Language Contacts in Guatemala: Changes in the Spanish Atonic Pronominal System Through Contact with the Mayan Language Tzutujil

Abstract

This investigation has as an objective to study spoken Spanish in areas of contact with the Mayan language Tzutujil in Guatemala starting from field work with bilingual informants. The situation of intense bilingualism that has been present for years between these languages has influenced changes in Spanish that have consolidated into stable norm in these regions. Through an analysis of the use of the atonic pronouns in the third person, we will show that the influence that tzutujil exerts on Spanish shows itself in the simplification of the pronominal system of the direct object in Spanish. Spoken Spanish in these areas shows a tendency to use one invariable pronominal form without distinguishing between gender and number which in this case is lo (“Y si la señorita al día siguiente, digamos hoy en la tarde dejaron esa moneda en su güipil, y si lo regresan ahorita mismo piensan ‘ah, no, eso no nos gusta, a nosotros no’”…). We will propose a hypothesis of linguistic contact as a cause of the described changes.