Spanish Linguistics Commons^™

Dialects In Narration, Olivia Dunphy, Madeline Ellingson, Alexandra Kroger, Elise Ferguson, Annie Lou Howell, Claire Doty

25th Annual A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2026)

This study examines differences in Spanish dialects among native speakers from various countries, while focusing on pronunciation and the use of local slang. Fifteen native Spanish speakers participated in the study, which was divided into two parts. In the first part, participants told a free-form story to elicit and observe their natural speech. In the second part, they completed two more activities that were structured with specific prompts. All the responses were recorded and then later analyzed to identify dialectal features. The analysis was completed by the researchers, with the help of artificial intelligence, specifically ChatGPT. By comparing linguistics in …

Evaluative Expressions In Spanish Digital Discourse: A Sociopragmatic Study Of Vaya/Qué Constructions, Jason L. Meier

LSU Master's Theses

This study examines the sociopragmatic patterns of Spanish evaluative constructions involving qué/vaya in contemporary digital discourse. Drawing upon politeness and impoliteness frameworks by Penelope Brown and Stephen C. Levinson (1978, 1987) and Jonathan Culpeper (1996), this research observes how speakers deploy use these constructions within public discourse to negotiate stance. The data consists of posts from X (formerly Twitter) and comments from YouTube videos, selected to showcase naturally occurring instances of (im)politeness across social media. These constructions are key to determining how society navigates expression and form within public discourse. In addition to the modern findings, a focused analysis of …

A Treasure Hunt: The Interdisciplinary Challenge Of A Digital Humanities Hackathon, Marie Barras, Adélaïde Quenson, Adrien Jeanrenaud, Angela Allemand, Marina Berazategui, Levyn Bürki, Michel Capot, Simon Gabay, Vestin Hategekimana, Pauline Jacsont, Bokar Lamine N'Diaye, Elina Leblanc, Clara May, Anne-Laure Oberson, Margherita Parigini, Lara Pitteloud, Fassaleh Taal, Cédric Viaccoz

Artl@s Bulletin

Abstract: This article tells the story of an interdisciplinary hackathon emphasizing exploration, collaboration, and creative engagement with globalization-related cultural datasets. Participants worked in teams to produce research posters, which were then presented at the opening of the international conference Image Deluge & Globalization in Geneva. The article discusses three projects: one on 19th-century Spanish chapbooks using topic modeling and network analysis; another on leopard motifs in print imagery; and a third on olfactory heritage. The hackathon highlighted both the potential and the limitations of working with digital cultural data, offering insights into interdisciplinary methods.

Résumé: Cet article raconte un hackathon …

Colloquial Language, Standard Language, Or Educated Language?, Rocio Carranza Brito

Open Educational Resources

This assignment invites students to critically explore Spanish dialects, regional expressions, and language variations through guided interactions with ChatGPT. Students will examine colloquialisms across chosen Spanish dialects, analyze their meanings and linguistic significance, and compare AI-generated examples with their own academic revisions. Through structured reflection, students will assess the strengths, limitations, and risks of using AI as a language tool. The focus will be on intentional prompting, linguistic awareness, and critical evaluation, rather than simply substituting human expression.

Analyzing The Use Of Ai To Transcribe An Interview In Spanish, Rocío Carranza Brito

Open Educational Resources

This assignment explores the differences between oral and written language and the challenges of transcribing speech. Students conduct an interview with a selected person, using ChatGPT to create and refine interview questions. They record the interview and use Otter.ai to generate a literal transcription that captures natural speech features such as repetitions and hesitations. After reviewing and correcting the transcript against the audio, students format it with participants’ initials to focus on content rather than timestamps. A simplified transcription guideline is applied to mark key elements. Finally, students reflect on the transcription process, addressing what was most difficult to represent …

“No Soy Una Santa Pero Estoy Blessed”: El Álbum Lux, La Lingüística, Y Rosalía Como Una Santa Moderna, Abigail H. Gustafson

Scripps Senior Theses

Esta tesis analiza el álbum LUX (2025) de Rosalía como un proyecto artístico que fusiona la espiritualidad, la lingüística y la identidad femenina en un contexto contemporáneo y globalizado. A través de referencias a figuras religiosas femeninas como Anandamayi Ma, Santa Rosa de Lima y Rabia Basri, Rosalía reinterpreta el concepto tradicional de la santidad y propone una visión moderna de la feminidad. Este análisis se apoya en la teoría de la performatividad de género de Judith Butler, argumentando que la identidad femenina en LUX se construye de manera fluida, múltiple y no limitada por categorías culturales o religiosas rígidas. …

Gender-Inclusive Language In Spanish: A Data-Informed Sociolinguistic Exploration Of Naming Variation, Silvia Rivera Alfaro, Jonathan Hanon

Publications and Research

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a data-informed sociolinguistic exploration of the variation in the names given to gender-inclusive language in Spanish. We use publicly available Google Trends (GT) data to describe the frequency of usage of different names over time and explore their geographical distribution. To account for the challenges and limitations of using Google Trends, we compare the data with information from two large linguistic corpora (CORPES XXI and Google Books Ngram Viewer). Using these tools, we generate small datasets to explore the intricacies of the topic addressed in this paper. In our literature review, we identified 17 names for …

Spa 309 - Spanish Advanced Grammar, Beatriz Lado, Evelyn Duran-Urrea, Tania Avilés

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus is a work in progress developed by Tania Avilés, Evelyn Durán Urrea, and Beatriz Lado. We adapt the traditional grammar-focused course to introduce the study of the Spanish language through a critical sociolinguistic and language-education lens. This approach responds more directly to the needs of our students, many of whom speak language varieties that have historically been stigmatized or marginalized and are training to become Spanish-language teachers.

Students will examine the structure and grammar of Spanish across key domains, including phonetics, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, discourse, and variation. At the same time, the course situates this structural knowledge …

Integrating Non-Binary Morphology Into Spanish Grammatical Gender: A Study On Native And Second-Language Speakers, Abigail H. Gustafson

Scripps Senior Theses

This study investigates how native (L1) and second-language (L2) Spanish speakers process non-binary gender morphology, focusing on the pronoun ‘elle’ and the adjective/noun ending ‘-e’. Prior studies show that native speakers outperform L2 speakers in processing traditional masculine–feminine agreement, non-binary forms and their emergence in a binary grammatical system are understudied. To address this gap, I conducted an online reaction-time experiment with bilingual speakers from the Claremont Colleges, who judged the grammaticality of Spanish sentences containing either grammatical gender or social gender (él/ella/elle) agreement and disagreement. Survey data also captured participants’ familiarity with and attitudes toward the pronoun ‘elle’. The …

Spn 316, Introduction To Hispanic Linguistics, Bernardita Chaigneau Castro

Open Educational Resources

The present syllabus includes the structure for an Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics class. The topics range from basic concepts in linguistics to the specific study of Spanish in the United States. The syllabus also includes different Open Access Resources in Spanish, as the class was thought to be taught mainly in Spanish.

Convergencias Y Divergencias: Un Estudio Comparativo De Lenguas Y Literaturas Española Y Portuguesa En España Durante La Temprana Edad Moderna Europea, Eduardo A. Rodrigues D'Abruzzo

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study examines the literary and linguistic relationships between Spain and Portugal during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries through literary works and their translations. A period characterized by the Iberian Union, vernacularization, and the consolidation of early modern literary systems. It explores the interaction of Spanish and Portuguese texts within a shared yet asymmetrical cultural space shaped by translation, genre adaptation, and hierarchies of linguistic prestige. The research employs comparative textual analysis grounded in historical sociolinguistics, philology, and translation studies. Key works analyzed include Alfonso X’s historiography, Francisco Rodrigues Lobo’s Corte na aldeia and its Spanish translation, and Luís de …