Abstract

CALVO DEL OLMO, Francisco. The Emergence of the American Varieties of Spanish, Portuguese, and French: Elements for a Comparative Study. Anu. let. lingüíst. filol. [online]. 2025, vol.13, n.1, pp.205-236.  Epub June 13, 2025. ISSN 2448-8224.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.adel.2025.13.1.00x328sw37.

The aim of this paper is to provide a comparative overview of the processes that established three Romance languages (Spanish, Portuguese, and French) in vast areas of the Americas. To this end, we bring together classic and recently published studies in the literatures of these languages, taking a bibliographic approach. We focus our attention on the interactions between European colonizers, indigenous peoples, and African populations in the New World as three main factors that determined the emergence and characteristics of the transplanted vernacular varieties. We also discuss the phases and chronology of the processes of koineization and nativization of these three languages in the colonial period. We attempt to sketch a coherent comparative picture across the diversity of contexts, describe common patterns, discuss differences, and point to possible limits and directions for future research. In doing so, we hope to initiate a dialogue regarding the histories of Amer­ican Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Canadian and Caribbean French in the history of the Neo-Latin family.

Keywords : Romance languages; external history; American Spanish; Brazilian Portuguese; Canadian French.

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