Table Of ContentJANUA LINGUARUM
STUDIA MEMORIAE
NICOLAI VAN WIJK DEDICATA
edenda curai
C. H. VAN SCHOONEVELD
Indiana University
Series Pradica, 174
THREE ESSAYS
ON LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY
IN THE SPANISH-SPEAKING
WORLD
(The U.S. Southwest and the River Plate Area)
edited by
JACOB ORNSTEIN
The University of Texas El Paso
Cross-Cultural Southwest Ethnic Study Center
and Depts. of Modern Languages and Linguistics
1975
MOUTON
THE HAGUE • PARIS
Copyright 1975 in The Netherlands
Mouton & Co. N.V., Publishers, The Hague
No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint,
microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publishers
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 74-80375
Printed in Hungary
PREFACE
The present collection of three essays focuses on three points of language contact in
the U. S. Southwest, Argentina, and Uruguay. While the former region has long been
recognized as one of high linguistic diversity, there has been a tendency to regard the
River Plate area as one marked by uniformity and to be somewhat monolithic
linguistically. Hence it is hoped that the articles herein presented will bring new
insights into the "language situations" (to use Charles A. Ferguson's term) of the
respective regions. While sociolinguistics figures importantly in the Ornstein and
Hensey essays, the one by Foster, while mentioning the social characteristics of the
speakers of porteño, is by and large a phonological treatise. Educational implications
are also considered, particularly in the first essay.
There is decidedly need for a great number of linguistic studies, incorporating
some of the newer approaches and findings of linguistics, of the enormously large
and variegated Spanish speech community, distributed as it is at so many points
throughout the globe, and in contact with so many related and unrelated languages
and language varieties. The present slender volume can obviously fill only a small
proportion of the lacunae.
CONTENTS
Preface 5
JACOB ORNSTEIN
Sociolinguistics and the Study of Spanish and English Language Varieties and
Their Use in the U. S. Southwest (with a proposed plan of research) 9
Prefatory Note 9
A. The Problem 10
B. Development of Models of Sociolinguistic Research 11
C. The Southwest as a Sociolinguistic Area - Language and Social
Factors 24
1. The Linguistic Dimension 24
2. Socio-Attitudinal Factors 32
D. Conclusions and Recommendations 40
Additional References 42
FRITZ HENSEY
Fronterizo: A Case of Phonological Restructuring 47
DAVID W. FOSTER
Concerning the Phonemes of Standard Porteño Spanish 61
FRITZ HENSEY
Recent Developments in U. S. Sociolinguistics 71
Indexes 75
JACOB ORNSTEIN
SOCIOLINGUISTICS AND THE STUDY OF SPANISH AND ENGLISH
LANGUAGE VARIETIES AND THEIR USE IN THE U.S. SOUTHWEST
(With a proposed plan of research)
PREFATORY NOTE
Sociolinguistics is so new, barely a decade and a half old, that it is only now becoming
know utside its own circle of practioners. When asked to do a paper by the South-
western Cooperative Educational Laboratory, Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the the
subject as it relates to the language situation in the American Southwest, the writer
had no intention of producing what has resulted in a small monograph, submitted
in February, 1970. His apologia is that so much appeared vague, abstract, and
probably meaningless to many in the first drafts, that considerable amplification on
how sociolinguistic models actually function was required. Aside from this, it
seemed desirable to review research completed and in progress, and finally to present
a blueprint for a modest program of sociolinguistic investigation in our Southwestern
states, where linguistic diversity is so high - and so relatively unexploited.
At any rate, the writer is grateful to the Southwestern Cooperative Educational
Laboratory, and particularly to Dr. Atilano Valencia, for interposing no objections
to the printing of the work, in slightly revised form, so that a wider audience may
utilize whatever merit if reflects, and whatever insights it may offer.
It is impossible to mention all the individuals who in one way or another provided
helpful suggestions and advice. Special thanks go to Dr. William M. Russell, and Dr.
Edward Blansitt Jr., both colleagues in our Department of Language and Linguistics,
Dr. Patrick Macnamara, Dept. of Sociology, University of New Mexico for useful
hints regarding the manuscript, and to Donna Rimkus, Rebecca Fulgham and Phyllis
Ann Petersen for helping to ready it. The author invites constructive comments.
10 JACOB ORNSTEIN
A. THE PROBLEM
Nationwide concern with disadvantaged ethnic groups has produced a groundswell
of indignation against certain traditional language policies of many Southwestern
schools, including prohibitions against the use of Spanish vernaculars with penalties
ranging from mild rebuke to corporal punishment. Without question, the combination
of such practices with the low status accorded Southwest Spanish and "Spanish
accent" have been of help neither to the self-image of Mexican-Americans nor to
their ability to compete confidently with Anglo-American peers. Unfortunately, as
with so many aspects of bilingualism here, the extreme scarcity of research data on the
psychological and learning effects stemming from the use or restriction of Spanish
regional vernaculars or "native dialects" makes difficult any in-depth discussion of
the topic.
Much of the discussion of the language factor has been of an understandably
emotional and sentimental nature, as sympathy has grown for the privations suffered
by Mexican-Americans and other so-called minorities. While it is simple enough to
collect statistics on inferior housing or wages, the task of 'proving' the damaging
effects from language use (or prohibition), except in a common-sense sort of way, is an
elusive one. Nevertheless, the climate is now more favorable for scientifically sound
investigations of the subject aimed at supplying a much-needed data base. The
facts and figures obtained would surely prove more convincing in a dialogue with
hard-headed school administrators and personnel, social and political planners, than
emotional appeals which ultimately spend their force.
So little direct research bears upon our problem, that our discussion can only
comment upon tangentially related studies. Hopefully, this will culminate in practical
recommendations for supplying immediate, short-term needs, at the same time buil-
ding up a fund of basic research data as a long-term objective.
It is in the American tradition to attempt 'breakthrough' solutions. In such a prob-
lem as reading, a large assembly of experts now exists, with widely divergent views as
to how American youngsters can be brought to 'read' better in their native English.
What appeared so simple at first blush, turned out to be enormously complicated
beyond purely mechanical issues such as eye-movements and size of vocabulary.
Those who expected instant illumination from one linguistic theory or another were
doomed to disappointment, since theoretical postulates are rarely sufficient in them-
selves for dealing with chronic problem areas. Like reading, Mexican-American
bilingualism/biculturalism involves so many psychological, sociological, and language
variables that such simplistic analyses are absurd.
It is a fact, however, that the Mexican-American child of the Southwest from his
first day of school must cope with two cultures as well as two languages, thus com-
pounding his problems by at least a factor of one, or two, if culture is regarded
