Osmer Balam | The College of Wooster (original) (raw)

Papers by Osmer Balam

Panorama de estudios actuales del español de América, 2024

Este trabajo pretende contribuir a una mejor comprensión de cómo se rige una misma construcción c... more Este trabajo pretende contribuir a una mejor comprensión de cómo se rige una misma construcción con rasgos lingüísticos diferentes en las lenguas fuente en contextos bi/multilingües, examinando la expresión diminutiva en el discurso multilingüe del norte de Belice, donde se encuentran en contacto el español, el inglés y el criollo beliceño. Con base en datos orales del Northern Belize Corpus, que consta de 62 entrevistas semidirigidas, realizamos un estudio descriptivo de la formación y el uso del diminutivo en Belice así como un análisis sociolingüístico, considerando la edad y el sexo de los participantes. Los resultados muestran que los beliceños multilingües recurren a los diminutivos prototípicos de las lenguas fuente, -ito, little, y lee, dando un papel primordial a lee en las construcciones diminutivas bilingües. Estos marcadores no entran en una distribución complementaria desde una perspectiva semántica. Aunque las mujeres emplean más diminutivos en su discurso, son los hombres que lideran el uso innovador de construcciones multilingües español-criollo-inglés.

Research in Corpus Linguistics, 2024

Although previous work has contributed to our knowledge of bilingual compound verbs (BCVs) in dif... more Although previous work has contributed to our knowledge of bilingual compound verbs (BCVs) in different code-switching varieties, there is scant research on the semantic nature of these innovative constructions. To fill this gap, the present study examines semantic aspects of BCVs in Northern Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, two sociohistorically connected communities where Spanish hacer 'do' BCVs have been attested. Drawing on two datasets, we analyzed the semantic domains that are most open to other-language lexical verbs as well as the potential use of these structures as identity markers. The analysis of 1,140 BCVs (903 in Northern Belize and 237 in Yucatan) revealed that whereas 'education' particularly favored English lexical verbs in Northern Belize, 'nourishment' was the semantic sub-category most open to Yucatec Maya lexical verbs in the Yucatan Peninsula. Notably, only hacer BCVs from Yucatan evince the incorporation of cultural elements and linguistic practices such as albur 'word play' to index a Yucatec Maya ethnolinguistic identity. Our findings highlight the importance that the nature of bilingualism and community linguistic norms have on the semantic use of BCVs.

The Bilingual Review, 2023

The present study sheds light on the linguistic nature of Spanish/English code-switching-one of t... more The present study sheds light on the linguistic nature of Spanish/English code-switching-one of the multiple manifestations of Spanglish-in music. In contrast to previous work that examines this phenomenon in tracks released within the last two decades, this paper focuses on Latin rap from the 1990s, an era when several U.S. Latino rappers employed Spanglish to assert and show pride in their bilingual linguistic identity and ability to mix their languages. More specifically, we analyzed the grammatical structure of Spanish/English code-switching in Latin rap songs characterized by the productive use of code-switching. To this end, we analyzed 316 switches from 12 songs in order to elucidate the structure and variety of these inter-and intraclausal switches. Results show that whereas interclausal switches favor switching from Spanish to English, intraclausal switches are characterized by unidirectional mixing patterns from English to Spanish. While the matrix language of the dataset was predominantly English, the majority of nouns, adjectives, prepositions, relative pronouns, and coordinate/subordinate conjunctions were realized in Spanish. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to our current understanding of the diverse language practices that characterize Spanish/English code-switching varieties.

International Journal of Bilingualism, 2022

Objectives/research questions: We examined stative and eventive passive bilingual compound verbs ... more Objectives/research questions: We examined stative and eventive passive bilingual compound verbs (BCVs) in Spanish/English code-switching. Of particular interest to us was the availability of passivization in bilingual eventive passive hacer 'do' constructions, purportedly banned in bilingual speech due to a universal syntactic restriction (González-Vilbazo and López, 2011).
Methodology: A total of 119 bilinguals from Northern Belize and 36 from the Southwest U.S. completed a two-alternative forced-choice acceptability task and a language background questionnaire.
Data and analysis: The analysis was conducted using Thurstone's Law of Comparative Judgment. Conclusions: For stative passive BCVs, results revealed that Spanish/English bilinguals from both contexts gave the highest ratings to code-switched constructions without the light verb hacer. For eventive passive BCVs, however, Belize bilinguals gave preferential ratings to passive constructions with the light verb hacer. Conversely, U.S. bilinguals rejected them. Notably, among Belize bilinguals, eventive passive BCVs that were rated as most acceptable were constructions with no gender agreement between the light verb and the feminine antecedent noun. Originality: This is the first cross-community analysis that investigates stative and eventive passive BCVs in Spanish/English code-switching. Implications: Our findings show that the light verb hacer is compatible with both stative and eventive passive BCVs. Crucially, context-specific linguistic norms and social factors rather than a universal syntactic restriction primarily determine the availability of passivization in eventive passive BCVs. Our theorizing of code-switching grammars, thus, necessitates careful consideration of invariant and variable production patterns that are profoundly shaped by historical and sociolinguistic conditions.

Belgian Journal of Linguistics, 2021

In previous research, there has been an emphasis on differentiating and distancing translanguagin... more In previous research, there has been an emphasis on differentiating and distancing translanguaging from codeswitching, partly on the basis that the latter refers to the combination of two discrete systems that correspond to named languages. While this is the mainstream view, there are codeswitching scholars who have proposed alternative views that align with some of the same observations and criticisms that have been raised by proponents of translanguaging. In this conceptual paper, I provide an overview of translanguaging alongside opposing views of codeswitching, and I underscore important similarities that have thus far been absent from present discussions regarding translanguaging versus codeswitching. Drawing on data from the understudied Spanish/English codeswitching variety spoken in Northern Belize, I discuss how bilingual compound verbs lend support to alternative views of codeswitching. Despite clear differences in their empirical goals, research conducted by both codeswitching and translanguaging scholars compels us to reexamine fundamental notions about language and linguistic competence. This reevaluation will not only contribute to theoretical advancement, but it will further elucidate our understanding of the complexity and dynamicity that characterizes bi/multilingual speech production and processing.

Journal of Monolingual and Bilingual Speech, 2021

In the present study, we investigated estar constructions in the Spanish/English codeswitching va... more In the present study, we investigated estar constructions in the Spanish/English codeswitching variety of Northern Belize, which is well known for its prolific use of hacer bilingual compound verbs in codeswitched speech. To this end, we extracted and analyzed 364 unilingual Spanish and 158 bilingual estar constructions from naturalistic speech in order (i) to examine the occurrence of estar with predicative adjectives, present participles, and past participles in both unilingual and codeswitched discourse; and (ii) to determine how type of bilingualism (emergent vs. dynamic) and frequency of use of hacer bilingual compound verbs, influence the naturalistic production of estar constructions. Results revealed that the production of estar with English predicative adjectives and English past participles was favored in bilingual discourse. Importantly, the use of ‘estar + English past participle’ constructions was favored by dynamic bilinguals who more frequently employed hacer ‘do’ bilingual compound verbs. Our findings highlight the important role that bilingual competence plays in the naturalistic production of congruent structures in codeswitched speech.

Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 2021

We examined gender assignment patterns in the speech of Spanish/English bilingual children, payin... more We examined gender assignment patterns in the speech of Spanish/English bilingual children, paying particular attention to the influence of three gender assignment strategies (i.e., analogical gender, masculine default gender, phonological gender) that have been proposed to constrain the gender assignment process in Spanish/English bilingual speech. Our analysis was based on monolingual Spanish nominals (n = 1,774), which served as a comparative baseline, and Spanish/English mixed nominal constructions (n = 220) extracted from oral narratives produced by 40 child bilinguals of different grade levels (2nd graders vs. 5th graders) and instructional programs (English immersion vs. two-way bilingual) from Miami Dade, Florida. The narratives, available in the CHILDES database (MacWhinney 2000), were collected by Pearson (2002). Results revealed that in Spanish nominal constructions, children across both instructional programs and grade levels evinced native-like acquisition of grammatical gender. In mixed nominals, children overwhelmingly assigned the masculine gender to English nouns. Notably, irrespective of schooling background, simultaneous Spanish/English bilingual children used the masculine default gender strategy when assigning gender to English nouns with feminine translation equivalents. This suggests that from age seven, simultaneous Spanish/English child bilingual acquisition of grammatical gender is characterized by a predisposition towards the employment of the masculine default gender strategy in bilingual speech.

Spanish in Context, 2019

The current study investigates DP-internal adjectives in Spanish/English code-switching (CS). Spe... more The current study investigates DP-internal adjectives in Spanish/English code-switching (CS). Specifically, we analyze two concomitant phenomena that have been previously investigated; namely, the distributional frequency and placement of adjectives in mixed determiner phrases (DPs). A total of 1680 DPs (477 monolingual Spanish and 1203 Spanish/English DPs), extracted from sociolinguistic interviews with 62 consultants from Northern Belize, were quantitatively examined. This paper is the first of its kind to examine adjectives in the innovative Spanish/English CS variety of Northern Belize, an understudied context where bilingual CS has thrived among younger generations. The distributional and statistical analyses revealed that the avoidance of Spanish attributive adjectives and overt gender marking is a distinguishing characteristic of mixed DPs but not monolingual Spanish DPs, a finding that supports Otheguy and Lapidus' (2003) adaptive simplification hypothesis. In terms of adjective placement, both the Matrix Language Frame model and the Minimalist approach to CS were able to account for mixed noun-adjective DPs, with the exception of a few cases that could only be predicted by the former model. The present analysis highlights the pivotal role that simplification and convergence play in code-switchers' optimization of linguistic resources in bi/multilingual discourse.

International Journal of Bilingualism, 2020

Objectives/research questions: We investigate two understudied bilingual compound verbs that have... more Objectives/research questions: We investigate two understudied bilingual compound verbs that have been attested in Spanish/English code-switching; namely, ‘hacer + VInf’ and ‘estar + VProg’. Specifically, we examined speakers’ intuitions vis-à-vis the acceptability and preferentialuse of non-canonical and canonical hacer ‘to do’ or estar ‘to be’ bilingual constructions among bilinguals from Northern Belize, New Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Methodology: Speakers from Northern Belize (n = 44), New Mexico (n = 32) and Puerto Rico (n = 30) completed a two-alternative forced-choice acceptability task and a language background questionnaire.

Data and analysis: The data were examined using an analysis of variance and Thurstone’s Law of Comparative Judgment.

Conclusions: Whereas Northern Belizean bilinguals gave the highest ratings to ‘hacer + VInf’, both groups of US bilinguals gave preferential ratings to ‘estar + VProg’ bilingual constructions. On the other hand, Puerto Rican bilinguals gave the highest preferential ratings to the canonical estar bilingual compound verbs (i.e. estar + an English progressive verb) but rejected hacer bilingual compound verbs. While ‘hacer + VInf’ and ‘estar + VProg’ may represent variants that are available to Spanish/English bilinguals, the present findings suggest a community specific distribution, in which hacer bilingual compound verbs are consistently preferred over estar bilingual compound verbs in Northern Belize, whereas estar bilingual constructions are preferred among US bilinguals.

Originality: This is the first cross-community examination of these bilingual compound verbs in Northern Belize (Central America/Caribbean), New Mexico (Southwest US) and Puerto Rico (US/Caribbean), three contexts in the Spanish-speaking world characterized by long-standing Spanish/English language contact and the use of bilingual language practices.

Implications: Findings underscore the importance of bilingual language experience in modulating linguistic competence and the necessity to study code-switching from a language ecological perspective, as subtle context-specific patterns in code-switching varieties may be manifested not only in bilingual speakers’ oral production but in intuition as well. A more fine-grained understanding of speakers’ judgments is vital to experimental studies that seek to investigate code-switching grammars both within and across communities where code-switching varieties of the same language pair are spoken.

Through the analysis of survey and interview data, we investigated the attitudes and perceptions ... more Through the analysis of survey and interview data, we investigated the attitudes and perceptions of 32 multilingual teachers of Spanish in Belize, a code-switching (CS) context where Spanish is in intense contact with English and Belizean Kriol. More specifically, we examined teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward Spanish and CS and teachers’ perceptions vis-à-vis students’ attitudes toward Spanish instruction. The study revealed that whereas some teachers held negative views of Northern Belizean Spanish, they did not markedly perceive standard Spanish as “better” than the local variety of Belizean Spanish. The analysis also showed that most teachers had a positive predisposition to the use of CS as a pedagogical tool in their classrooms, a finding that suggests that ultra-normative attitudes toward Spanish varieties are not prevalent among these educators. In view of students’ attitudes, teachers concurred that students had overwhelmingly negative attitudes toward standard Spanish, in line with previous findings. We argue that educational reforms and status-planning efforts are vital to destigmatize Spanish and to promote its maintenance alongside Belizean Kriol and English.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15348458.2016.1260455?journalCode=hlie20

The present study examines two aspects of determiner phrases (DPs) that have been previously inve... more The present study examines two aspects of determiner phrases (DPs) that have been previously investigated in Spanish/English code-switching; namely, the openness of semantic domains to non-native nouns and gender assignment in monolingual versus code-switched speech. The quantitative analysis of naturalistic, oral production data from 62 native speakers of Northern Belizean Spanish revealed both similarities and notable differences vis-à-vis previous findings for varieties of Spanish/English code-switching in the U.S. Hispanophone context. Semantic domains that favoured non-native nouns in Spanish/English DPs included academia, technology, work/money-related terms, abstract concepts, linguistics/language terms and everyday items. In relation to gender assignation, assignment patterns in monolingual DPs were canonical whereas an overwhelming preference for the masculine default gender was attested in mixed DPs. Biological gender was not found to be deterministic in switched DPs. The analysis highlights the important role that type of code-switching has on contact outcomes in bi/multilingual communities, as speech patterns are reflective of the status and resourcefulness that code-switching is afforded at a societal and idiolectal level.

http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/19552629-00903001

Attested in a wide variety of contact situations, bilingual compound verbs (BCVs) have baffled li... more Attested in a wide variety of contact situations, bilingual compound verbs (BCVs) have baffled linguists, as they are innovative hybrid constructions that appear superfluous. In the current study, we examine BCVs in Northern Belize, where Spanish/English language alternation occurs alongside the pervasive use of Belizean Kriol, Belize’s lingua franca. We analyze Northern Belize code-switchers’ acceptability judgments and use of BCVs in oral production to determine whether stativity and/or verb frequency constrain the incorpora- tion of BCVs as previously contended. The quantitative analysis of acceptability judgments and 553 canonical BCVs from 25 adolescent and 18 post-adolescent speakers revealed that BCVs are not constrained by stativity or verb frequency. We contend that although there are syntactic constraints, bilinguals’/multi- linguals’ use of their linguistic resources is largely dependent on social factors (Sebba 1998). In the case of Northern Belize, where speakers do not perceive code-switching as illegitimate but rather embrace it and associate it with their mixed, multiplex identity, positive attitudes to non-standard varieties may have paved the way for the ubiquitous use of BCVs. The availability of a na- tive Spanish/Mayan BCV model may have also catalyzed the process. BCVs in Northern Belize merit further investigation as they are innovative structures with Creoloid features that reflect code-switchers’ creative ability to capitalize on structural parsimony.

Conference Presentations by Osmer Balam