Yanesha is claimed to be heavily influenced by Quechua, especially in the lexical and phonological domain. The neighbouring Campa languages have probably also been in contact with Quechua. In this...Show moreYanesha is claimed to be heavily influenced by Quechua, especially in the lexical and phonological domain. The neighbouring Campa languages have probably also been in contact with Quechua. In this thesis the influence of Quechua on Yanesha on the one hand and on Campa languages on the other hand are compared, with the focus on structural features of the languages. It becomes clear that Quechua influence on the grammar of Yanesha is meagre. In Campa languages the inclusive-exclusive distinction is probably due to Quechua influence, but this seems to be the only major change in Campa structure because of Quechua. This case study challenges most of the existing theories about structural changes that follow lexical influence (Campa) and those theories who claim that the situation that causes heavy lexical influx, would also cause influence on the structure (Yanesha).Show less
This thesis tackles two aspects of Paraguayan Guarani. Firstly, it discusses the role of language mixing as a result of contact with Spanish. In this sense, it describes the types of mixed...Show moreThis thesis tackles two aspects of Paraguayan Guarani. Firstly, it discusses the role of language mixing as a result of contact with Spanish. In this sense, it describes the types of mixed structures reported in previous literature and it reviews contradictory claims considering, on the one hand, that mixed structures are just part of a discursive strategy (code-switching), and on the other hand, that they are part of a fully-fledged new code (a so-called mixed language). The thesis concludes that only by measuring the stability of mixed structures across speakers and across contexts of use will it be possible to reach a solid conclusion with regard to this matter. Secondly, against the prevalent assumption that Paraguayan Guarani is mostly homogeneous across regions, the thesis conducts an acoustic study comparing the formant values of Guarani vowels produced by urban speakers from Asunción and rural speakers from Concepción. Results show that the differences between individual segments are not statistically significant. However, significant differences are revealed in the F2 of two vowels, /ɨ/ and /i/, in specific consonant environments, thus pointing to potential variation in coarticulation patterns.Show less
