DOMINICAN SPANISH IN CONTACT WITH ST. THOMAS ENGLISH CREOLE: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY OF SPEECH VARIATION ON ST. THOMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS.

This dissertation will demonstrate that a variety of Dominican Spanish in contact with St. Thomas English Creole (STTEC) revealed many features which are consistent with Dominican Spanish in other contact environments and some new features which are emerging as the result of uniquely STTEC influences. The most notable feature is the appearance of the vowel [ɛ] in Dominican Spanish, which in STTEC is highly indexical to St. Thomian identity. In the present sociolinguistic analysis, it was found that the variability of [ɛ] was significantly influenced by the following phonological segment, syllable stress, the language of the token, and the speakers’ social network ties and self-ascribed identity. This dissertation also includes a socio-historical background of St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, a description of St Thomas English Creole, and a history of immigration patterns of people from the Dominican Republic to St Thomas, U.S.V.I.

Grantor dc:publisher

Temple University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• D'Arpa, Daniel Sebastian

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Lorenzino, Gerardo

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Holmquist, Jonathan Carl
• Toth, Paul D.
• Garrett, Paul B., 1968-

• Sociolinguistics
• Caribbean studies
• Language
• Creole
• Dialect
• Dominican
• Spanish
• St. Thomas
• Virgin Islands

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Dc Identifier Other

958157255

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/2751