Grammatical complexification in Spanish in New York: 3sg pronoun expression and verbal ambiguity

Abstract This study provides evidence of grammatical complexification, operationalized as the emergence of a significant linguistic constraint on the use of a linguistic structure, in Spanish spoken in New York City. Analyses of 4276 third-person singular verbs produced in sociolinguistic interviews with first-generation Latin American immigrants and second-generation US-born Latinos demonstrate that third-person singular subject pronoun expression (ella canta ~ canta ‘she sings ~ sings’) is constrained by tense/mood/aspect in the second generation, but not the first. Further analysis shows that this effect reflects a strategy aimed at clear referent identification. I conclude by suggesting that the increase in attention to ambiguous verb morphology, that is, the complexification, is related to other, concomitant changes in pronoun expression patterns in Spanish in New York City.