Chilean Spanish Intonational Plateaus and Their Pragmatic Functions

A Case of Contact with Mapudungun

Bibliographic Data

ID5900944
AuthorsBrandon M A Rogers (Brigham Young University, corresponding author), Timothy L Face (University of Minnesota)
Year2024
Volume9
Issue7
Pages246
Publication date2024-07-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguages (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2226-471X • E-ISSN: 2226-471X
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/languages9070246
OpenAlexW4400583120
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited31

Intonational plateaus exist in Chilean Spanish in contexts in which they do not exist in any other variety of Spanish. Mapudungun, which has been in contact with Chilean Spanish for centuries, also has plateaus in similar contexts, although for years, the possibility of any influence of Mapudungun on Spanish has been largely dismissed. The present study examines the discourse contexts in which intonational plateaus occur in both Chilean Spanish and Mapudungun and finds that their pragmatic function is similar, with the vast majority of cases highlighting information based on the subjective communicative desire of the speaker rather than falling into established syntactic or pragmatic categories such as narrow focus. However, while the pragmatic function is similar between the languages, Mapudungun has a wider use of the plateaus, indicating a likely longer presence in this language. Based on the similarities in pragmatic function, the absence of such plateaus in any other variety of Spanish, and the wider use of plateaus in Mapudungun, this paper argues that the Chilean Spanish plateaus originate from Mapudungun due to their centuries-long history of intense language contact

Focus (optics · Function (biology · Intonation (linguistics · Language contact · Linguistics · Sociology · Variety (cybernetics · Computer Science · History · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Spanish Linguistics and Language Studies