GENDER ASSIGNMENT TO ENGLISH-ORIGIN NOUNS IN THE SPANISH OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

GENDER ASSIGNMENT TO ENGLISH-ORIGIN NOUNS IN THE SPANISH OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

AUTHORS

  • Jens H. Clegg: Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne

  • Mark Waltermire: New Mexico State University

ABSTRACT

  • This article investigates the gender assignment of English-origin nouns in the Spanish of bilingual speakers in New Mexico.

  • Two main hypotheses:

    • Default Assignment: All nouns are assigned masculine gender.

    • Natural Process: Gender assigned analogous to native Spanish nouns.

  • Methodology: Comparative analysis of gender patterns of Spanish nouns vs lone English-origin nouns.

  • Factors Analyzed:

    • Biological gender

    • Synonymic gender

    • Terminal phoneme (TP)

  • Results:

    • Biological gender prominently determines gender for animate nouns.

    • TP serves as the most reliable predictor when biological gender is absent.

    • Data supports the Nonce Borrowing Hypothesis (Sankoff et al 1990), indicating these nouns are treated as borrowings, not code-switches.

I. INTRODUCTION

  • Casual speech among bilinguals in the Southwestern U.S. often incorporates both English and Spanish.

  • The region has seen over a century of contact between the two languages, leading to bilingual proficiency.

  • Language Mixing Processes:

    • Borrowing: Adapting lexical material to conform to the norms of the recipient language.

    • Code-Switching: Juxtaposing phrases from different languages while adhering to internal consistency of each language.

II. LEXICAL BORROWING

Definition

  • Borrowing (Poplack, 1993): The adaptation of lexical material to fit the morphological, syntactic, and phonological patterns of the recipient language.

Types of Borrowings

  • Established Loanwords: Fully integrated into the recipient language with widespread use.

  • Nonce Loanwords: Occasionally used and not fully integrated.

    • Examples:

    1. Established: “troca” (truck)

    2. Nonce: “norse” (nurse)

  • Significance of Adaptation: Borrowed nouns that adapt phonologically differ from code-switches, which remain unaltered.

1.2. CODE-SWITCHING

Definition

  • Code-Switching: Defined as juxtaposing sentence fragments consistent with their linguistic rules (Poplack, 1993).

  • Types of Code-Switching:

    • Intersentential Switching: Switching languages at sentence boundaries.

    • Intrasentential Switching: Switching within a sentence segment.

  • Examples:

    1. “Yes, I think you’re right. Now the people that stay…”

    2. “No, no, no, they just gave me citation…”

1.3. BORROWING OR CODE-SWITCHING?

  • Distinguishing between borrowings and code-switches can be challenging.

  • Usually clear in prototypical contexts, but ambiguous cases require further examination of contextual elements.

  • Determining Factors:

    • Spanish articles preceding English-origin nouns act as gender markers (masculine vs feminine).

  • Studies suggest various linguistic factors influencing gender assignment to English-origin nouns in Spanish discourse.

III. GENDER ASSIGNMENT TO NOUNS

Factors Influencing Gender Assignment

  1. Biological Gender: Categorical assignment for animate nouns, aligning with their gender.

  2. Synonymic Gender: The gender derived from synonymic relationships may influence but does not dominate.

  3. Terminal Phoneme (TP):

    • Critical in gender assignment for inanimate nouns.

    • Classification of TPs influencing gender:

      • Masculine TPs typically yield masculine assignments.

      • Feminine TPs yield varying results, dependent on presence of biological gender.

The Study Method

  • Comparative Method: Analyzing if lone English-origin nouns conform to Spanish lexical patterns.

    • If English nouns assign gender similarly to Spanish nouns, they are classified as borrowings.

  • Field Research Location: Mora, New Mexico, community of bilinguals.

IV. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

Data Overview

  • Analyzed total of 204 English-origin nouns.

  • Gender distribution: Masculine: 182 (89%), Feminine: 22 (11%).

  • Comparing to monolingual Spanish noun distribution shows: Masculine: 62 (50%), Feminine: 61 (50%).

Analysis of Factors

  1. Biological Gender: Strongest predictor.

  2. Terminal Phoneme:

    • English-origin nouns with typically masculine (NORSEL) TPs assigned masculine gender 89% of the time.

    • Atypical TPs also show a significant masculine bias, supporting findings from past studies (Clegg 2000).

  3. Synonymic Gender: Limited influence; significant assignments occurred with no synonymic basis.

Conclusion from Findings

  • English-origin nouns largely assigned masculine gender, indicating a total patterning after Spanish nouns, supporting nonce borrowing classification.

  • Suggests bias in favor of masculine gender assignment independent from default assignment mechanisms.

  1. Género Sinónimo: La influencia derivada de relaciones sinónimas puede influir en la asignación de género, aunque no domina.

  2. Fonema Terminal (TP): El fonema terminal es crítico en la asignación de género para sustantivos inanimados, influenciando la asignación de género.

  3. Sexo Biológico: La asignación categórica para sustantivos animados se alinea con su género.

En resumen, las dos variables que más predicen el género del préstamo son sexo biológico y fonema terminal.

NORSEL y ADIONIS se refieren al fonema terminal de las palabras, clasificados según sus características fonológicas. En el estudio de la asignación de género a sustantivos en inglés con origen en español, se observó que los fonemas terminales masculinos (ejemplo: NORSEL) tienden a asignarse al género masculino con mayor frecuencia, mientras que aquellos con fonemas típicamente femeninos pueden variar según la presencia de género biológico.

Según los datos de la Tabla 1 y los siguientes párrafos, los préstamos recibieron el género masculino en el 89% de los casos.

Según estos autores y sus datos, el factor que más predice la asignación del género es sexo biológico, ya que se considera el predictor más fuerte para sustantivos animados, alineándose con su género. Aunque el fonema terminal también tiene un papel importante, especialmente en sustantivos inanimados, el sexo biológico es el más determinante.

La afirmación sobre la distribución de porcentajes de asignación de género (masculino o femenino) de los préstamos y su similitud con los sustantivos originarios del español debe ser revisada. Aunque se observa una tendencia en la asignación de género, es posible que los datos comparativos no sean idénticos en las proporciones. Por esta razón, el quiz indicó que la respuesta correcta es "false". Es fundamental considerar que el estudio identificó que el 89% de las asignaciones eran masculinas para los préstamos, mientras que la distribución general de sustantivos en español muestra una división más equitativa entre masculino y femenino.