Exploring Spanglish: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Its Representation in Written Literary Texts (A CORPUS-BASED ANALYSIS)

Stojkoski, Stefan (author), Currie, Oliver (mentor), Pihler Ciglič, Barbara (mentor)

This master's thesis explores Spanglish, a blend of English and Spanish, as a linguistic phenomenon that reflects the cultural identities of bilingual communities, especially in the United States. It also investigates the historical emergence, sociolinguistic significance, and literary representation of Spanglish. By analysing a corpus based on the level and manners of English and Spanish mixing in various texts, including five children's literary works and novels such as Solito (2022), The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007), Yo-Yo Boing! (1998), and the Spanglish translation Alicia's Adventuras en Wonderlandia: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in Spanglish (2021), the study examines language mixing practices and challenges existing typologies. The findings highlight the need for a flexible framework that accommodates authorial creativity, writing choices, and the variability of Spanglish, offering new perspectives on the evolving linguistic and cultural landscapes of bilingual communities.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Spanglish, bilingual communities, code-switching, literary analysis, linguistic creativity
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Typology: 2.09 - Master's Thesis
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Year: 2024
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-162938
• COBISS.SI-ID: 209622019
• Publication date in RUL: 30.09.2024

STOJKOSKI, Stefan, 2024, Exploring Spanglish: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Its Representation in Written Literary Texts (A CORPUS-BASED ANALYSIS) [online]. Master’s thesis. [Accessed 19 May 2025]. Retrieved from: https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/IzpisGradiva.php?lang=eng&id=162938

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Raziskovanje špangleščine: Sociolingvistična analiza njene zastopanosti v literarnih besedilih (ANALIZA NA PODLAGI KORPUSA)

Abstract

To magistrsko delo raziskuje špangleščino, mešanico angleščine in španščine, kot jezikovni pojav, ki odraža kulturne identitete dvojezičnih skupnosti, zlasti v Združenih državah Amerike. Prav tako raziskuje zgodovino jezika, sociolingvistični pomen in literarno predstavitev špangleščine. S preučevanjem korpusa, ki temelji na stopnji in načinu mešanja angleščine in španščine v različnih besedilih, vključno s petimi otroškimi literarnimi deli in romani, kot so Solito (2022), The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007), Yo-Yo Boing! (1998) in prevod v špangleščino Alicia's Adventuras en Wonderlandia: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in Spanglish (2021), študija preučuje jezikovne mešalne prakse in izziva obstoječe tipologije. Ugotovitve poudarjajo potrebo po prilagodljivem okviru, ki omogoča avtorsko ustvarjalnost, izbiro pisanja in variabilnost Spanglisha ter ponuja nove perspektive o razvijajočih se jezikovnih in kulturnih krajih dvojezičnih skupnosti.

• Keywords: Spanglish, dvojezične skupnosti, menjavanje kod, literarna analiza, jezikovna ustvarjalnost