El Léxico Afro-Castellano en México: ¿Imperecedero o Moribundo?

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Spanish

Date of Award

Fall 2020

Abstract

This research deals with the survival of Afro-Spanish lexicon today in an area of ​​the Mexican Caribbean, Costa Chica [Guerrero and Oaxaca] and Veracruz. Several studies have been carried out on the Africanized lexicon in Latin America (Þorvaldar, 1981; Jamieson, 1991; López Morales, 1988,1998; Megenney, 1983; Ortiz, 1924; Prieto Vera, 2005; Santos Rovira, 2015), however, there are few studies on Mexican Africanisms (Althoff, 2000; Lara, 2015) and even less knowledge about the vitality of Mexican Africanisms (Luna EnRojo [blog], 2010). The importance of this research is to shed light on the vitality of the Africanized lexicon in Mexico despite the miscegenation that tends to blur the distinction between the influences of the three roots of Mexico that consist of the peninsular, the indigenous and the African. It is a study of linguistic change, considering the process of integration of certain words in the Spanish lexicon of the regions of Costa Chica and Veracruz, Mexico. The study is not diachronic but synchronic, although the evolution of the meaning of certain words is considered to corroborate the process of change. The sampling is random and empirical with uniform allocation. Participants note familiarity with a series of words to denote active, passive, or unknown knowledge. They are then asked to come up with a definition of the terms so that current usage can be compared to usage in centuries past. The central social variables of this study are: gender, age, area / locality. The data is statistically analyzed to determine which are the Africanized words that have been fully integrated into the Mexican-Caribbean lexicon and whose use makes them current today?

Advisor

Flavia Belpoliti

Subject Categories

Arts and Humanities | Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS