Lexical variation, or the existence of multiple lexemes that can be used to denote a particular concept, is a phenomenon characteristic of most of the world’s language systems. Often times the source of this variation is difficult to determine, with a variety of inter- and intra-linguistic factors at play. This thesis was conducted with three main goals: 1) to delineate lexical items typical to specific dialects of Spanish and generate country-specific word lists that focus on salient contrasts between the different varieties of the language; 2) to determine whether speakers of particular varieties of Spanish, namely Puerto Rican and Venezuelan Spanish, were able to recognize lexical items that are supposedly characteristic of their dialect in particular; 3) to examine how dialectal variation can affect linguistic processing. The first part of this investigation examined the relative frequency of use of 1,903 dialectal words in the 22 countries contained within Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual, or CREA, (REAL ACADEMIA ESPAÑOLA, 2008). Of these 1,903 words, total of 320 were found to be characteristic of a particular variety of Spanish. The lexical items that demonstrated significant correlation with Puerto Rican and Venezuelan Spanish were then used to develop a picture naming task in which participants were asked to designate whether a particular lexical item constituted an appropriate label for the image depicted. The results from this study suggest that speakers of these two dialects were unable to distinguish words as pertaining to their variety in particular, regardless of the supposed high frequency of use within their dialect. The present study thus theorizes that the processing of these dialectal lexical items is closer to monolingual models rather than bilingual models as bilingual-like behaviors were not observed.

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University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities / Department of Portuguese

University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities. / Department of Portuguese

Language acquisition research frequently concerns itself with linguistic development and result of the acquisition process with respect to a first or subsequent language. For some, it seems tacitly assumed that a first language, once acquired, remains stable, regardless of exposure to and the acquisition of additional language(s) beyond the first one in childhood. Research on language attrition (language loss) questions the validity of this assumption and raises questions that will not only help in describing and explaining the nature of linguistic attrition, but also shed light on the mental (cognitive) representation of human language. The goal of this dissertation is to contribute to the general program of research that investigates possible domains of first language attrition and its cause(s). More specifically, I endeavor to test the predictions and theoretical tenability of the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace and Filiaci 2006) as applied to language attrition (e.g. Tsimpli et al 2004). The Interface Hypothesis claims that certain linguistic properties, namely those at external interfaces such as the syntax/discourse interface, are especially vulnerable to optionality in language acquisition (see Sorace and Serratrice 2009). For attrition, it predicts that, upon sufficient exposure, linguistic properties that are dependent on interfaces between the linguistic computational system and external domains of cognition (such as pragmatics and discourse structure) are more vulnerable to erosion than those that lie internally to the linguistic system (e.g. syntax/semantic interface) or those that are purely syntactic in nature. Within this framework, attrition is hypothesized to either be due to direct interference from the L2 or due to linguistic processing deficits that are a byproduct of being bilingual. The comprehensive nature of this case study, which tests the L1 grammar of an adult native speaker of Spanish after 25 years of uninterrupted naturalistic exposure to Brazilian Portuguese across the different property types, not only allows for an examination of possible domains of attrition (e.g. external interfaces, internal interfaces, syntax) but also allows for teasing apart of the cause of attrition by combining both untimed and timed methodologies. Although the main focus of this dissertation is to test the limits and explanatory value of the Interface Hypothesis, the data will also be examined in light of other theories such as Paradis' (2004) Activation Threshold Hypothesis and Jakobson's (1940) Regression Hypothesis to determine the extent to which various theories might best explain the data to be obtained.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Issued also as Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania. / Bibliography: p. 104-105.

abstract: Despite the wealth of folk music traditions in Portugal and the importance of the clarinet in the music of bandas filarmonicas, it is uncommon to find works featuring the clarinet using Portuguese folk music elements. In the interest of expanding this type of repertoire, three new works were commissioned from three different composers. The resulting works are Seres Imaginarios 3 by Luis Cardoso; Delirio Barroco by Tiago Derrica; and Memória by Pedro Faria Gomes. In an effort to submit these new works for inclusion into mainstream performance literature, the author has recorded these works on compact disc. This document includes interview transcripts with each composer, providing first-person discussion of each composition, as well as detailed biographical information on each composer. To provide context, the author has included a brief discussion on Portuguese folk music, and in particular, the role that the clarinet plays in Portuguese folk music culture. / Dissertation/Thesis / Seres Imaginarios 3 - Movement I - Olhapim (composed by Luis Cardoso) / Seres Imaginarios 3 - Movement II - Jana (composed by Luis Cardoso) / Seres Imaginarios 3 - Movement III - Trasgo (composed by Luis Cardoso) / Delirio Barroco - Movement I - Ouverture (composed by Tiago Derrica) / Delirio Barroco - Movement II - Fantasia (composed by Tiago Derrica) / Delirio Barroco - Movement III - Fuga (composed by Tiago Derrica) / Delirio Barroco - Movement IV - Fantasia 2 (composed by Tiago Derrica) / Delirio Barroco - Movement V - Coral (composed by Tiago Derrica) / Memoria (composed by Pedro Faria Gomes) / D.M.A. Music 2013

Este estudio identifica un conjunto de narrativas españolas, publicadas entre 1994 y 2008, que contienen personajes anoréxicos, con el fin de analizarlos y ubicarlos dentro del panorama literario español. Sin olvidar el contexto más global, este estudio se enfoca en los textos que contienen periodos de hospitalización para el tratamiento de la anorexia, Billete de ida y vuelta (1999) de Gemma Lienas, "Debilitamiento" (2002) de Andrés Barba, Estela: Diario de una vida adolescente (1997) de Javier López Garcìa, La foto de Portobello (2004) de Vicente Muñoz Puelles, Mi tigre es lluvia (1997) de Carlos Puerto, Morir de hambre: Cartas a una anoréxica (2002) de Luis Martìnez de Mingo, Peso cero (2007) de Antonia Romero, Porque eres mi amiga (2008) de Ana Pomares y Rosas blancas para Claudia (2005) de Carlos Puerto. Primero, y a base del criterio diagnóstico para la anorexia que propone la Asociación Psiquiátrica Americana, se analizan los personajes anoréxicos para establecer la veracidad de su anorexia, asì estableciendo el realismo de los textos. Luego, se indaga sobre las manifestaciones de control que resultan en los estados de descontrol, demostrando que la anorexia se puede leer como una crisis de identidad en los personajes anoréxicos. Después, se analizan los temas de vigilancia y normalización en los programas de hospitalización según las ideas de Michel Foucault sobre el Panóptico de Jeremy Bentham y su aplicación a los programas de hospitalización por Mebbie Bell. Se considera el alto nivel de reincidencia después de los periodos de hospitalización y, por lo mismo, se compara la terapia de hospitalización con otras terapias alternativas, vistas en Peso cero y Sara y la anorexia: El triunfo del alma sobre la mente (2006) por Nieves Mesón, concluyendo que los programas más sutiles consiguen con mayor eficacia la recuperación de la anorexia. Entonces, se analizan los cambios económicos, socio-históricos y culturales que ocurren en España en las décadas anteriores al aumento de los casos de anorexia, particularmente la abertura de la economìsa española y su entrada en la Comunidad Económica Europea en 1986, el fin de la dictadura de Francisco Franco y los consecuentes cambios en el papel de la mujer en la sociedad española y los cambios culturales en cuanto a la alimentación; se demuestra cómo estos cambios contribuyen al aumento de los casos de anorexia y cómo se ilustran dentro de los textos bajo consideración. Debido a la relación entre estos factores y la anorexia, se propone que las chicas anoréxicas, por llevar la crisis de la transición española en sus cuerpos, reflejan la crisis de identidad de España después de la muerte de Franco. Finalmente, se lleva a cabo un análisis literario de las obras en cuestión, estudiando los temas posmodernos de fragmentación e intertextualidad, concluyendo que la narrativa sobre la anorexia ilustra bien la condición anoréxica y, por lo mismo, se considera una literatura posmoderna para una enfermedad igualmente posmoderna, fragmentada y llena de múltiples voces. Encima, por su conexión con la cuestión de identidad, se propone que este cuerpo textual se considere una extensión de la literatura española posfranquista que trata el tema de la identidad. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2009. / May 28, 2009. / Postmodernism, Fiction, Eating disorders, Spain, Identity, Intertextuality / Includes bibliographical references. / Brenda Cappuccio, Professor Directing Dissertation; Virgil Suárez, Outside Committee Member; Roberto G. Fernández, Committee Member; Delia Poey, Committee Member.

The present study reports the findings of two self-paced reading tasks (N = 98). The primary experiment (subjunctive task) investigated the effects of lexical preference on L1 Spanish and L2 Spanish readers' processing of the subjunctive during online sentence processing. Participants of various proficiency levels (intermediate, high intermediate, advanced and native Spanish speakers) read sentences that were either ±Form or ±Meaning. The variable "Form" was operationalized as a (mis)match between the lexical expression of modality in the main clause of a sentence and the mood marker (indicative or subjunctive) on the subordinate verb. The variable "Meaning" was operationalized as a (mis)match between the lexical-semantics of the subordinate verb in a sentence and the action or situation depicted in a corresponding image. The secondary experiment (local agreement task) investigated the same learners' processing of localized subject-verb agreement violations during online sentence processing. The results of the subjunctive task revealed that only native speakers demonstrated sensitivity (i.e., increased reading times as measured via a self-paced reading methodology) to modality-mood mismatches (±Form). Intermediate through advanced-level L2 learners demonstrated sensitivity to sentence-image mismatches (±Meaning) only. In the local agreement task, only intermediate L2 learners were not sensitive to grammaticality violations. These findings are discussed in light of the Lexical Preference Principle (VanPatten, 2004, 2007) and the Shallow Structures Hypothesis (Clahsen & Felser, 2006a, 2006b, 2006c). / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2011. / April 28, 2011. / Spanish Subjunctive, Sentence Processing, Lexical Preference, Input Processing, Shallow Structures Hypothesis / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael Leeser, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michael Kaschak, University Representative; Carolina González, Committee Member; Patrick Kennell, Committee Member; Gretchen Sunderman, Committee Member.