Las keys versus el key

Abstract

Previous research on language mixing has revealed similarities in written and oral production with respect to syntactic and pragmatic patterns (e.g. Callahan 2004). In this study we find, however, that the two modes of expression diverge in loanword gender assignment. English-origin NPs inserted into written Spanish discourse (e.g. un baggie) were analyzed and compared to English-origin NPs in oral Spanish discourse. Results showed that loanwords are assigned feminine gender at significantly higher rates in written than in oral data. Also, our study shows that the reasons for assigning feminine gender are different for written and oral production. Phonological factors appeared to be influential in the oral, but not written, data. The 'analogical criterion' , according to which the gender of the Spanish translation equivalent determines the gender assigned to the loanword, e.g. una letter (una carta), was a strong predictor of feminine gender in the written data, but had a weaker effect in the oral data.

Revisiting Masculine and Feminine Grammatical Gender in Spanish: Linguistic, Psycholinguistic, and Neurolinguistic Evidence

“…Blokzijl et al., 2017). Similarly, many studies have reported a masculine tendency in the assignment of grammatical gender for Spanish-English mixed NPs similar to the sentences in (4a) and (4b) below (Montes-Alcalá and Lapidus Shin, 2011; Valdés Kroff, 2016; cf. Liceras et al., 2008).…”

“…Because most English words differ from typical Spanish words with respect to their phonological shape (Clegg, 2010; Butt and Benjamin, 2013), it is difficult to determine whether the masculine default strategy is, at least to some degree, driven by phonological factors (Poplack et al., 1982; DuBord, 2004; Montes-Alcalá and Lapidus Shin, 2011). Below, we consider two recent studies that examined how the phonological shape of nouns from different source languages (i.e., Basque and Purepecha) can influence the choices speakers make in terms of the choice of gender assignment.…”

Lone English-origin nouns in Spanish: The precedence of community norms

“…Poplack, Pousada, & Sankoff, 1982;Zamora, 1975;Zamora Munnt & Btjar, 1987). A preference for masculine gender assignment has been suggested in several previous studies, among L2 learners (Martinez-Gibson, 2011), bilinguals (Chaston, 1996;Clegg, 2010: 16;Garcia, 1998;Montes-Alcalá & Lapidus Shin, 2011;Sánchez, 1995: 134-137), and monolinguals (Banfield, 1994;Pérez-Pereira, 1991;Smith, Nix, Davey, López Ornat, & Messer, 2003).…”

Semantic Categories and Gender Assignment in Contact Spanish: Type of Code-Switching and its Relevance to Linguistic Outcomes

“…Biological Gender and Animacy I subsequently examined overtly gender-marked dps in terms of biological gender and animacy (Clegg, 2006;DuBord, 2004;Montes-Alcalá and Lapidus Shin, 2011;Otheguy and Lapidus, 2003), two factors that have been shown to be operative in the gender assignment process. Researchers, such as Clegg (2006), postulate that biological sex of the animate referent overrides any other potential factor.…”