CONTACTO LINGÜÍSTICO Y VARIEDADES DEL ESPAÑOL EN COLOMBIA: PERSPECTIVAS DE INVESTIGACIÓN

Abstract

The objective of this article is to set forth reflections that foster future research projects that explore phenomena of linguistic variability of Spanish in contact with other languages in Colombia. To that effect, the work of Professor Ruben Arboleda, on the Andean Spanish spoken in southern Colombia, and that of Professor Hector Ramirez, regarding Spanish in contact in border zones, were taken as referents. Although considerable progress has been made with respect to the description of the diatopic variables of Spanish in the Americas, there is little to be found regarding variability and change phenomena resulting from linguistic contact and the socio–cultural aspects associated with them. Therefore, the article seeks to open up a fertile and relatively unexplored field: the emergence of new dialects as a result of the contact between languages and between mutually intelligible linguistic varieties. In this respect, the article provides an overview of the contributions of Peter Trudgill, whose theoretical proposal focuses on explaining the stages of formation of new dialects.