Romance Languages and Literature

Rhotics in Spanish onset clusters can be realized as taps, trills, or approximants depending on the dialect (Hualde 2005:182-183). However, assibilated [i.e., fricative] pronunciations have been reported in some areas such as the La Rioja region of Spain (Alonso 1925:169; Llorente 1965:296-297; Navarro Tomás 1968: 210). The present study examines acoustic data from four participants from La Rioja in order to corroborate these reports. The effects of (i) place of articulation and (ii) voicing of the preceding consonant as well as (iii) the nuclear vowel on rhotic pronunciation are also examined. Rhotic pronunciation is analyzed in terms of (i) manner, (ii) duration, (iii) voicing, (iv) svarabhakti vowel occurrence and (v) svarabhakti vowel duration. The findings show few instances of assibilation; the majority of rhotics were realized as approximants. The results of this study have theoretical implications for the phonological status of rhotics in Spanish.

This study investigates the acquisition of vowel-vowel sequences across words in twenty-five L2 Spanish learners. Building on González & Weissglass (2016), it analyzes their acoustic realization and examines the incidence of hiatus maintenance , hiatus resolution, and glottal stop epenthesis in L2 Spanish. Eight Spanish native speakers are included for comparison. Based on our data, we propose a preliminary Optimality-Theoretic account of the different stages that L2 learners go through when acquiring vowel-vowel sequences. We find evidence for three possible target grammars in our dataset, which correlate with dialectal differences. Two of these grammars appear to have been acquired by some of the L2 learners investigated.

Rhotics in Spanish onset clusters are typically realized as taps or approximants (Blecua 2001, Weissglass 2011). Trills have also been reported in parts of Spain in which Basque is spoken (Hualde 2005). However, acoustic corroboration for such reports has been unavailable. This study analyzes acoustically the realization of rhotics in this context by Spanish monolinguals and Spanish-Basque bilinguals. It also explores the role of place of articulation and voicing of the preceding consonant as well as the vowel following the rhotic on rhotic realization. Results show that bilinguals produced mostly taps with only a few trills, whereas monolinguals produced mostly approximants. Voicing of the preceding consonant influenced rhotic realization in both datasets, but place of articulation and the vowel following the rhotic did not. Theoretical implications of these results concern the organization of segments within the syllable, the distribution of rhotics in Spanish, and a continuum of continuancy for rhotic variants.

Many have argued that moral judgment is driven by one of two types of processes. Rationalists argue that reasoned processes are the source of moral judgments, whereas sentimentalists argue that emotional processes are. We provide evidence that both positions are mistaken; there are multiple mental processes involved in moral judgment, and it is possible to manipulate which process is engaged when considering moral dilemmas by presenting them in a non-native language. The Foreign-Language Effect (FLE) is the activation of systematic reasoning processes by thinking in a foreign language. We demonstrate that the FLE extends to moral judgment. This indicates that different types of processes can lead to the formation of differing moral judgments. One implication of the FLE is that it raises the possibility that moral judgments can be made more systematic, and that the type of processing used to form them might be relevant to normative and applied ethics.

A través del análisis de los textos de Enrique Gómez Carrillo y Jules Huret, viajeros que visitaron Argentina en ocasión de las celebraciones del Centenario de la Independencia, y de las crónicas de cuño higienista de Gabriela Laperrière de Coni, así como de los estudios más recientes de James Scobie y Jorge Liernur, este artículo propone pensar la Buenos Aires de
finales del XIX y comienzos del XX como una ciudad escenográfica. Ésta se manifestaría en la lectura en continuidad, que de ella promocionó la élite oligárquica durante la modernización
de la ciudad que, si por un lado, produjo la elegante Avenida de Mayo, por el otro, también generó las aporías de la pobreza urbana simbolizadas por el Barrio de las Ranas. Los intentos
de promocionar una visión homogénea y disciplinada de la ciudad chocarían, sin embargo, con el espacio urbano entendido como un territorio plural y en tensión continua.

Today we understand cities as heterogeneous spaces continuously reconfigured by multiple actors, be it urban planners, citizens with their everyday practices, and cultural agents. On a micro level the same could be said about specific elements of the city: monuments, buildings,
squares, and houses. This paper is inserted in this conversation on the ways the city is woven, by analyzing the relationship between different factors and actors in the work of the Italian naturalized Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi. In particular, I focus on her project for the SESC
Pompeia Recreational Center (1977-86), her writings on architecture, and her ties to Antonio Gramsci’s political thought to examine how her interest in both Italian and Brazilian popular houses shaped her practice as an architect as well as the entrance of vernacular elements in
Brazilian architecture. Thus, I argue that her attention to transnational vernacular forms was instrumental in creating a personal style, but also in fashioning a role for the architect as actor of social change.

Los estudios críticos que se han dedicado a Evita son numerosos y variados, entre estos se destacan cuatro tendencias
principales que intentan explicar la naturaleza de Eva como símbolo nacional. Aquella que lee Evita como mito (Julie Taylor), aquella
que la define como fetiche (Diana Taylor, John Kraniauskas), aquella que la ve como tótem (Susana Rosano) y por último, aquella que la
interpreta como cuerpo (Paola Cortés Rocca y Martín Kohan, Beatriz Sarlo). Sin embargo, las multiplicidades que caracterizan la Evita
nacional, o mejor, las Evitas nacionales, cuyos mecanismos se revelan sobre todo en el plano de la representación literaria, superan
esas interpretaciones. Si, por un lado, la multiplicación de Evita se ha dado por sentada, lo que queda por indagar son los dispositivos
de producción que permiten su proliferación. Cómo es que el cuerpo de Eva se multiplica y qué revelan esos desdoblamientos sobre
la relación entre relato y peronismo. En este ensayo, a través del análisis de “Evita vive” (1975), “El cadáver” (1980) y “El cadáver de la
nación” (1989) de Néstor Perlongher y Santa Evita (1995) de Tomás Eloy Martínez, textos en que la usurpación del cuerpo de la mujer
es el mecanismo disparador de la narración, propongo una modalidad para entender por qué y cómo el cuerpo de Evita prolifera. En las
dos obras el cuerpo de Eva padece una forma de sparagmos, en la medida en que es descuartizado y diseminado por todo el territorio
para ser adorado o despreciado. Al individuar el descuartizamiento como el principio de la multiplicidad de Evita, los textos de Martínez
y Perlongher revelarían la naturaleza oscura de su culto, la imposibilidad de conciliar un sentido unitario sobre lo nacional, así como las
cualidades literarias del peronismo.