This is not the Case of the Indirect Object: Linguistic and Sociolinguistic Factors in Double Object Marking Constructions in a Contact Variety of Spanish from Eastern North Carolina

Abstract

This article presents the results of a sociolinguistic study focusing on the expression of double object marking constructions (DbOM) in the contact variety of Spanish spoken in Pitt County, North Carolina. For the purposes of this article, DbOM constructions are defined as those utterances in which an accusative or dative clitic co-occurs with a coreferential overt nominal phrase. The data resulting from study participant interviews were analyzed to contrast the availability and variation of DbOM constructions with respect to sociolinguistic and linguistic factors. Confirming the initial hypothesis stemming from the absence of any type of argument doubling in English, the study’s results reveal that extent of daily English use in Pitt County is a significant factor in the expression of DbOM constructions. Moreover, and in agreement with the third proposed hypothesis, the case assigned to the doubled argument as well as the type of predicate, rather than the contrast between direct and indirect objects, are significant factors in the type of object doubling observed.