Language variation and change through an experimental lens: Contextual modulation in the use of the Progressive in three Spanish dialects

Abstract

Spanish exhibits two markers to convey a progressive meaning: the Simple Present and the Present Progressive. The use of these markers is contextually biased: the Simple Present requires contexts where speaker and addressee share perceptual access to the situation at issue, while the Present Progressive does not require such support. We test this generalization through real-time comprehension: the Simple Present marker in contexts without shared perceptual access should elicit slower reading times than within shared perceptual access contexts. A self-paced reading study (n = 176) in three different varieties of Spanish (Mexican, Rioplatense, and Castilian) bears this prediction out. Additionally, we find that the Mexican variety appears further advanced in the Progressive-to-Imperfective diachronic shift than its dialectal counterparts.