Volume: 9  Number: 5  Page: 535–556  doi:10.2167/beb379.0

Kechwa and Spanish Bilingual Grammars: Testing Hypotheses on Functional Interference and Convergence

Liliana Sánchez Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

This paper presents an exploratory study on cross-linguistic interference among indigenous Kechwa¹–Spanish bilingual children (n=30) living in a language contact situation. Its preliminary findings show evidence of cross-linguistic interference between Kechwa desiderative progressive forms such as miku-naya-yka-n (eat-desprog-3) ‘S/he wants to/is about to eat’ and bilingual Spanish modal progressive structures such as está queriendo comer ‘wants to/is about to eat’. The latter convey a desiderative/imminent aspectual meaning absent in the narratives of a comparison group of Spanish-dominant children (n=25). The paper focuses on showing how interference and convergence in functional features such as modal and aspect features are possible despite striking differences in the morphology of two languages spoken by a bilingual individual. It is argued that, as predicted by the Functional Interference Hypothesis and the Functional Convergence Hypothesis, functional features are the locus of language change, and that activation of functional features from language A in language B, under specific discourse conditions, may lead to convergence in some bilingual individuals. These preliminary findings underscore the need to study the relationship between knowledge of syntax and knowledge of discourse conditions in bilinguals as well as the ability displayed by some bilingual individuals to dissociate syntax from morphology.

Keywords: interference, convergence, Kechwa, Spanish, bilingual, aspect

© 2006 L. Sánchez

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