Lusisms in paraguayan guarani (in contact with spanish)

Abstract

This article analyzes the lexical influence of Portuguese on the Guaraní language, considering the contact it has maintained with Spanish since colonial times in Paraguay. Based on two works published in the last decades, and using the existing corpora and dictionaries in both languages, and a consultation with informants, 67 lusisms in the current Guaraní language have been identified and analyzed. Through recent research, it has been proven that these borrowings spread throughout much of the Spanish American territory, by means of the dialect of Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands, heavily influenced by Portuguese, whose wide diffusion was favored by the character of these islands as a stopover on the route to the Indies. Another route of entry of these words into Spanish or Guarani, although on a smaller scale, is the border and immigration contact between Paraguay and Brazil.