Volume: 9  Number: 5  Page: 615–624  doi:10.2167/beb383.0

Bilingual Discourse Markers in Indigenous Languages

Lourdes Torres Department of Modern Languages, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA

This review of research considers the occurrence and function of Spanish discourse markers and other particles in indigenous speech. I discuss important research that has examined these phenomena and refer to studies of bilingual discourse markers in other non-indigenous language contact situations to address unresolved issues concerning the form and function of these particles in indigenous languages. Based on an analysis of this work, I conclude that the status of such markers in indigenous languages depends on the relationship between language dominance and the frequency and type of borrowing. I also assess that only time will determine whether or not the use of borrowed elements implies an eventual replacement of native language discourse markers or a coexistence of two systems.

Keywords: discourse markers, indigenous languages, codeswitching, borrowing

© 2006 L. Torres

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