Abstract

SANCHEZ AVENDANO, Carlos. The Spanish spoken by Malecus: general characteristics and recognition as a particular variety. Káñina [online]. 2016, vol.40, n.1, pp.93-115. ISSN 2215-2636.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15517/rk.v40i1.24198.

In this paper, we describe the Spanish spoken by the Malecu people of Costa Rica. Our description is based on data collected in the 20th and 21st centuries, and it takes into account the age, hometown, and type of bilingualism of the speaker. We conclude that the Spanish spoken by the Malecu exhibits three salient characteristics, namely: a) existence of variants typical of the process of acquisition of Spanish as a second language at a later age, exclusively in the case of elders; b) occurrence of linguistic changes with intergenerational validity and explainable from the prolonged contact between Spanish and the Malecu language; and c) presence of features of the varieties of Spanish spoken by the diverse Hispanic groups with whom the Malecu have maintained intense and prolonged contact during different historical moments. In addition, we found that most of the Hispanic Costa Ricans in the region believe that the Spanish spoken by the Malecus is a variety of Spanish in its own right, still more differentiated from their Spanish in the case of older Malecus. Conversely, the Malecu themselves sustain that that this "peculiar" Spanish is exclusive of older speakers.

Keywords : Malecu; contact Spanish; interlanguage; linguistic change; ethnolect.

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