Papers by Itxaso Rodríguez-Ordóñez
Linguistic Minorities in Europe Online
Spanish in Context
Study of speech and written texts has provided significant insight regarding linguistic variation... more Study of speech and written texts has provided significant insight regarding linguistic variation and its social correlates. Variation in the representation or display of language, however, remains a relatively understudied phenomenon. With this in mind, we present a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the variation observed in the Linguistic Landscape (LL) of Pilsen, Chicago. A community undergoing perceived processes of gentrification, Pilsen is an active site of economic, sociocultural change as well as newly intensified language contact. To investigate Pilsen’s displayed language variation, we implement a series of logistic regression models that analyze the distribution of both language and contextual framing observed on signs in four key areas in Pilsen. In doing so, we present an informed means with which to understand the sociolinguistic context of Pilsen as a community undergoing change and provide a replicable framework for future study of LLs that experience similar ...
Journal of Sociolinguistics, 2021
This study examines the variable use and the social meaning of a contact-induced phenomenon in Ba... more This study examines the variable use and the social meaning of a contact-induced phenomenon in Basque, Differential Object Marking, to explain the emergence of new variation in a minoritized language situation. The spontaneous speech of 77 Basque-Spanish bilinguals was analyzed and compared to the perception results obtained from a matched-guise experiment. I situate this analysis using emergent participant self-identification categories that lie along a continuum of Basque speaker authenticity. Production results show that DOM use increases according to a speaker's self-ascribed authenticity, but the matched-guise analyses indicate that some DOM uses may undermine the speaker's perceived authenticity. I discuss the ideological multiplicity of DOM within its semiotic landscape and consider practice-based approaches to variation in explaining this paradox. The evidence lends support for social meaning based-accounts of variation that also consider speakerhood as an agentive process, and it additionally challenges models that directly correlate language use to acts of identity.
The Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics, 2021
Linguistic Minorities in Europe Online, 2020
Glottocode:basq1248 ISO 639-3-Code:eus State(s):Spain Region(s):Basque Country (Euskal Herria); B... more Glottocode:basq1248 ISO 639-3-Code:eus State(s):Spain Region(s):Basque Country (Euskal Herria); Basque Autonomous Community (Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, Euskadi); BAC (EAE)
Journal of Language Contact, 2020
The debate as to whether syntax can be borrowed has spurred much scholarly inquiry among those wh... more The debate as to whether syntax can be borrowed has spurred much scholarly inquiry among those who argue that syntax cannot be borrowed (Silva-Corvalán, 2008) and those in favor of the 'anything-goes' argument (Thomason, 2001). In contribution to this debate, this study examines the contact-induced processes behind the variation of Basque Differential Object Marking (dom). We examine the use of Basque dom in the spontaneous speech of 42 speakers whose variety has been in a long-standing contact with Spanish (Gernika Basque) and 15 speakers of a 'newly' standardized variety (Stan-dard Basque). We additionally examine the spontaneous speech of their leísmo in order to make a case that Basque dom is not an example of syntactic borrowing but involves a process of replica grammaticalization (Heine and Kuteva, 2005) whereby speakers replicate their use of leísmo either through matter-borrowing, pattern-borrowing or a combination of both.
Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 2020
There is considerable debate with respect to the status of Basque-Spanish leísmo as a contact phe... more There is considerable debate with respect to the status of Basque-Spanish leísmo as a contact phenomenon. To address this conundrum, the present study adds another variable, dialect contact and examines the synchronic variation of Basque-Spanish leísmo among educated young speakers, paying special attention to possible stylistic effects. The speech of 41 Basque-Spanish speakers was gathered by means of sociolinguistic interviews and an elicited production task. Participants were stratified by region: 22 speakers were recruited from Gernika where contact with Basque has been intense and compared to 19 speakers from the Greater Bilbao Area where the contact with Basque is less strong. Dialect contact was operationalized through parental input (Basque Country vs. Monolingual Spain). Results indicate that leísmo is quite extended in the Spanish of the Basque Country and mainly driven by animacy. Basque-Spanish leísmo is also subject to stylistic effects, whereby animacy and grammatical gender effects were found, suggesting that Basque-Spanish speakers alternate between two systems depending on speech formality. Finally, results indicate that parental origin had an effect in Bilbao, but not in Gernika. I situate these results within a discussion of previous work on dialect contact.
Language and Linguistics Compass, 2019
The field of contact linguistics has long argued for the paramount importance of social factors i... more The field of contact linguistics has long argued for the paramount importance of social factors in understanding the outcomes of linguistic contact. In contrast, linguistic ideologies have not played a central role in theories of language contact, though this has begun to change in recent decades. This article provides an account of early theorizations of linguistic ideologies and their increasingly important applications to the study of contact phenomena. A brief survey of more recent theoretical advancements with respect to ideologies and contact phenomena follows, paying special attention to studies in linguistic anthropology and variationist sociolinguistics. While recognizing the challenges inherent in the study of linguistic ideologies, this article argues that they should be at the foreground of contact linguistics. To this end, methodological tools for such study are presented, along with theoretical considerations and future directions.
Following variationist approaches to second language acquisition, this study examines the variabl... more Following variationist approaches to second language acquisition, this study examines the variable use of Differential Object Marking (DOM) in Basque as a second language and tests whether attitudes towards Basque DOM plays a role in its use. The spontaneous speech of 15 advanced learners and 12 intermediate learners were compared to the speech of 24 Basque-dominant native bilinguals. Attitude data was gathered by means of a matched-guise experiment in which participants rated a number of guises with DOM based on 2 traits (Basqueness and correctness). Results indicate that the learners’ differences in constraining the use of Basque DOM are affected by their attitudes towards DOM, providing further evidence that social meaning plays a role in acquisition process of L2 grammars.
Spanish in Context, 2017
Study of speech and written texts has provided significant insight regarding linguistic variation... more Study of speech and written texts has provided significant insight regarding linguistic variation and its social correlates. Variation in the representation or display of language, however, remains a relatively understudied phenomenon. With this in mind, we present a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the variation observed in the Linguistic Landscape (LL) of Pilsen, Chicago. A community undergoing perceived processes of gentrification, Pilsen is an active site of economic , sociocultural change as well as newly intensified language contact. To investigate Pilsen's displayed language variation, we implement a series of logistic regression models that analyze the distribution of both language and contextual framing observed on signs in four key areas in Pilsen. In doing so, we present an informed means with which to understand the sociolinguistic context of Pilsen as a community undergoing change and provide a replicable framework for future study of LLs that experience similar dynamics.
that structures involving an interface between syntax and other modules are less likely to be ful... more that structures involving an interface between syntax and other modules are less likely to be fully acquired. Whereas some studies have found evidence in favor of the IH , others have reported that adult 2L1 and L2 speakers of differing proficiencies are equally efficient in acquiring the pragmatic constraints conditioning Subject Pronoun Expression (SPE) . In light of these contradictory results, this study tests the IH by exploring the acquisition of Basque SPE using naturally-occurring speech from 25 Basque-Spanish bilinguals. Results show that Basque L2-learners are responsive to discourse-pragmatic constraints. In fact, L2-Basque SPE is conditioned by a more complex set of constraints than native Basque SPE, for which we propose that L2 SPE results from a process of complexification , triggered by transfer effects from Spanish.
Fontes Linguae Vasconum: Studia et documenta , 2019
The pitch-accent system in Northern Bizkaian Basque (NBB) is characterized for making
a pitch dis... more The pitch-accent system in Northern Bizkaian Basque (NBB) is characterized for making
a pitch distinction between lexical accented/unaccented words (i.e. singular vs. plural
contrast) and for lacking a durational correlate of accentual prominence. The present
study examines whether such system is maintained in Gernika Basque, a variety of NBB.
Results show that younger speakers (ages 18-45) from Spanish speaking households are
more likely to show no pitch differences to convey a singular/plural contrast if they also
belong to Spanish-speaking social networks. Although duration correlates were found
among some speakers, its use was not directly related to the loss of contrast in pitch.
The present study aims to show that Basque Differential Object Marking (dom) is the result of int... more The present study aims to show that Basque Differential Object Marking (dom) is the result of intense contact with the Basque-Spanish Leísta Dialect (bld) and to determine the process by which Basque dom is a contact feature. Following theories of contact-induced phenomena in variationist sociolinguistics (Poplack and Levey, 2010), theories of dom (Aissen, 2003) and grammaticalization theory (Heine and Kuteva, 2005), the speech of 29 native speakers of Gernika Basque are examined, stratified by age and language dominance. Results from oral data show that animacy and specificity are the strongest predictors of Basque dom, followed by person and number. In terms of language specific constraints, the use of Spanish borrowed verbs and the null object character of the language strongly favors dom in Gernika Basque. It is proposed that Basque dom involves a complex process of 'replica grammaticalization' , explaining the intertwined relationship between typological factors, contact-induced forces and language-specific constraints.
Linguistic variation in the basque language and education -II [Recurso electrónico] = Euskararen ... more Linguistic variation in the basque language and education -II [Recurso electrónico] = Euskararen bariazioa eta bariazioaren irakaskuntza -II /editoreak, Aitor Iglesias, Asier Romero, Ariane Ensunza. -Datos. -Bilbao : Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Argitalpen Zerbitzua = Servicio Editorial, [2016] 1 recurso en línea : PDF (140 p.) Modo de acceso: World Wide Web. Textos en inglés y euskara. ISBN: 978-84-9082-465-8.
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Papers by Itxaso Rodríguez-Ordóñez
a pitch distinction between lexical accented/unaccented words (i.e. singular vs. plural
contrast) and for lacking a durational correlate of accentual prominence. The present
study examines whether such system is maintained in Gernika Basque, a variety of NBB.
Results show that younger speakers (ages 18-45) from Spanish speaking households are
more likely to show no pitch differences to convey a singular/plural contrast if they also
belong to Spanish-speaking social networks. Although duration correlates were found
among some speakers, its use was not directly related to the loss of contrast in pitch.
a pitch distinction between lexical accented/unaccented words (i.e. singular vs. plural
contrast) and for lacking a durational correlate of accentual prominence. The present
study examines whether such system is maintained in Gernika Basque, a variety of NBB.
Results show that younger speakers (ages 18-45) from Spanish speaking households are
more likely to show no pitch differences to convey a singular/plural contrast if they also
belong to Spanish-speaking social networks. Although duration correlates were found
among some speakers, its use was not directly related to the loss of contrast in pitch.
Analysis of 400 signs show a scalar relationship between frame and language. Moreover, all frames are equally distributed in main streets studied, but language use greatly varies. We argue dialogic language use in Pilsen is the result of complex (and competing) strategies of commodification of localized heritage identity.