Negotiating local identity: rural migration and sociolinguistic perception in urban Asturias

This study examines the connection between place and linguistic performance in the language contact situation between Asturian and Spanish in the city of Gijon (Asturias), and the role that rural migration had on the place-based indexicality of Asturian linguistic features. Migration from rural to urban areas in the 19th and 20th centuries resulted in an intensification of the contact between Asturian and Spanish, accentuating the contrast between the two languages and the socio-demographic characteristics that were associated with each. Today in Gijon we find a hybrid variety characterized by the variable incorporation of features from Asturian. Using historical information, sociolinguistic interview data, and perception experiments, I show that the variation observed in the speech of Gijon is highly influenced by the conflict between regional and urban identity. These results build on prior sociolinguistic research that examines the connection between geographic space and linguistic practice, showing that speakers use language to relate to place. More generally, it supports focusing on linguistic practice at the local level to explain variation.