Calabrian migrants in Argentina

Assessing first language phonetic attrition

Abstract

This paper discusses the research plan and first results of the CMA project (Calabrian Migrants in Argentina), aimed at exploring linguistic interaction processes active in first generation Italian-Argentinian migrants from Central-South Calabria and living in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Santa Fe from the 1950s onwards. These are the last living people who offer evidence of linguistic maintenance/attrition processes affecting both L1 Calabrian dialects1 and L2 Calabrian regional Italian (both homeland linguistic resources) after decades of permanence in their L3-dominated (Spanish) host country.