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
