Analyzing the production of a non-standard form

Variable use of preterit andar in bogotano Spanish

Authors

  • Maritza Nemogá University of Pittsburgh Author
  • Matthew Kanwit University of Pittsburgh Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.33154

Keywords:

non-standard forms, sociolinguistic variation, bogotano Spanish, andar

Abstract

Although the Spanish verb andar ‘to walk' has a prescriptively irregular preterit conjugation (e.g., anduve ‘I walked'), adult native speakers may produce an innovative, regularized form (e.g., andé). Nevertheless, researchers have had difficulty documenting this form of variation. The current study presents the first systematic, variationist analysis of andar regularization. We sought to answer three research questions: 1) Do speakers in Bogotá, Colombia produce regularized forms of preterit andar? 2) If so, at what rate do bogotanos produce regularized forms? 3) Do any independent factors predict regularization? We designed a 25-item cloze task in which we manipulated person/number, with 164 bogotanos participating. In addition to providing the first systematic study of andar regularization, we demonstrate that the phenomenon is constrained by independent linguistic and social variables, while appealing to changes in the overall frequency of use of andar diachronically and to the relationship between the frequency of use of each person/number and regularization.

Author Biographies

  • Maritza Nemogá, University of Pittsburgh

    Maritza Nemogá is a doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh, United States. She is originally from Bogotá, Colombia, and her research has appeared in Bilingualism: Language and Cognition and Sociolinguistic Studies.

  • Matthew Kanwit, University of Pittsburgh

    Matthew Kanwit is Assistant Professor of Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Pittsburgh, United States. His publications have appeared in Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Language Learning, Modern Language Journal, IRAL (International Review of Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching), Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, Probus, Foreign Language Annals, Spanish Applied Linguistics (RESLA), and the International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest.

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Published

2019-05-02

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Nemogá, M., & Kanwit, M. (2019). Analyzing the production of a non-standard form: Variable use of preterit andar in bogotano Spanish. Sociolinguistic Studies, 12(3-4), 395-417. https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.33154