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Uh, bueno, em … : Filled pauses as a site of contact-induced change in Boston Spanish

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2017

Daniel Erker  and
Joanna Bruso
Daniel Erker
Affiliation:
Boston University
Joanna Bruso
Affiliation:
Boston University
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Abstract

There is mounting evidence that the filled pauses that pervade spontaneous speech constitute a rich site of linguistic inquiry. The present study uses a comparative variationist method to explore possible effects of language contact on pause behavior, examining 3810 filled pauses produced by 24 Spanish-speaking residents of Boston, Massachusetts. Interspeaker differences in pause behavior correlate with intensity of contact. Participants who have lived in the United States for a larger fraction of their lives, who use English more frequently, and who do so more proficiently fill pauses differently when speaking Spanish than do those who have spent less time in the contact setting and whose English skills and usage are more restricted. Results show that a greater degree of contact corresponds to increased use of centralized vowels in phonologically filled pauses (i.e., more frequent use of [a(m)] and [ə(m)] at the expense of [e(m)]). This pattern is interpreted as evidence of contact-induced change.

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Research Article
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Language Variation and Change , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , July 2017 , pp. 205 - 244
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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