Spanish variable direct object marking
Dealing with dependence among linguistic and social factors
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jrds/8688744633Keywords:
DOM, Social factors, Sociolinguistics, Spanish, StatisticsAbstract
In studying the social conditioning of Differential Object Marking (DOM) in Spanish we show a social dimension underlying the variable use of DOM: age of speakers has a moderate but significant effect, with middle-aged speakers showing an increase in overt marking. Previously, the implicit consensus was that there is no sociolectal variation in DOM. To ensure the statistical validity of our results, we developed an original, rigorous, quantitative approach to correct for the unbalanced distribution of the data across factor groups. A problem that has been frequently mentioned in the specialized literature, but never satisfactorily resolved for the linguistic analysis of corpus data.
References
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Ariza, M. (1989) La preposición a de objeto. Teorías y panorama. Lexis 13 (2): 203–222.
Baayen, H. R. (2008) Analyzing Linguistic Data: A Practical Introduction to Statistics Using R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801686
Balasch, S. (2011a) Factors determining Spanish differential object marking within its domain of variation. In J. Michnowicz and R. Dodsworth (eds) Selected Proceedings of the 5th Worshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics, 113–124. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Balasch, S. (2011b) Estudio sociolingüístico de la marca diferencial de objeto directo (DOM) en dos variedades del español contemporáneo. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of New Mexico.
Bello, A. (1984 [1847]) Gramática de la lengua castellana destinada al uso de los ameicanos. Caracas: Ministerio de Educación.
Bolinger, D. L. (1953) Verbs of being. Hispania 36 (3): 343–345. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/335112 Bossong, G. (1983–1984) Animacy and markedness in universal grammar. Glossologia 2–3: 7–20.
Bossong, G. (1991) Differential object marking in Romance and beyond. In D. Kibber and D. Wanner (eds) New Analysis in Romance Linguistics, 143–170. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: Benjamins.
Cameron, R. (1993) Ambiguous agreement, functional compensation, and nonspecific tú in the Spanish of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Madrid, Spain. Language, Variation and Change 5 (3): 305–334. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954394500001526
Cano Aguilar, R. (1981) Estructuras sintácticas transitivas en el español actual. Madrid: Gredos.
Comrie, B. (1979) Definite and animate direct objects: A natural class. Linguistica Silesiana 3: 13–21.
Croft, W. (1988) Agreement vs. case marking and direct objects. In M. Barlow and C. A. Ferguson (eds) Agreement in Natural Language. Approaches, Theories, Descriptions, 159–179. Stanford, CA: Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI).
Delbecque, N. (1994) Hacia una aclaración cognitiva del acusativo preposicional. Boletín de la sociedad española para el procesamiento del lenguaje natural, 14: 33–45.
Domínguez, C. L. and Mora, E. (1995) Corpus sociolingüístico de la ciudad de Mérida. Mérida: Universidad de los Andes. Departamento de Lingüística.
Domínguez, C. L., Guzmán, B., Moros, L., Pabón, M., Morelia Torres, L. and Vilaín, R. (1998) Observaciones sobre el uso de la preposición a en el objeto directo: Un estudio sobre el español de Mérida. Letras 59: 89–120. Caracas: Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador (UPEL).
Dumitrescu, D. (1997) El parámetro discursive en la expresión del objeto directo lexical: Español madrileño vs. Español porteño. Signo y seña 7, 305–354.
Escandell-Vidal, V. (2009) Differential object marking and topicality. The case of Balearic Catalan. Studies in Language 33 (4): 832–885. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sl.33.4.02esc
von Heusinger, K. (2008) Verbal semantics and the diachronic development of differential object marking in Spanish. In Probus 20 (1): 1–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/PROBUS.2008.001
von Heusinger, K. and Kaiser, G. A. (2007) Differential Object Marking and the lexical semantics of verbs in Spanish. Proceedings of the Workshop ‘definiteness, specificity and animacy in Ibero-Romance languages’. Arbeitspapier 122. Fachbereich Sprachwissenschaft. 85–110. Universität Konstanz.
Johnson, D. E. (2009) Getting off the GoldVarb standard: Introducing Rbrul for mixed-effects variable rule analysis. Language and Linguistics Compass 3 (1): 359–387. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00108.x
Labov, W. (1963) The social motivation of a sound change. Word 19: 273–309. Labov, W. (1966) The Social Stratification of English in New York City. First edition. Arlington, VA: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Labov, W. (1969a) Contraction, deletion, and inherent variability of the English copula. Language 45 (4): 715–762. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/412333
Labov, W. (1969b) The logic of nonstandard English. In J. Alatis (ed.) Georgetown Monograph on Language and Linguistics 22: 1–44.
Labov, W. (1984) Field methods of Project on linguistic change and variation. In John Baugh and Joel Sheizer (eds) Language in Use: Readings in Sociolinguistics, 28–53. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Labov, W. (2004) Quantitative reasoning in linguistics. In U. Ammon, N. Dittmar, K. J. Mattheier and P. Trudgill (eds) Sociolinguistics/Soziolinguistik: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society. Volume I, 6–22. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Laca, B. (2006) El objeto directo. La marcación preposicional. In Concepción Company Company (ed.) Sintaxis histórica del español. Primera parte: La frase verbal. Volume 1, 423–475. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica/Universidad Autónoma de México.
Leonetti, M. (2003) Specificity and object marking: The case of Spanish a. In K. von Heusinger and G. A. Kaiser (eds) Proceedings of the Workshop Semantic and Syntactic Aspects of Specificity in Romance Languages. Arbeitspapier 113: 67–101. Konstanz: Universität Konstanz.
Obediente Sosa, E. (2003) Documentos para la lingüística de Mérida-Venezuela (Siglos XVI-XVII). Mérida: Universidad de los Andes.
Paolillo, J. C. (2011) Independence claims in linguistics. Language Variation and Change 23 (2): 257–274. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954394511000081
Paolillo, J. C. (2013) Individual effects in variation analysis: Model, software, and research design. Language Variation and Change 25 (1): 89–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954394512000270
Pensado, C. (1995) El complemento directo preposicional: Estado de la cuestión y bibliografía comentada. In C. Pensado (ed.). El complemento directo preposicional, 11–59. Madrid: Visor Libros.
Poplack, S. (1992) The inherent variability of the French subjunctive. In C. Laeufer and T. A. Morgan (eds) Theoretical Analyses in Romance Linguistics, 235–263. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Poplack, S. (1997) The sociolinguistic dynamics of apparent convergence. In G. Guy, J. Baugh and D. Schiffrin (eds) Towards a Social Science of Language: Papers in Honor of William Labov, 285–309. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Poplack S. and Meechan, M. (1998) Introduction: How languages fit together in codemixing. International Journal of Bilingualism 2 (2): 127–138.
Poplack, S. and Tagliamonte, S. (2001) African American English in the Diaspora. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Sankoff, D. and Thibault, P. (1981) Weak complementary: Tense and aspect in Montreal French. In B. B. Johns and D. Strong (eds) Syntactic Change, 206–216. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan.
Sankoff, D. (1992) Sociolingüística y variación sintáctica. In F. J. Newmeyer (ed.) Panorama de la lingüística moderna de la Universidad de Cambridge Volume 4, 173–196. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sankoff, D., Tagliamonte, S. and Smith, E. (2012) Goldvarb LION: A Variable Rule Application for Macintosh. Department of Linguistics, University of Toronto.
Tinoco, E. (1991) Asalto a la modernidad (López, Medina y Betancourt: del mito al hecho). Caracas: National Academy of History.
Torres-Cacoullos, R. and Aaron, J. E. (2003) Bare English-origin nouns in Spanish: Rates, constraints and discourse functions. Language Variation and Change 15 (3): 289–328.
Torres-Cacoullos, R. and Travis, C. E. (2010) Variable yo expression in New Mexico: English influence? In S. Rivera-Mills and D. J. Villa (eds), Spanish of the US Southwest: A Language in Transition, 185–206. Madrid: Iberoamericana.
Travis, C. E. (2007) Genre effects on subject expression in Spanish: Priming in narrative and conversation. Language, Variation and Change 19 (2): 101–135. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954394507070081
Ugalde, L. S. J. (1996) Movimiento poblacional y su significado. In R. J. Velásquez (ed.) Balance del siglo XX venezolano. Ensayos, 31–44. Caracas: Grijalbo.
Uslar Pietri, A. (1949) De una a otra Venezuela. Buenos Aires: López.
Velásquez, R. J. (1979) Aspectos de la evolución política de Venezuela en el último medio siglo. In Comité de Cultura de la Fundación Mendoza (eds) Venezuela moderna. Medio siglo de historia. 1926–1976, 11–433. Barcelona: Ariel.
Weissenrieder, M. (1990) Variable uses of the direct-object marker A. Hispania 73 (1): 223–231. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/343010
Ariza, M. (1989) La preposición a de objeto. Teorías y panorama. Lexis 13 (2): 203–222.
Baayen, H. R. (2008) Analyzing Linguistic Data: A Practical Introduction to Statistics Using R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801686
Balasch, S. (2011a) Factors determining Spanish differential object marking within its domain of variation. In J. Michnowicz and R. Dodsworth (eds) Selected Proceedings of the 5th Worshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics, 113–124. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Balasch, S. (2011b) Estudio sociolingüístico de la marca diferencial de objeto directo (DOM) en dos variedades del español contemporáneo. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of New Mexico.
Bello, A. (1984 [1847]) Gramática de la lengua castellana destinada al uso de los ameicanos. Caracas: Ministerio de Educación.
Bolinger, D. L. (1953) Verbs of being. Hispania 36 (3): 343–345. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/335112 Bossong, G. (1983–1984) Animacy and markedness in universal grammar. Glossologia 2–3: 7–20.
Bossong, G. (1991) Differential object marking in Romance and beyond. In D. Kibber and D. Wanner (eds) New Analysis in Romance Linguistics, 143–170. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: Benjamins.
Cameron, R. (1993) Ambiguous agreement, functional compensation, and nonspecific tú in the Spanish of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Madrid, Spain. Language, Variation and Change 5 (3): 305–334. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954394500001526
Cano Aguilar, R. (1981) Estructuras sintácticas transitivas en el español actual. Madrid: Gredos.
Comrie, B. (1979) Definite and animate direct objects: A natural class. Linguistica Silesiana 3: 13–21.
Croft, W. (1988) Agreement vs. case marking and direct objects. In M. Barlow and C. A. Ferguson (eds) Agreement in Natural Language. Approaches, Theories, Descriptions, 159–179. Stanford, CA: Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI).
Delbecque, N. (1994) Hacia una aclaración cognitiva del acusativo preposicional. Boletín de la sociedad española para el procesamiento del lenguaje natural, 14: 33–45.
Domínguez, C. L. and Mora, E. (1995) Corpus sociolingüístico de la ciudad de Mérida. Mérida: Universidad de los Andes. Departamento de Lingüística.
Domínguez, C. L., Guzmán, B., Moros, L., Pabón, M., Morelia Torres, L. and Vilaín, R. (1998) Observaciones sobre el uso de la preposición a en el objeto directo: Un estudio sobre el español de Mérida. Letras 59: 89–120. Caracas: Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador (UPEL).
Dumitrescu, D. (1997) El parámetro discursive en la expresión del objeto directo lexical: Español madrileño vs. Español porteño. Signo y seña 7, 305–354.
Escandell-Vidal, V. (2009) Differential object marking and topicality. The case of Balearic Catalan. Studies in Language 33 (4): 832–885. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sl.33.4.02esc
von Heusinger, K. (2008) Verbal semantics and the diachronic development of differential object marking in Spanish. In Probus 20 (1): 1–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/PROBUS.2008.001
von Heusinger, K. and Kaiser, G. A. (2007) Differential Object Marking and the lexical semantics of verbs in Spanish. Proceedings of the Workshop ‘definiteness, specificity and animacy in Ibero-Romance languages’. Arbeitspapier 122. Fachbereich Sprachwissenschaft. 85–110. Universität Konstanz.
Johnson, D. E. (2009) Getting off the GoldVarb standard: Introducing Rbrul for mixed-effects variable rule analysis. Language and Linguistics Compass 3 (1): 359–387. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00108.x
Labov, W. (1963) The social motivation of a sound change. Word 19: 273–309. Labov, W. (1966) The Social Stratification of English in New York City. First edition. Arlington, VA: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Labov, W. (1969a) Contraction, deletion, and inherent variability of the English copula. Language 45 (4): 715–762. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/412333
Labov, W. (1969b) The logic of nonstandard English. In J. Alatis (ed.) Georgetown Monograph on Language and Linguistics 22: 1–44.
Labov, W. (1984) Field methods of Project on linguistic change and variation. In John Baugh and Joel Sheizer (eds) Language in Use: Readings in Sociolinguistics, 28–53. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Labov, W. (2004) Quantitative reasoning in linguistics. In U. Ammon, N. Dittmar, K. J. Mattheier and P. Trudgill (eds) Sociolinguistics/Soziolinguistik: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society. Volume I, 6–22. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Laca, B. (2006) El objeto directo. La marcación preposicional. In Concepción Company Company (ed.) Sintaxis histórica del español. Primera parte: La frase verbal. Volume 1, 423–475. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica/Universidad Autónoma de México.
Leonetti, M. (2003) Specificity and object marking: The case of Spanish a. In K. von Heusinger and G. A. Kaiser (eds) Proceedings of the Workshop Semantic and Syntactic Aspects of Specificity in Romance Languages. Arbeitspapier 113: 67–101. Konstanz: Universität Konstanz.
Obediente Sosa, E. (2003) Documentos para la lingüística de Mérida-Venezuela (Siglos XVI-XVII). Mérida: Universidad de los Andes.
Paolillo, J. C. (2011) Independence claims in linguistics. Language Variation and Change 23 (2): 257–274. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954394511000081
Paolillo, J. C. (2013) Individual effects in variation analysis: Model, software, and research design. Language Variation and Change 25 (1): 89–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954394512000270
Pensado, C. (1995) El complemento directo preposicional: Estado de la cuestión y bibliografía comentada. In C. Pensado (ed.). El complemento directo preposicional, 11–59. Madrid: Visor Libros.
Poplack, S. (1992) The inherent variability of the French subjunctive. In C. Laeufer and T. A. Morgan (eds) Theoretical Analyses in Romance Linguistics, 235–263. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Poplack, S. (1997) The sociolinguistic dynamics of apparent convergence. In G. Guy, J. Baugh and D. Schiffrin (eds) Towards a Social Science of Language: Papers in Honor of William Labov, 285–309. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Poplack S. and Meechan, M. (1998) Introduction: How languages fit together in codemixing. International Journal of Bilingualism 2 (2): 127–138.
Poplack, S. and Tagliamonte, S. (2001) African American English in the Diaspora. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Sankoff, D. and Thibault, P. (1981) Weak complementary: Tense and aspect in Montreal French. In B. B. Johns and D. Strong (eds) Syntactic Change, 206–216. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan.
Sankoff, D. (1992) Sociolingüística y variación sintáctica. In F. J. Newmeyer (ed.) Panorama de la lingüística moderna de la Universidad de Cambridge Volume 4, 173–196. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sankoff, D., Tagliamonte, S. and Smith, E. (2012) Goldvarb LION: A Variable Rule Application for Macintosh. Department of Linguistics, University of Toronto.
Tinoco, E. (1991) Asalto a la modernidad (López, Medina y Betancourt: del mito al hecho). Caracas: National Academy of History.
Torres-Cacoullos, R. and Aaron, J. E. (2003) Bare English-origin nouns in Spanish: Rates, constraints and discourse functions. Language Variation and Change 15 (3): 289–328.
Torres-Cacoullos, R. and Travis, C. E. (2010) Variable yo expression in New Mexico: English influence? In S. Rivera-Mills and D. J. Villa (eds), Spanish of the US Southwest: A Language in Transition, 185–206. Madrid: Iberoamericana.
Travis, C. E. (2007) Genre effects on subject expression in Spanish: Priming in narrative and conversation. Language, Variation and Change 19 (2): 101–135. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954394507070081
Ugalde, L. S. J. (1996) Movimiento poblacional y su significado. In R. J. Velásquez (ed.) Balance del siglo XX venezolano. Ensayos, 31–44. Caracas: Grijalbo.
Uslar Pietri, A. (1949) De una a otra Venezuela. Buenos Aires: López.
Velásquez, R. J. (1979) Aspectos de la evolución política de Venezuela en el último medio siglo. In Comité de Cultura de la Fundación Mendoza (eds) Venezuela moderna. Medio siglo de historia. 1926–1976, 11–433. Barcelona: Ariel.
Weissenrieder, M. (1990) Variable uses of the direct-object marker A. Hispania 73 (1): 223–231. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/343010
Published
2013-08-23
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Section
Articles
How to Cite
Balasch, S. (2013). Spanish variable direct object marking: Dealing with dependence among linguistic and social factors. Journal of Research Design and Statistics in Linguistics and Communication Science, 1(1), 27-46. https://doi.org/10.1558/jrds/8688744633
