Dialectal variation of the preterit and imperfect

Abstract

Abstract This investigation examines the use of the pretérito and imperfecto forms in Puerto Rican and Buenos Aires Spanish. These dialects were chosen because the pretérito can express a perfect event in Buenos Aires Spanish while this use has not been documented in Puerto Rican Spanish. This may cause differences in the use of these forms. The main goal of this investigation was to contrast the linguistic predictors in both dialects in order to determine if there are dialectal differences and if they are due to different grammaticalization pathways. The results indicate that there are some differences between the Spanish spoken by Puerto Ricans and that of the Argentines of Buenos Aires. Among the results, it was found that these two dialects had different predictors for the pretérito and imperfecto. These results show preliminary evidence that indicates that these dialects follow different grammaticalization paths.