Language Evolution Over the Lifespan: Experimental Approach to Lexical Richness in Spanish

Francisco Moreno-Fernández

doi:10.18290/rh237106.8s

Published : 2023-07-24

Vol. 71 No. 6sp (2023)

Language Evolution Over the Lifespan: Experimental Approach to Lexical Richness in Spanish

Francisco Moreno-Fernández

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3136-4443

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rh237106.8s

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge of linguistic change over the lifespan by means of panel studies. The analysis offered presents two elements that have received little treatment within the field. On the one hand, the analysis is interested in the evolution or development of the lexicon in dialogical speech; on the other hand, the analysis is carried out on material from a panel study on the Spanish language. This text analyzes the evolution of lexical richness by means of an exploratory panel study based on semi-guided interviews carried out in Madrid, a Spanish city included in the framework of the international PRESEEA project.

Keywords:

language change, panel studies, lifespan, vocabulary richness, Spanish, Madrid, PRESEEA

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Francisco Moreno-Fernández

francisco.moreno@uni-heidelberg.de
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3136-4443

Affiliation:

Universität Heidelberg Germany

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

Francisco Moreno-Fernández holds a PhD in Hispanic Linguistics from the Universidad Complutense (Madrid) and a degree in Political Science and Sociology. He is Alexander von Humboldt Professor at the University of Heidelberg, Professor of Ibero-American Linguistic, Cultural and Social Studies, and Director of the Center for Ibero-American Studies at the same university. A specialist in dialectology, sociolinguistics, sociology of language and linguistic methodology; among his most recent publications are A Framework for Cognitive Sociolinguistics (2017), La lengua española en su geografía (5th ed., 2020), Variedades de la lengua española (2020), La lengua y el sueño de la identidad (2020), La lengua de los hispanos unidos de América (2022) and, with Rocío Caravedo, The Routledge Handbook of Spanish Dialectology (2022).