"Some speak with [r[[currency]]] but others are tirados": toward a linguistic change?

Amalia Coronel

Fri. 11-12:40 A

Investigators have found that prestige is very important in linguistic choice. Different works have also demonstrated that prestige, together with other extralinguistic and linguistic factors can lead to a linguistic change. This article deals with the role played by all these factors in a change observed in San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, capital of the province of Catamarca, located in the Northwest of the Argentinean Republic. In this work an important aspect of the Spanish spoken in this city is analyzed: the adoption of the alveolar trill [r[[currency]]], standard variant of rr, by some high school speakers. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the Northwestern region of Argentina is one traditional assibilated rr [r[[currency]]] so this change seems to be a new phenomenon in the area.

The article describes and analyzes social and linguistic constraints in the variation of rr and refers to underlying social factors. in this research it was found that sex, age, and socio-economic level play an important role in the development of this change. The adoption of the standard variant of rr seems to be connected to linguistic and social prestige among the younger sector of the population of the city. the use of the standard [r[[currency]]] was always encourage by the educational system but it had never gone beyond the formal style. Now it has been found that its usage is in the vernacular style of some younger speakers. For these people, those who do no use [r[[currency]]] are seemingly tirados (penniless, of low sociocultural level).