Kalender des ICES

Portuñol at the South American Borders: Uses, Classifications and Attitudes

This presentation analyses the results of 65 sociolinguistic interviews conducted in five border areas between Brazil - an officially Lusophone country - and its neighbouring Spanish-speaking countries: Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The study explores three key questions: how is Portuñol defined; where and for what purposes is it used; and what are the attitudes towards this contact language? Through the experiences of the inhabitants, it qualitatively examines the use of Portuñol in family/social and commercial contexts, as well as the varied conceptions of its linguistic classification. Attitudes towards Portuñol are also compared in order to assess its status within this multilingual region.