Showing papers in "Hispania in 2009"

The Role of Lexical Frequency in the Weakening of Syllable-Final Lexical /s/ in the Spanish of Barranquilla, Colombia

Abstract: This article reports on a quantitative analysis of /s/ in words of different lexical frequencies in a cohesive speech community. Speakers from Barranquilla, Colombia between 20―26 years of age read approximately 100 sentences, containing words with s + consonant sequences. These productions were submitted to auditory acoustical analysis; visual inspection of spectrograms was carried out for ambiguous cases wherein the strong sibilance that characterizes /s/ was not clear. Multivariate analysis of factors conditioning s-realization reveals that the single most important factor is lexical frequency. Speakers tend towards full articulation of /s/ in low-frequency words, while weakening it in high-frequency words. The importance of this factor becomes more apparent when one examines a wider range of the frequency scale than what is attested in conversational speech. These findings support models of language which incorporate lexical frequency as a central component in explaining variations across words in both individual and communal grammars.

The Processing of Gender Agreement in L1 and L2 Spanish: Evidence from Reaction Time Data

Abstract: The present study investigates the processing of Spanish gender agreement during an online comprehension task. The linguistic variables examined are the noun class (semantic or non-semantic) and gender (masculine or feminine) of the head and attractor nouns, head noun morphology (overt or non-overt), and noun class and gender congruencies (matched or mismatched). The study is guided by specific research questions considering whether there is an effect of these variables on gender agreement reaction times (RTs), and whether there is a difference in performance between L2 learners of Spanish and native-Spanish speakers. Analysis of the data indicated inconsistent responses to some of the linguistic variables, but that the class of the subject noun was significant for RTs. Results are explained in light of the competition model, and suggest that animacy is a strong linguistic cue for both native and non-native speakers when establishing correct gender agreement.

Aligning Expectations for Mutually Beneficial Community Service-Learning: The Case of Spanish Language Proficiency, Cultural Knowledge, and Professional Skills.

Abstract: The growing importance of Spanish in the U.S. has generated an impressive growth in the number of university Spanish programs that offer community service learning. However, students' and community part- ners' misaligned expectations can create tensions and problems in these programs. Instructors must make a special effort to articulate and align students' capabilities and the community partners' needs in three areas: language proficiency, cultural knowledge, and professional skills. Drawing on our experiences, this paper details the problems that occur when expectations are not aligned, presents strategies for bringing expectations into alignment, and provides examples for creating relevant teaching materials. Although we focus on Spanish community service learning, the issues we raise are pertinent to all programs in which second language learners participate in community service learning.

Contribución paleoambiental al estudio de la trashumancia en el sector abulense de la Sierra de Gredos

Abstract: The Avilan sector of the Gredos Mountain Range represents one of the Iberian Peninsula’s most valuable cultural landscapes. From Prehistory to the present, the importance of trashumance in this region has played a key role in shaping its ecosystyems. Using pollen analysis to examine historical transformations in the region’s ecology, both those engendered by human activity and those relating to palaeoclimatic dynamics, this paper examines the diachronic evolution of the vegetation of the Serranillos Mountain Pass during the Late Holocene.

Processing Instruction and Meaning-Based Output Instruction : A Response to Keating and Farley (2008)

Abstract: Research on Processing Instruction (PI) has yielded consistently positive results across a variety of measures. In addition, in comparison to other instructional interventions, PI tends to yield superior results. The one difference is comparative research with Meaning-based Output Instruction (MOI) in which in a number of studies, MOI is seen to be as good as PI in terms of group performance on certain tasks. The present study is a partial replication of one such study: Keating and Farley (2008). We compared three groups-PI, MOI, and Control-on two measures using a pretest/posttest/delayed posttest design. Our results do not replicate Keating and Farley's and instead resemble more those of original research on PI and traditional instruction (e.g., Van-Patten and Cadiemo, 1993). We discuss our findings in relation to the nature of MOI.

Factors That Motivate High-School Students': Decisions to Study Spanish

Abstract: This article reports on an investigation of high-school students' motivations to study Spanish. An online Likert-scale questionnaire was administered to 631 students and 19 teachers. The most influential factors were determined and a principal axis factor analysis with Promax rotation was performed on the responses. The data indicated that the strongest influence for starting to study Spanish was career benefits, and the strongest influence for continuing to study Spanish was grades. The factor analysis results revealed that integrative, intrinsic and instrumental factors accounted for 70.89% of the total item variance for the decision to begin studying Spanish, and extrinsic and integrative factors accounted for 55.7% of the total item variance for the decision to continue studying Spanish. Significant differences between the students' responses and their teachers' perceptions indicated that the teachers misunderstood the students' motives for studying Spanish.

The Impending Demise of "tu" in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Abstract: Since the early 1960s, the tuteo (T-T), and particularly the use of tonic tu with the vos verbal morphology (T-V) has been accepted as typical of the speech of Montevideo, Uruguay, a region generally classified as voseante This paper reports on the results of 117 rapid anonymous interviews conducted in Montevideo to document the status of tu in the early twenty-first century Interview results are studied according to five business domains, as well as the sex and age of the consultants Results show that T-V continues to be used in Montevideo, particularly among speakers over 40 who work with upper socioeconomic clientele The absence of tu among speakers under 40 points to a future loss of the academic tuteo and the regional T-V in favor of a stable voseo reminiscent of Buenos Aires, Argentina perceived social relationships, and attitudes as they pertain to "correct" Spanish The voseo has garnered considerable attention in studies on pronouns of address given its extensive use, coupled with its ambiguous perceived propriety throughout countries or regions, a situation that appears at times to pit the regional vos against the academic standard tu This "ambiguity" as to the appropriateness of the voseo serves as the central theme of the study at hand, which examines the use of tu and vos in the Spanish of Montevideo, Uruguay The use of both pro- nouns in Montevideo distinguishes that city's dialect from the Plate River norm of universal voseo, which predominates in Buenos Aires, the "linguistic capital" of the Plate River region (Benavides 2003: 619) The present study updates prior dialectal data to consider pronoun and corresponding verb form usage in the early twenty-first century and proposes that language change is underway in Montevideo Such change will likely result in the disappearance of tu in

Actitudes de los hablantes de San Salvador hacia el tuteo y el voseo

Abstract: Este estudio analiza la valoracion de un grupo de salvadorenos hacia el uso de los pronombres de segunda persona tu y vos en ciertos contextos. En El Salvador, tu subsiste en contextos muy formales, sobre todo escritos, y vos en el habla espontanea. Recientemente el uso de vos en los medios de comunicacion salvadorenos es frecuente, lo que apuntaria a un cambio de actitudes a favor de vos. Este estudio revela, a traves de una encuesta en San Salvador, que ambos pronombres gozan de similar prestigio pero con diferentes funciones. Los resultados tambien sugieren la posibilidad de que en el sistema pronominal salvadoreno los pronombres tu y vosotros sean vistos como formales y que, por lo tanto, no se encuentren en competencia con vos y ustedes respectivamente.

Second-Language Awareness and Development during Study Abroad: A Case Study

Abstract: This study contributes to ongoing investigations of what linguistic gains are feasible in a second language (L2) during study abroad (SA). Through case-study methodology, one participant's written production is analyzed in detail to investigate the processes of SA and L2 acquisition. The participant wrote weekly journal entries in Spanish during the year spent studying in Spain. Journals were coded for indicators of written fluency and accuracy, error types, and recurring language-related themes. Findings indicate improved accuracy over the year, but less change in terms of fluency. However, no single error type predominated during the study, suggesting that there is substantial variability to address in SA studies. The participant was linguistically and culturally aware of her progress at times, although not always cognizant of her errors.

La colonización europea y el derecho de aguas. El ejemplo de Canarias, 1480-1525

Abstract: Colonization of the Canary Islands, driven by the sugar industry, was completed by the first quarter of the 16th century. The documents concerning cession of land and water ownership rights (datas) to the settlers for cane plantations reveal that this distribution took place on the basis of the legal environment affecting the main irrigation holdings of peninsular Spain at that time. Sugar production, which was stimulated by external demand, grew rapidly and soon formed a single «sugarocracy» that went on to control the hydraulic institutions and local politics. As there would have been no sugar industry without water, this “sugarocracy” concentrated hard on eliminating all obstacles that might have prevented the exercise of private initiative in the capitalization of water resources. This process led to a new legal environment that differed from its original pattern based around the concept of a hydraulic system characterized by private ownership and management of water resources.

Arqueología de los espacios agrarios medievales en el País Vasco

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to analyze the changes undergone by medieval rural societies in the Basque Country on the basis of archaeological digs undertaken in the last few years. Three types of archaeological evidence are presented and discussed: the cultivation spaces (manuring processes, terraced spaces), the storage structures and the species cultivated. These findings allow a diachronic characterization of Basque rural landscapes, with emphasis on the region of Alava during the 5th-12th centuries. The agrarian techniques documented allow us to propose the existence of a well-structured landscape in the Early Middle Ages, which changed in the 8th century due to the creation of dense village networks. Income silos which resulted in a reorientation of production activities in the framework of a feudal-type social system, are found towards the end of the millennium.

Reescribiendo el pasado. El Becerro Galicano como reconstrucción de la historia institucional de San Millán de la Cogolla

Abstract: The Becerro Galicano , a late 12th century cartulary from San Millan de la Cogolla in the Rioja, is analysed from a variety of perspectives leading to a reevaluation of its purpose. It is compared with other source material from the same monastery, with the structures of other monastic cartularies, and evaluated within the context of the monastery’s own history. Particular emphasis is placed upon the cartulary’s structure, and comparison between the Galicano and the earlier Gotico cartulary, lost over a century ago but whose structure is recoverable from references made in the 18th century Coleccion Minguella , proves particularly instructive. As is the case with many cartularies of the period, the grandiose texts that open the Galicano prove to be falsifications, in this case absent from the Gotico . This leads us to the conclusion that the very first text, the Votos de San Millan , rather than being regarded as a late introduction should be considered an integral part of the cartulary. It is also striking that the cartulary is structured according to an anachronistic vision of diocesan geography that harks back to the 11th century when the abbots of the monastery simultaneously acted as bishops. Moreover, such a structure is not present in the earlier Gotico cartulary and would thus seem to have been consciously introduced into the Galicano , perhaps reflecting the longrunning conflict between San Millan and the surrounding bishoprics over tithes.

La evolución de la estatura en una región atrasada de la España interior: Castilla y León, 1830-1960

Abstract: This article contributes to the field of anthropometric history, recently of great interest to social and economic historians. An analysis of the height of adult males in Spain’s interior provides a reflection of the nutritional state and biological wellbeing of the society of that region during Spain’s industrialization. Some 29,000 registers relating to military drafts between 1830 and 1940 provide a series of samples of the rural and urban populations of Castilla-Leon which allow for an analysis of territorial, environmental, and social inequalities, as well as cyclical changes. This analysis reveals that height in this region developed according to a cyclical model determined by environmental and economic factors, diminishing during the second half of the nineteenth century, when malnutrition and under-nutrition were more prevalent in Castilla-Leon than in other Spanish regions, and not picking up again before the early twentieth century. This reduction in height was more evident in urban environments and among day-labourers. The nutritional status of this region’s population improved significantly during the first half of the twentieth century. Although it was affected during the Civil War and post-war period, this decline was not as great as that experienced in other regions of Spain.

Language Use in the Classroom: Understanding the Relationship between Perceptions, Beliefs, and Verbal Communication

Abstract: This article addresses the relationship between instructors' and students' perceptions and beliefs about first language (LI) and target language (TL) use in the Spanish foreign language classroom and actual classroom use. Given the lack of research correlating perceptions and beliefs of both students and their teachers to their classroom language use, this study undertakes to discover what relationships exist. These data were gathered utilizing both questionnaires and video-recordings of classroom teaching. This study analyzes how accurate and reliable students and teachers are in predicting how much LI and TL are being employed in the classroom and whether their professed beliefs regarding LI and TL are manifested in how they use language.

El Uso del español del profesor en las clases de principiantes

Abstract: En la presente investigacion se: (a) cuantifico el uso del espanol de los profesores en clases de principiantes, (ie, 102, 201, 202), (b) exploraron las variables que afectaban dicho uso, y (c) examinaron las percepciones/actitudes de los estudiantes cuando su profesor usaba el espanol Se observaron las clases de cinco profesores de diferentes niveles , quienes tambien fueron entrevistados, y se les administraron cuestionarios a 144 estudiantes Los resultados mostraron que: (a) los profesores usaron el espanol en la mayor parte de sus clases, (b) sus creencias parecen ser el factor que tiene mas impacto en la cantidad de espanol que usan en clase, y (c) los estudiantes manifestaron entender el espanol de su profesor y no sentirse frustrados cuando su profesor lo usaba en clase

Contemporary Argentine Cinema during Neoliberalism.

Abstract: In this article I analyze contemporary Argentine cinematic production assessing the impact of Law 24,377 that was implemented in 1995 and that provided much-needed funds for national productions. By looking at film production and consumption, the emergence of young filmmakers and the performance of both commercial films and those belonging to the so-called New Argentine Cinema, I make the case for the success of Law 24,377 regarding an increased national production, but not necessarily higher film consumption of national cinema by local audiences. This article is based primarily on data available from the Argentine Union of the Cinematographic Industry (SICA).

Long-Term Portfolio Projects to Teach and Assess Culture Learning in the Secondary Spanish Classroom: Shifting the Area of Expertise

Abstract: Secondary teachers often find it difficult to include the study of culture in their classes. Long-term cultural portfolios (LCPs) provide a method of allowing teachers to address culture in a substantial manner by allowing teachers to join students in the exploration of cultural topics. Teachers first select a cultural artifact, determine the themes associated with it, create activities to scaffold student learning, allow students to present their findings and, finally, have students reflect on the project as a whole. By providing students with significant time with the cultural artifact, they are not only able to examine the products and/or practices of a culture in- depth, but also gain insight into the perspectives from which the artifact emanates. specific country or a culture-related topic; and second, they do not feel that they have time in an already full curriculum to thoroughly examine cultural topics to give them full justice (Social Science Education Consortium 1999). The use of portfolios in the classroom has been shown as a positive and innovative method of introducing cultural knowledge in the foreign language classroom, while developing language skills (Schulz 2007). Long-term cultural portfolios (LCPs), or portfolios that span an entire academic term, take the pressure off teachers from being the "sage on the stage," because the teachers join in the exploration of culture alongside their students. By scaffolding learning, teachers help students as they pursue a culture topic in short segments of time throughout a term, instead of trying to make time for a quick study. By ad- dressing the artifact one or two times per week, in or out of the classroom, LCPs allow sufficient time for both the teacher and the students to look at the topics of interest, moving beyond a brief examination of a product or a simplified look at a cultural practice. They allow for a greater under- standing of the perspectives of the peoples of the target culture, while learning vital vocabulary and structures associated with them (Abrams, Byrd, Moehring, and Boovy 2006; Lee 1997). Likewise, LCPs can provide the opportunity to have students explore culture through a cross- disciplinary approach by letting the L2 teacher team with a history, art or language arts teacher. Regardless of the approach, a secondary teacher must consider five areas when considering a LCP project: 1 . select a cultural artifact for the portfolio; 2. determine the themes related to the artifact;

Los campos de concentración franquistas y su funcionamiento en Cataluña

Abstract: For Franco’s army, concentration camps represented a tool for the socio-political classification of prisoners of war. In Catalonia, this process began in the spring of 1938, with the stabilization of Franco’s Catalan front. An analysis of the operation of Catalonia’s concentration camps leads to an explanation of how the ‘Nuevo Estado’ adapted an extrajudicial system that had been developed in the context of the Civil War to meet its needs to maintain the separation of different sectors of Spanish society at the end of the war and the beginning of the postwar period.

Working Conditions of Foreign Language Teachers: Results from a Pilot Survey.

Abstract: Recent research has consistently shown that teacher working conditions are highly predictive of faculty turnover and student performance. However, very little work investigates specifically the experiences of foreign-language instructors. This paper reports results from a pilot survey of language teachers in public and private schools from across the United States. The responses show that, although they must meet the same training and certification requirements as other instructors, foreign-language teachers end up working under far more difficult conditions. Numerous teachers reported being responsible for an unwieldy number of students while lacking textbooks, a dedicated classroom, or time and space to prepare for classes. The results suggest that foreign-language instruction could become more effective if the working environment improves.

La Junta de Dependencias de Extranjeros (1714-1800): Trasfondo socio-político de una historia institucional

Abstract: This paper sets out to analyze the Junta de Dependencia de Extranjeros, an institution that was created within the framework of the government reforms that characterized the reign of Phillip V after the war of Spanish succession in order to monitor and control the activity of foreign merchants settled in numerous Spanish cities. During its operative period this institution developed a strong links and effective lines of communication with foreign merchant communities resident in Spain. This study is based on primary sources such as the documentation generated by the Junta, which included requests and complaints lodged by merchants and merchant communities as well as reports on the appointment of foreign consuls. These sources are preserved in the State sections of the Archivo Historico Nacional de Madrid and the Archivo General de Simancas. The correspondence of the representatives of merchant communities in Spain has also been used, as well as affidavits and population censuses preserved in the Provincial Archives of Madrid, Cadiz and Murcia. These sources have been interrogated in order to establish the stances and discourses adopted by both the Spanish government and the foreign merchants settled in those cities that sent representatives to the offices of Spain’s central government. The requests and complaints filed by foreign merchants and consuls in this context demonstrate the strength of their communities, which had been granted substantial privileges during the second half of the seventeenth century, and to which the Junta responded with a high degree of understanding. The Junta’s conciliatory stance was linked not only to pressure exerted by foreign ambassadors, but also to limitations established by the peace treaties signed by Spain. The Junta de Dependencia de Extranjeros clearly adopted a radically different position to that of Charles II’s fiercely protectionist government, and generally responded favourably to requests from foreign merchants relating to tax exemptions and the defence of commercial practices. These foreign communities can be regarded as autonomous entities that were detached from their respective countries of origin and enjoyed a great deal of influence at the royal court and within its lobbies.

Dual Enrollment in Spanish: One Working Model

Abstract: Dual enrollment is now a nation-wide phenomenon as all 50 states currently offer some form of dual-enrollment program to secondary-school students (Karp, Bailey, Hughes, and Fermin 2005). However, dual enrollment itself is often difficult to define as programs vary from school to school (Jordan, Cavalluzzo, and Corallo 2006). Therefore, language educators at both the high school and postsecondary levels may be hesitant to participate in such programs. This article encourages educators in world languages to consider participating in dual-enrollment programs by defining dual enrollment, reviewing the relevant literature, and discussing the history of world languages in dual enrollment. Beyond that, we provide a working model of a dual-nrollment course in Spanish, including a description of the teachers' partnership, project administration, and project outcomes. The article concludes with suggestions for language educators interested in participating in dual-enrollment programs.

Orientalismo en España: estudios árabes y acción colonial en Marruecos (1894-1943)

Abstract: This article presents and analyzes the relationship between Arab studies and colonialism in Spain. Arabists like Julian Ribera promoted this relationship and were actively involved in the training of ‘colonial agents’ in the service of the Spanish administration. They supported several initiatives to this end, becoming members of various official institutions such as the ‘Junta de Ensenanza de Marruecos’. However, the Arabists’ departure from the ‘Centro de Estudios Historicos’ in 1916 signalled the abandonment of this line of action, as Arab studies became restricted to the academic arena, and focussed on the study of the Arab-Islamic period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula. The creation of the ‘Escuelas de Estudios Arabes’ in 1932, especially that of Granada, marked a new initiative in Spanish arabists’ attempts at colonial involvement. However, this new project was brought to an abrupt halt by the Spanish Civil War.

Hard-Boiled for Hard Times in Leonardo Padura Fuentes's Detective Fiction

Abstract: Focusing on Leonardo Padura Fuentes's hard-boiled fiction, this essay traces the origin and evolution of the genre in Cuba. Padura Fuentes has challenged the officially sanctioned socialist literatura policial that became popular in the 1970s and 1980s. creating a new model of criticism that is not afraid to confront the island's socio-economic problems. This article analyzes how in this novelist's tetralogy, the dominating rhetoric is one of scarcity, and how this constant state of lacking builds on the formulaic elements of the detective genre to reveal a social reality where crime (and its resolution) do not always have to do with the discovery of a dead body.

Componente léxico y hábito de lectura en hablantes nativos y no nativos de español

Abstract: Se estima y compara el componente lexico (cantidad de vocabulario que se posee) de 44 sujetos, divididos en cuatro grupos: nativos de espanol (L1) con/sin habito de lectura y no-nativos de espanol (L2) con/sin habito de lectura, teniendo en cuenta las variables lectura (habito o no de lectura) y lengua (L1 o L2). Los resultados son estadisticamente significativos y muestran que la combinacion de las variables lectura y lengua predicen el 88% de la varianza en el componente lexico, siendo la variable lectura la que mas impacto tiene. Los resultados apoyan la adquisicion incidental del vocabulario (el grupo L2 con habito de lectura tiene un componente lexico de 15.000 palabras mas que el grupo L1 sin habito de lectura) y la urgencia de implementar la lectura extensiva en los programas de lenguas para asi ampliar el vocabulario y acelerar el proceso de adquisicion de L2. Se discuten implicaciones pedagogicas.

Honor y guerra. La tensión entre la realidad bélica y el discurso ideológico en la cronística castellana de la primera mitad del siglo XIV

Abstract: Chronicles represented one of the principal instruments used by different medieval powers to project ideas that legitimized and eulogized their authority. Warfare therefore frequently constitutes a key element of these texts. During the reign of Alfonso XI, the Crown of Castile promoted works that not only justified and glorified the king’s political activity, but also invoked an idealised image of warfare. This image was based on the idea of warfare as an honourable activity and the exclusive domain of a social elite, and therefore did not reflect real military practice. The authors of these works also considered the defence of the king’s honour a valid justification for war, even when this conflicted with more pragmatic attitudes. The Royal Chronicler Fernan Sanchez de Valladolid managed to reconcile the two in order to maintain the monarch beyond criticism. onicler, achieved to combine both in order to maintain the monarch beyond criticism. This approach was not exclusive to Castilian Chronicles, as it also constituted a characteristic element of other contemporary texts, like the works of Froissart or the French Royal Chronicles. This paper concludes that, rather than providing a reliable account of an event, chronicles often based their narratives on a series of common images and ideas that reflected a predetermined ideological discourse.

El camino a las elecciones de 1977: el primer gobierno de Adolfo Suárez en las viñetas de la prensa diaria

Abstract: This article analyses the image of the first government led by Adolfo Suarez portrayed by the cartoonists of the national press during a period of paramount importance in the Spanish transition to democracy. This ran from July 1976, when Suarez was appointed Presidente del Gobierno (Prime Minister) by the king to June 1977, when democratic elections were held in Spain for the first time since 1936. Cartoons published by five of the most important Spanish newspapers ( Abc, El Alcazar, Informaciones, La Vanguardia and Ya ) are analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. It becomes apparent that the Suarez cabinet was praised by cartoons published in the catholic Ya, harshly criticised in the hard-line right-wing El Alcazar and considered with different degrees of scepticism by the monarchist Abc , democratic Informaciones and Catalano-democratic La Vanguardia .

El nuevo rumbo político del carlismo hacia la colaboración con el régimen (1955-56)

Abstract: This essay examines the political turning-point represented by the beginning of the Carlist movement’s collaboration with the Falange. The deep crisis in which the Traditionalist Communion was submerged in the mid-1950’s was resolved by the decision to participate actively in the politics of the Regime. This change implied Carlism’s rejection of Manuel Fal Conde, and the attainment of a majority in favour of this new political direction within the movement. Carlist collaboration signified don Javier de Borbon Parma’s return to the Regency, and a political victory for Franco, who had managed to attract Carlism to his regime.

How Spanish Teachers and their Beginning-Level University Students Perceive FL Teaching Practices-Ideally and Concretely

Abstract: The increased dependence on student evaluations to assess instructional effectiveness at the post-secondary level manifests the growing importance the field places on students' perspectives of teaching and learning (Seldin 1993) Horwitz (1990), Kern (1995), and Schulz (1996) claim that mismatches between FL students' and teachers' expectations of teaching can negatively affect students' satisfaction with the language class and can potentially lead to the discontinuation of study This paper reports exclusively on the Spanish subset of A Brown's (2006) data taken from a larger sample of FL teachers and students which compared teachers' and students' beliefs regarding what an effective FL teacher should do in the classroom, their perceptions of how often teachers integrated specific behaviors, and how effective they were in doing so Significant differences abounded in the overall comparison and by teacher, especially in the area of target language use, error correction, and culture teaching pointing to the need for teachers to take stock of their beliefs and their students' regarding FL pedagogy

Get thee away, knight, be gone, cavalier: English Translations of the Biscayan Squire Episode in Don Quixote de la Mancha

Abstract: This article analyzes twelve English translations of the Biscayan squire's speech (Don Quijote de la Mancha, Chapter Eight) published between 1612 and 2000. The solutions found fall into three categories, namely (a) using standard English and risking misrepresenting the style of the original and omitting relevant cultural connotations, (b) using an existing nonstandard variety, and (c) devising a comparably tortuous literary dialect to emulate the contrast between the squire's speech and the standard variety used by the narrator and other characters.

Análisis de los usos de se desde la gramática descriptiva

Abstract: La gramatica descriptiva nos permite entrar en un analisis detallado y en un proceso de resolucion de hipotesis de una manera didactica, sin ser excesivamente exhaustivo. Es el enfoque usado en el presente trabajo para el analisis de la particula se, la cual resuelve una gran cantidad de situaciones comunicativas muy tipicas de la lengua castellana, como la impersonalidad, la suavizacion de la responsabilidad del agente, la descripcion de procesos internos y/o espontaneos, aparte de otros usos mas faciles de identificar, como los verbos reflexivos, los verbos de accion reciproca y la voz pasiva refleja. En multitud de ocasiones, es dificil clasificar e identificar estos usos, sobre todo cuando caen en mas de uno. A traves de una serie de simples explicaciones y la exposicion y resolucion de diversas hipotesis, se intenta hacer un estudio omnicomprensivo de los usos de se, en lugar de profundizar solamente en uno.