Filler-slot relations in language contact

Abstract The present study investigates the influence of Mexican Spanish similative (e.g., he swims like a fish) and pretence constructions (e.g., he swims as if he were a fish) on those found in four Mesoamerican languages: Huasteca Nahuatl, Papantla Totonac, San Gabriel Huastec, and Uxpanapa Chinantec. Using predictive modeling, we demonstrate that these indigenous languages have not only borrowed the markers komo ‘like’ and komo si ‘as if’ from Mexican Spanish, but have also adopted the lexical preferences (e.g., verb lemmas) associated with these constructions. However, we also identify a number of syntactic differences in how locative and non-locative NPs are treated within similative and pretence constructions in these languages. These findings suggest that, in language contact scenarios, constructions are rarely replicated intact from one language to another. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that while the similative and pretence markers themselves are outcomes of matter replication, the verb lemmas in these constructions result from pattern replication.