Linguistic Contact, Transcoding and Performativity: Linguistic and Cultural Integration of Italian Immigrants in the Río de la Plata

From the late 19th to the early 20th century, Argentina experienced a wave of mass migration due to political, economic, and social instability in Europe. This study examines how idiomatic expressions in Argentine Spanish incorporate Italianisms and Rioplatense slang (lunfardismos), focusing on linguistic contact, transcoding, and performativity. The integration of these lexical and phraseological elements occurred through direct borrowings, phraseological calques, and neological formations influenced by both languages, shaped by continuous interactions between immigrant and local communities. Based on a corpus of 179 phraseological units (PUs) from the Diccionario fraseológico del habla argentina. Frases, dichos y locuciones (DiFHA), compiled by Barcia and Pauer, the study analyzes semantic and structural changes resulting from this exchange. The findings highlight linguistic contact, reflecting the interaction between Italian and Rioplatense Spanish; transcoding, illustrating the adaptation of linguistic elements to a new sociocultural context; and performativity, demonstrating how these expressions acquire distinct meanings in daily communication. By examining these phraseological units, the research reveals how language embodies Argentina’s migratory and cultural history, showing how linguistic contact enriches communication and identity through the interaction of different communities.