The effect of person on the subject expression of Spanish heritage speakers

This study explores preferences in subject expression forms among Spanish heritage speakers. A contextualized acceptability judgment task was completed by 47 participants, with subject form tested across two grammatical persons—first-person singular (1sg) and third-person singular (3sg)—and three contexts of speech connectivity. Participants were divided into four groups, according to proficiency (high vs. low) and Spanish variety (Caribbean vs. non-Caribbean). Our findings reveal that (i) contact effects are mostly restricted to third-person forms, (ii) lower proficiency speakers present a weakening of pragmatic contrast, and (iii) a pattern of convergence exists between Caribbean and non-Caribbean groups.