Historical sociolinguistics

Coda /s/ variation allows for a division of Spanish into sibilance-retaining and -reducing varieties, also in heritage language contexts. Heritage language studies generally overlook such dialect variation phenomena, yet dialect leveling as a result of accommodation can lead to the loss of this variation in heritage contexts. This project will advance the state of the field through an integrative evaluation of Spanish as a heritage language in Brussels, assessing overall maintenance as well as accommodation-driven coda /s/ change, while exploring the role of social networks, language attitudes, and ideologies in this phenomenon. First, using online surveys, I will chart out language maintenance and practices within hispanophone communities. Next, sociolinguistic interviews with first- and second-generation immigrants will be used to retrieve data on /s/ production, which will be analyzed perceptually and acoustically to assess intergenerational accommodation and change. These interviews will also collect information on participants’ social networks to correlate these with changes in /s/ reduction, and, lastly, data on ideologies and attitudes will be retrieved through focus groups and in-depth interviews for an additional qualitative analysis. These analyses will contribute to the conception of an integrative approach to heritage languages, as well as a more complete, variation-driven understanding of the state and status of Spanish as a minority language in Brussels.