ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the portenos themselves and their collective construction and perception of their urban space. It assesses on the basis of their mental representations of the linguistic landscape and their behavior regarding semiotic features that they identify as elements of different stylistic practices. The stereotype of the linguistic style of the north is designated by the general term “modismos”, which refers to the perception of a lexical difference and thus represents dissociation but without providing concrete examples. The linguistic style of the south is constituted by several lexical elements as well. Through metalinguistic comments and the imitation of elision they likewise use the variable to construct the north–south opposition. Thus, the linguistic variables adopt different meanings in the complex urban space depending on the local ideology or the group identification that acts as a center of authority and power.
