Abstract

CICCONE, Florencia. Ï VS. Ë VARIATION IN THE THIRD PERSON OF THE VERB 'TO BE' IN TAPIETE (TUPÍ-GUARANÍ): A CASE OF CONTACT INDUCED LANGUAGE CHANGE?. Lingüística [online]. 2015, vol.31, n.1, pp.93-110. ISSN 2079-312X.

Tapiete (Tupí-guaraní) is a language spoken in the Chaco region in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. In Argentina, tapiete people have suffered important cultural changes and shift of their indigenous language to Spanish. In present time, all speakers of Tapiete which live in this country are bilinguals. Linguistically, it has been documented different contact phenomena in the use of Tapiete. The aim of this article is to analyze the variation among the forms ï vs. ë in the third person of the verb 'to be', presumably induced by contact with the dominant language and culture. From a functionalist perspective in the study of variation and language change, this work explores communicative contexts that favor the occurrence of each of the forms under study, and its discursive meanings.

Keywords : Tupí- guaraní; Tapiete; variation; language change.

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