Guaraní-Spanish Jopara Mixing in a Paraguayan Novel

Abstract

We study the highly idiosyncratic case of Paraguay, the only American nation where an indigenous language has survived as a majority language spoken by the non-indigenous population. Jopara is the name of the commonly used code that mixes Guaraní and Spanish. Characterizations of Jopara in the literature are inconclusive. Some authors call it a variety of Spanish, some a variety of Guaraní, others a new mixed language. The choice of one characterization over the other has important implications for the status of Guaraní vis-à-vis Spanish, especially for Paraguay’s educational and language planning. Here we analyze Jopara as it is represented in the novel Ramona Quebranto (rq-Jopara). We show that this written code is not a variety of either Spanish or Guaraní, nor a mixed language. Rather, it reflects properties of true code-switching. It displays both insertional and alternational characteristics (Muysken, 2000), as well as evidence of a composite matrix language (Myers-Scotton, 2002). We conclude by suggesting rq-Jopara fits best a “mixed lect” scenario (Backus, 2003) and discussing generalization to spoken Jopara.