Ecuadorian Spanish Research Articles

ЕКВАДОРСЬКИЙ ВАРІАНТ ІСПАНСЬКОЇ МОВИ: МАЙБУТНІЙ ЧАС ЗАМІСТЬ ІМПЕРАТИВУ

The article is devoted to studying the peculiarities of the Ecuadorian variant of the Spanish language, namely the unusual way of forming imperatives using the simple future tense. From the beginning, the Spanish language in Ecuador coexisted with other national languages of indigenous peoples, particularly Kichwa or Quechua. As a result of their semantic-pragmatic and syntactic convergence, Ecuadorian Spanish acquired new characteristics that distinguish it from the rest of the national variants. One of these features is using the simple future tense as an imperative. We determined that the future form is used to soften orders, requests, and recommendations; at the same time, it also has other contextual meanings, such as remoteness in time, transfer of responsibility, emphasis, and highlighting the importance of the enouncement. It is unusual how the structure characteristic of the imperative mood is transferred to the imperative formed with the help of the future tense, namely the adding of the “se” particle and pronouns of the direct object after the verb in the future simple tense.

The Ecuadorian Spanish benefactive and its inherent aspect

Abstract The Spanish benefactive verbal periphrasis dar ‘give’ + gerund is unique to the Spanish spoken in Ecuador and it seems to have emerged in the historical Ecuadorian context of multilingualism. The analysis presented sheds light to the intricacies of the construction, taking into consideration the inherent aspect of the gerundial verb. Oral data was collected during two months of participant observation in Ecuador. The aspectual theoretical analysis of Verkuyl (1993), González (2003) and González and Verkuyl (2017) is applied to the data in order to determine the inherent aspectual value of the gerundial verb in the predications. The results show that there is an overwhelming use of terminative predications. Additionally, some predications that prima facie seem durative can be interpreted as terminative. This finding can be partially explained by particular linguistic phenomena only appearing in the Spanish in contact with Kichwa. Moreover, this study adds empirical proof of how relevant discourse is in aspectual representations.

A preliminary analysis of intonation patterns in Ecuadorian Cuencano Spanish

Abstract El Cantado Cuencano “Cuencano singing” constitutes the hallmark of Cuencano Spanish: a widely spoken Andean dialect in the Ecuadorian province of Azuay. This colloquially described “singing” makes Cuencano Spanish one of the most distinct dialects of Ecuador. The aim of the present study is to provide a preliminary analysis of intonation patterns from common utterance types in this under documented dialect. A sample of 550 utterances from 11 categories that included declarative statements, yes/no questions, exclamative statements, wh-questions, imperatives, lists, conditionals, tag-questions, interjections, negative statements, and vocatives was collected from five male and five female participants. The tokens were analyzed acoustically and labeled using the Spanish Tones and Break Indices system (Sp_ToBI). Results reveal the presence of a tritonal pitch accent (PA), labeled as L + H* + L and the extensive use of bitonal PAs (namely, L + H*). These three phenomena mark the singing quality of Cuencano Spanish and make it stand out from the dialects of Ecuadorian Spanish.

Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure of the Spanish Version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) in Ecuador.

(1) Background: The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) is the most well-known self-report measure to assess psychological inflexibility, a transdiagnostic pathological process, and targets for interventions. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties and factorial structure of the Ecuadorian Spanish version of the AAQ-II in a large sample of college students in Ecuador. (2) Methods: A total of 7905 students, 46.26% male and 53.75% female, from 11 Ecuadorian universities were surveyed. The AAQ-II was tested for factorial structure, reliability, and correlations with other health-related measures. (3) Results: The AAQ-II showed an unidimensional factorial structure, accounting for 66.87% to 70% of the total variance and showing a good fit of the data to the model (comparative adjustment index (CFI) = 0.995; goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.992; Standardized Root Mean Squared Residual (SRMR) = 0.037; mean square approximation error (RMSEA) = 0.047, CI90% = 0.038–0.056). Reliability was optimal (Cronbach’s α = 0.919; ω = 0.928), and AAQ-II scores significantly correlated with multiple health indicators. Psychological inflexibility was significantly higher in women than men. (4) Conclusions: The Spanish version of the AAQ-II showed good psychometric properties, which further supports psychological inflexibility, not just as a transdiagnostic process.

Ecuadorian Spanish translation and validation of the VELO quality of life instrument

ObjectivesAdapt the Spanish translation of VPI Effects on Life Outcome (VELO) instrument into Ecuadorian Spanish; test the resulting instrument for reliability and validity. MethodsA cross-sectional, prospective design, set at a humanitarian mission within a community hospital. Linguistic validation: native Ecuadorian-Spanish speakers modified the Spanish VELO to Ecuadorian Spanish. Cognitive interviews were conducted with children with cleft palate (CP) and their parents (n = 50), guiding instrument modifications. An expert panel reviewed changes, resulting in the VELO-Ecuadorian dialect (VELO-Ec). Instrument assessment88 participants with CP (88 parents, 46 children) and 33 non-cleft controls (33 adult, 11 children) completed the VELO-Ec, Spanish-Pediatric Voice Handicap Index (pVHI), and Spanish-Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS). Internal consistency was assessed with Cronbach's alpha; test-retest reliability was assessed by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC); standard error of measurement (SEM) was calculated. Concurrent validity was assessed with Pearson correlations of VELO-Ec with pVHI and ICS. Discriminant validity assessment used an established ICS cutoff. Construct validity was assessed by grouping patients by parent report of hypernasality and early vs. late cleft repair (>24 months) using the Wilcoxon Rank-Sum test. ResultsVELO-Ec showed excellent internal consistency (alpha 0.96) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.85, 95% CI 0.68–0.93, SEM 5.71). It had strong concurrent validity, correlating with ICS (r = 0.75, p < 0.001) and pVHI (r = −0.79, p < 0.001). Discriminant validity was strong with better VELO-Ec scores among subjects with normal vs. abnormal ICS score (median 95 & 61, p < 0.001). Strong construct validity was identified: those with parent-reported hypernasality had worse VELO-Ec scores than those without (median 59 & 75, p < 0.001). Those with repair before or after 24 months had similar VELO-Ec scores (p = 0.882). ConclusionThe VELO-Ec is a valid and reliable measure of VPI-related quality of life, useful to clinicians and researchers treating Ecuadorian CP patients, especially in areas with limited resources such as on humanitarian missions.

Three Multilingual Dynamics of Indigenous Language Use that Challenge Standardized Linguistic Assessment

ABSTRACTGlobal efforts for standards-based linguistic assessment increasingly hold that examinees should be tested in the language with which they are most familiar. Yet, language use still occurs differently from its characterization in exams, even as exams are increasingly developed in historically minoritized languages. Drawing from two years of ethnographic research on bilingual education in Ecuadorian Quechua (Kichwa) and Spanish, this article examines a national-scale proficiency exam in Kichwa for planners and teachers in Ecuador. It foregrounds three dynamics of Indigenous language heterogeneity that contrast with how exams reinscribe standardized language ideologies: (1) There are different regional varieties that may not be mutually intelligible; (2) Standardizing initiatives have included lexical “purism,” whereas speakers often blend words and grammatical categories from Spanish into an Indigenous linguistic variety; (3) There are a range of forms and degrees of standardization, some of which are difficult to comprehend and produce, especially in writing. Ultimately, standardization and authority in exams may cause concern and anxiety for a number of examinees and, further, may not recognize proficiency. For languages undergoing shift to more spoken languages, such concern risks discouraging Indigenous language use and increasing shift to Spanish.

Vowel perception by native Media Lengua, Quichua, and Spanish speakers

This study explores mid and high vowel perception in and across Ecuadorian Spanish, Quichua, and Media Lengua (a mixed language containing Quichua systemic elements and Spanish lexicon). Quichua and Media Lengua were originally considered three vowel systems comprised of /i, u, a/. However, recent production results reveal that mid vowels /e, o/ may have entered these languages through Spanish lexical borrowings. The aim of the present study is to test listener perception with minimal pairs containing different mid and high vowels to determine how listeners identify them. A two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) identification task experiment with paired stimuli, gradually modified along 10-step continua, revealed that listeners of all three languages demonstrate a relatively high degree of consistent response patterns with the exception of older Quichua listeners. The results of this study coupled with the ‘intermixed’ acoustic spaces in which the vowels are produced also call into question the predictions that might be made in theoretical models of L2/non-native speech perception.

The Ecuadorian Spanish version of the Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR)

The Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR) is a new parent/patient reported outcome measure that enables a thorough assessment of the disease status in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We report the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the parent and patient versions of the JAMAR in the Ecuadorian Spanish language. The reading comprehension of the questionnaire was tested in 10 JIA parents and patients. Each participating centre was asked to collect demographic, clinical data and the JAMAR in 100 consecutive JIA patients or all consecutive patients seen in a 6-month period and to administer the JAMAR to 100 healthy children and their parents. The statistical validation phase explored descriptive statistics and the psychometric issues of the JAMAR: the 3 Likert assumptions, floor/ceiling effects, internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha, interscale correlations, test–retest reliability, and construct validity (convergent and discriminant validity). A total of 23 JIA patients (17.4% systemic, 17.4% RF negative poly-arthritis, 17.4% RF positive poly-arthritis, and 47.8% other categories) and 23 healthy children were enrolled in the paediatric centre of Guayaquil. The JAMAR components discriminated well healthy subjects from JIA patients. Notably, there is no significant difference between the healthy subjects and their affected peers in the school-related problems variable. All JAMAR components revealed good psychometric performances. In conclusion, the Ecuadorian Spanish version of the JAMAR is a valid tool for the assessment of children with JIA and is suitable for use both in routine clinical practice and clinical research.

Voice onset time production in Ecuadorian Spanish, Quichua, and Media Lengua

In Ecuador there exists a dynamic language contact continuum between Urban Spanish and Rural Quichua. This study explores the effects of competing phonologies with an analysis of voice onset time (VOT) production in and across three varieties of Ecuadorian highland Spanish, Quichua, and Media Lengua. Media Lengua is a mixed language that contains Quichua systemic elements and a lexicon of Spanish origin. Because of this lexical-grammatical split, Media Lengua is considered the most central point along the language continuum. Native Quichua phonology has a single series of voiceless stops (/p/, /t/, and /k/), while Spanish shows a clear voicing contrast between stops in the same series. This study makes use of nearly 8,000 measurements from 69 participants to (i) document VOT production in the aforementioned language varieties and (ii) analyse the effects of borrowings on VOT. Results based on mixed effects models and multidimensional scaling suggest that the voicing contrast has entered both Media Lengua and Quichua through Spanish lexical borrowings. However, the VOT values of voiced stops in Media Lengua align with those of Rural and L2 Spanish while Quichua shows significantly longer prevoicing values, suggesting some degree of overshoot.

Regional pragmatic variation in the use of the discourse marker pues in informal talk among university students in Quito (Ecuador), Santiago (Chile) and Seville (Spain)

The discourse marker pues in spoken Spanish has been studied extensively in Peninsular Spanish (see, among many others, Fuentes-Rodríguez, 1987, 2009; Garcés Gómez, 1992; Portolés Lázaro, 1989). There is also a growing body of studies on pues in Latin American varieties of Spanish (cf. Travis, 2005; Vázquez Carranza, 2013; Zavala, 2001). Less attention, however, has been paid to this discourse marker in Chilean and Ecuadorian Spanish. Also, very little attention has been given to the study of discourse markers in Spanish from an inter-varietal standpoint. Taking a variational pragmatics perspective (Schneider and Barron, 2008), in this paper we examine the impact of region (cf. Placencia, 2011) on the use of pues in informal talk among university students in Quito (Ecuador), Santiago (Chile) and Seville (Spain). Our analysis is based on a corpus of 60 role-play interactions within each location, eliciting advice-giving and complaint talk in −SD (social distance) −P (power) scenarios.We look at variation in the distribution of pues in relation to form, position and functions. For example, pues and its variants, which are not all shared across varieties, were found to occur in turn/act initial position only in Seville, and in act final position only in Quito and Santiago. Linked to position, two types of pues in use, each with their own functions, emerged: pues as a connector and pues as an operator. Thus our study shows that there is formal and functional variation in the use of pues across data sets, the latter linked to position.

Sibilant Voicing in Ecuadorian Spanish

Abstract Highland Ecuadorian Spanish has a unique process of /s/ voicing that differs from other dialects of Spanish in that word-final /s/ is realized as [z] intervocalically (Lipski 1989, 1994, Robinson 1979). Ecuadorian /s/ voicing is problematic for serial models of phonology as well as for some output-to-output analyses within Optimality Theory. It is argued that the data can be accounted for by an optimalitytheoretic analysis that incorporates phonetic underspecification as a strategy to satisfy coda-licensing restrictions. Sibilants without a voicing target remain unspecified until the phonetic component, where they adopt the laryngeal configuration of neighboring sounds and can thus be expected to exhibit gradient and variable voicing. Contrary to existing non-derivational proposals (Bradley 2007, Colina 2006), it is shown that it is not necessary to resort to two levels of representation (lexical and postlexical) to explain the behavior of Ecuadorian Spanish. The analysis proposed also accounts for cross-dialectal variation affecting word-final prevocalic /s/.

Opening up closings—the Ecuadorian way

In the conversation analytic tradition, this paper examines the procedures Ecuadorian Spanish (ES) speakers employ to close telephone conversations. Conversation analysts (cf. Schegloff, 1979) examined telephone talk in American English and that found that conversations are opened and brought to a close by the joint work of participants. Concerning closings, they observed, for example, that participants employ certain procedures to signal their desire to bring the conversation to an end and others to actually close the interaction. They also suggested that the conversational procedures they describe are of a universal character (cf. Schegloff and Sacks, 1974 [1973]). The examination of telephone closings in the present study reveals that similar procedures are employed in Ecuadorian Spanish. Nevertheless, it also highlights some of the features that appear to be characteristic of Ecuadorian Spanish only, that is, that seem to be culture-bound, and thus contests Schegloff and Sacks's unversality claims. The need for a culturally contexted conversation analysis, along the lines proposed by Moerman (1988) is supported here.

Politeness in Ecuadorian Spanish

This paper examines politeness phenomena in Ecuadorian Spanish as reflected in the language of telephone conversations, and, as such, attempts to add another cultural perspective to the discussion of politeness issues and of Brown and Levinson's (1978, 1987) much criticized theory, in particular. It highlights some of the difficulties involved in the application of Brown and Levinson's theory to actual conversational data in Ecuadorian Spanish, such as the frequent occurrence of embeddedness, which brings into question their notions of positive and negative politeness strategies as clear-cut categories, and the lack of one-to-one correspondence between certain forms and their politeness value, which poses problems for generalizations. It also explores the motivations behind participants' use of certain strategies and brings into question Brown and Brown and Levinson's notion of face. In addition, it considers some features of politeness at the macro-speech level (cf. van Dijk, 1977, 1980), which Brown and Levinson do not seem to take into account. Finally, it suggests that it might be fruitful to seek explanations for some aspects of linguistic politeness in fields that deal with social behavior and patterns of social interaction (e.g. social psychology and social anthropology). It nevertheless also suggests that to arrive at a more adequate characterization and understanding of politeness phenomena in Ecuadorian Spanish, it might be useful to examine some aspects of its history and the development of what today constitute its key social institutions.

Politeness in mediated telephone conversations in Ecuadorian Spanish and British English

Politeness in mediated telephone conversations in Ecuadorian Spanish and British English