scope. Models like the norma
pan-hispanica, Español neutro, and other regional and national norms are
explored. Example entries from Peninsular, Mexican, and Argentinean
dictionaries are shown and compared to illustrate regional differences and
difficulties in standardization. Spanish as a second language learners are
often said to speak “Español inexistente,” a variety which does not exist
within communities of native speakers, only in academic circles. The
conclusion of this chapter summarizes a “triple standard model” of three
varieties and reasserts the popularity of standardization of an “español
neutro,” especially for worldwide media consumption. 

Chapter 10, “Uncovering the Big Picture - Measuring the Typological
Relatedness of Varieties of English,” by Benedikt Szmrecsanyi, is a technical
view of the quantitative approaches to measuring the relatedness of English
dialects. The author presents both top-down and bottom-up approaches to
examining distance/similarity between multiple varieties. These include using
aggregate measures, typological analysis, establishing relatedness using
complexity measures, and calculating variation-based relatedness measures. The
author discusses previous morphosyntactic studies performed by other
linguists. The chapter includes multiple visuals clarifying this complex
information and demonstrating distances between dialects like American
English, Singapore English, British English, and others. Typological profiling
is detailed as a way to examine both dialects and English lexified creoles.
The chapter does not include much detail on aspects of pronunciation or lexis,
but indicates that those could be analyzed in a similar fashion. There are
then suggestions for future research, including using similar methodology with
languages like French and Spanish.

The eleventh chapter, “Morphosyntactic Variation in Spanish - Global and
American Perspectives,” by Eeva Sippola, explores the rich variety of dialects
and varieties of the Spanish language with a special emphasis on those spoken
in the Americas. The author describes the ways in which Spanish varieties are
grouped today, the two main divisions being geographical and sociolinguistic,
positing that geography alone does not offer the more accurate depiction of
dialectal differences that sociolinguistic work offers. The author introduces
the rationale and methodology of her own study, one which uses phylogenetic
network graphs to visually represent language varieties. Two previous studies
focusing on English and Afro-Hispanic studies are summarized to provide
background. The author presents her own process in detail, then uses her data
to evaluate the degree of similarity between Spanish varieties when only
linguistic features (not geographic proximity) are considered. Multiple
figures displaying results are provided. Results show that many dialects are
clustered based, at least in large part, by geography, aligning with previous
studies. The chapter’s conclusion acknowledges potential shortcomings in the
study and alludes to benefits of the use of further statistical comparative
studies. 

Chapter 12 is titled, “English and Spanish in Contact in North America - US
Latino Communities and the Emergence of Transnational Mediascapes,” written by
Christian Mair. In this chapter, more focus is placed on contact between the
titular languages in books and media. Dominant varieties of each are
discussed, noting that American English seems to now be the clear
hyper-central variety of English, whereas for Spanish, there are multiple
super-central varieties, but no one standard dialect. Television, films, and
books are clearly responsible for much of the rise of American English, as the
author provides data and examples to support its popularity in these media.
The nature of and reasons for code-switching using English and Spanish are
explored. Code-switching is said to be used for reasons of identity-expression
and linguistic creativity, and not randomly, but in specific structured
situations. Spanglish” is growing in use and popularity, and it is even losing
some of the stigma under which it has been previously scrutinized. While
English is clearly affecting Spanish, the author also mentions the inevitable
ways in which the reverse is occurring too. The chapter ends by briefly
discussing the implications of computer-mediated communication, which segues
into the next chapter.

Chapter 13, “‘The Spanish of the Internet:’ Is That a Thing? - Discursive and
Morphosyntactic Innovations in Computer Mediated Communication,” by Carlota de
Benito Moreno, focuses on language usage on social media. More specifically,
the unique linguistic features of Spanish used on Twitter is analyzed, with
brief comparative discussion of English. An explanation of computer-mediated
communication is offered, along with the ways in which it differs from both
standard written communication and speech. While the chapter acknowledges that
computer-mediated communication often reflects non-standard spelling, grammar
and morphosyntactic features are the focus. Some of the innovative features
seen on social media include the repetition of standard models like clickbait
headlines and linguistic templates into which speakers can insert a word or
phrase to create new meaning. The Spanish ‘-i’ suffix is explained as being
used differently online than in other modes of communication. ‘Fuerte’ and
‘Ojala’ have also adopted new uses on Twitter. One distinct feature of
internet English is addressed as well: use of ‘because’ + a noun. Reasons for
these innovations are posited, including to add playfulness and to convey
friendliness from the author. The chapter ends with the claim that little
research exists on this topic, which should be further explored.

“Alternating or Mixing Languages?,” by Rena Torres Cacoullos and Catherine E.
Travis, explores whether bilingual English and Spanish speakers blend the
grammar of their languages. As a case study, the use of a null subject by
bilingual speakers in New Mexico is observed. Omitting the subject is common
in Spanish varieties, but it is not typical in English. One of the questions
posed is whether bilingual speakers will tend to omit the subject more in
English because of its acceptance in Spanish grammar. A convergence evaluation
metric is used to investigate alongside a bilingual speech corpus. Using this
methodology and diagnostic differences within the data, the author concludes
that language “mixin”’ by incorporating morphosyntactic rules from one
language into the other are not occurring as might be supposed. Bilingual
speakers appear to be able to utilize language-specific principles when they
need to and to switch easily between the two without imposing the system of
one language onto the other.

The penultimate chapter, “The Persistence of Dialectal Differences in U.S.
Spanish - /s/ Deletion in Boston and New York City,” by Daniel Erker and
Madeline Reffel, investigates syllable final codas in the speech of U.S.
Spanish speakers. The study seeks to answer the questions of whether there is
intergenerational change with regard to this feature, the nature of that
change, and implications for contact-induced change. First, the chapter
establishes previous research on this topic, specifically the comparative
variationist method, analysis of similar phenomena, and sociolinguistic
literature regarding the Spanish coda. The study at hand is then addressed,
explaining methodology and data collection. A detailed description of findings
accompanied by charts and graphs follows, summarized neatly at the end. Their
investigation concludes that the findings are consistent with the null
hypothesis: this feature is caused by differences in speakers’ contact
settings. The findings also show intergenerational stability in final /s/
production. It is suggested that future research focus more on the social and
identity-related aspects of this feature.

The final chapter, “Identity Construction,” by John E. Joseph, focuses on
English and Spanish in contact and its relevance to speakers’ identities. The
chapter begins by reminding the reader to focus on the human experience of
language contact rather than the abstract idea of it alone. A discussion of
what language means in terms of identity follows, with specific examples
including such groups as inhabitants of Martha’s Vineyard and Sikhs. This
notion is later applied to Spanish speakers, some of whom face the dilemma of
being speakers of the minority language, while others, in other locations,
enjoy the privilege of speaking the dominant language. The author notes that
speakers of English in places in which it is not the dominant language are
mostly ignored in the literature. There is then discussion of the difficult
question of what constitutes a language vs. a dialect as applied to both
Spanish and English. This is applied to Castilian, examining how this variety
originated and now signals identity. A discussion of bilingualism follows. The
author refers to several studies related to how bilingual children and adults
use their languages and perceive their own identities. Lastly, the author
discusses growing linguistic diversity in the world and its growing
acceptance. Speakers of Spanish or English are often second language learners
who have their own separate cultural and linguistic identities, yet they can
claim their newly acquired language nonetheless. 

EVALUATION

The goals of this volume are clearly stated in its introduction. The purpose
of “English and Spanish” is to examine the social and linguistic development
of both languages separately and comparatively, tracing their historical rise
to their current statuses. The text accomplishes this goal and provides
thorough explanations and research throughout to support its claims. 

The text is written by linguists for linguists, and anyone researching or
working in the field would easily understand this information and find it
valuable. A reader lacking experience in linguistics would likely value the
historical information but find the more in-depth linguistic studies and
discussion to be dense and complex. Helpfully, the conclusions at the end of
each chapter are more widely accessible, and these summarize each portion well
enough to help any reader glean the most important points from the chapter
without the level of jargon contained within the body of the chapter itself.

The book is certainly well-researched, and each chapter draws upon a plethora
of resources and previously conducted linguistic studies. Each typically
begins by providing some background and defining necessary key terms and
theories. This serves to inform the reader of what is already available and
widely accepted concerning each topic. Often examples are given as well. The
authors have situated each new study or claim that they present within the
currently accepted theories and studies quite well, and they have added to
what already exists. 

Overall, the text is well-organized. The introduction clearly explains how the
book is structured and why the authors have made those choices. Each chapter
includes an introduction explaining its format as well, and a conclusion
appears at the end of each chapter. These conclusions are helpful for the
reader to synthesize main ideas after reading the sometimes highly complex and
detailed information preceding, but also, many of the conclusions could be
read alone by one seeking to gain the most important information without the
time required to sift through an entire detailed chapter. 

The volume includes chapters by different authors, but it is mostly consistent
and coherent. The text moves from Spanish to English, often alternating in a
way meant to help the reader compare the situation of each language. This can
sometimes make the text feel disjointed; however, the authors clearly state
that this structure is quite intentional for the sake of comparison. One other
point of slight inconsistency is the way in which the authors provide
translations for Spanish text. In some portions of the book, translations of
Spanish are given as footnotes, in others translations appear directly below
the Spanish or in parentheses, and there are a few places in which short words
or phrases are not translated for the reader at all. It is likely that most
readers using this volume will already have enough knowledge of Spanish to
translate what is necessary, but one standard method for providing
translations would help the text flow more organically and prevent any
confusion or time spent searching for English translations..

One strong element of this volume is its inclusion of implications for future
research. This feature is imperative to incorporate within a volume such as
this. Each chapter’s conclusion typically either directly states areas in
which further studies must be conducted, or implies areas in which our
knowledge is still lacking. One could imagine dissertations spawned by certain
readers taking their hints from these brief suggestions. 

Another excellent aspect is the authors’ willingness to include varied
viewpoints and counter-arguments. The authors effectively address multiple
ideas and alternative positions where appropriate. While they describe the
most widely accepted theories, they do not shy away from explaining alternate
ones. Their usage of varied solutions and viewpoints is helpful in
understanding each topic broadly and in allowing the reader to see the
author’s explanations while also retaining the ability to make independent
inferences.

Overall, this text accomplishes its goals and provides a wealth of information
and comparison between English and Spanish. It is well-researched and
explained. “English and Spanish” is a comprehensive examination, and linguists
interested in these languages, their development, and their intersections will
find it valuable.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Jean Danic has degrees in Education (English major) and Linguistics from Wayne
State University in Detroit, MI. Her interests include American English
dialects, teaching English as a Second Language, German, Spanish, and grammar.
She currently teaches English for Academic Purposes at Hillsborough Community
College in Tampa, FL.





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