Galicismos en un dialecto español de Luisiana (Parroquias de Sabine y Natchitoches)

Abstract

The Spanish-American dialect still spoken around certain hamlets in Sabine and Natchitoches Parishes in Northwestern Louisiana has, until recently, been neglected by dialectologists. This is an archaic and isolated Mexican dialect, in danger of immediate extinction. After outlining the history of these communities, which go back to the first third of the 18th century, the limited number of French loan words (a total of 15) absorbed by the dialect are studied. The semantic categories represented give us a glimpse of the contacts between French and Spanish-speakers on the 18th-century frontier between Louisiana and Texas.