Advances in Hispanic Linguistics: Papers from the 2nd Hispanic Linguistics Symposium

Abstract

Advances in Hispanic Linguistics: Papers from the 2nd Hispanic Linguistics Symposium. Ed. Javier Gutierrez-Rexach and Fernando Martinez-Gil. 2 vols. Somerville, MA. Cascadilla, 1999. 578 pages. This collection of English-language articles, which touch all areas of Hispanic linguistics, resulted from the conference mentioned in the title and held at the Ohio State University in Columbus in October of 1998. Shortly thereafter, the editors produced a gem-a set of high-quality papers in two beautifully printed paperback volumes promulgated by an up-and-coming publisher of conference proceedings. Volume i contains the introduction and acknowledgments, Section 1: Psycholinguistics and Sociolinguistics, and Section 2: Phonology, Morphology, and Historical Linguistics, whereas Volume ii includes only Section 3: Syntax, Semantics, and Pragmatics. The articles include their own bibliography, each of which has followed the same standard format. Even though the fonts used have not adhered to the same pattern, the changes in font from article to article in no way distract from the excellent attributes of the content or the printing. Of the 48 papers presented at the conference only 37 were included in this set of selected proceedings. The editors have carefully chosen articles that employ more traditional theoretical models and those that utilize current standards of linguistic thought (e.g., Optimality Theory applied to problems of historical linguistics). The compendium highlights scholarship from younger researchers as well as that of more established ones. In the latter group one will find names such as Frank Nuessel, John Lipski, Jose Ignacio Hualde, Marta Lujan, Rafael Nunez Cedeno, Diane Ringer Uber, Robert Hammond, Paula Kempchinsky, and Thomas Walsh, among others. While all of the articles merit praise for their caliber, some require special attention. Therefore, this review will comment on a subset of the selected proceedings, either for their superior presentation or because the research requires particular commentary. In her article on the various interpretations of the oft-caricatured syntactic marker nomas, Mary Ellen Garcia proceeds with an historical overview of its use in Spanish from Latin to the present day. She points out that the Spanish American nomas is generally equivalent to the Spanish use of nada mds and she gives many examples to prove her hypothesis that the adverb serves to limit and/or emphasize something in a conversation, especially in the Spanish of San Antonio, Texas. Diane Ringer Uber, an established expert in Spanish American phonology, has most recently been investigating the pronouns of address in Spanish America. …

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