University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository

LAII Events Latin American and Iberian Institute

Fall 9-8-2020

Researching Paraguayan Guarani: The Minoritized Language of the Majority

Josefina Bittar PhD Candidate Department of , University of New Mexico

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/laii_events

Part of the Latin American Languages and Societies Commons, and the Linguistics Commons

Recommended Citation Bittar, Josefina PhD Candidate. "Researching Paraguayan Guarani: The Minoritized Language of the Majority." (2020). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/laii_events/84

This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Latin American and Iberian Institute at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in LAII Events by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Researching Paraguayan Guarani: The Minoritized Language of the Majority Josefina Bittar, PhD candidate and LAII PhD fellow

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 • 3:00 PM • Register to attend at: https://bit.ly/3kLFKkk Paraguayan Guarani, one of the native languages of Paraguay, is spoken by more than 80% of the country’s population. However, despite government and societal e orts, Spanish remains the language of prestige, required for education opportunities and social mobility. In this presentation, Josefina Bittar will discuss the characteristics of Guarani-Spanish bilingualism in Paraguay, the importance of documenting linguistic practices in the country, and the role of researchers in challenging the population’s internalized prejudices about languages and their speakers.

Josefina Bittar is a PhD candidate in the Department of Linguistics and an LAII PhD fellow. Her main research interests include language contact and bilingualism, language attitude and , language documentation and revitalization, language policies and language acquisition.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Individuals of all abilities are encouraged to attend LAII-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in one of our events, please visit laii.unm.edu/events/accessibility.html. You can find more information on available accommodations on the UNM Accessibility Resource Center website. For more information, visit laii.unm.edu or contact [email protected].