164175 20251127172930.0 doi 10.1075/sic.25010.ben sideral 146331 ART-2025-146331 eng Benítez-Burraco, Antonio “Decorative” morphology in Spanish : at the crossroads of typology and sociolinguistics 2025 Human languages are hypothesized to be adapted to the functions they fulfill. Specifically, their structure has been claimed to be optimized for efficient communication and easy learning. Nonetheless, languages also exhibit many “extravagant” features, with no clear role in information transfer or language acquisition. Building on typological research on this topic, in this paper we present evidence that varieties of Spanish (colloquial mostly) feature the type of “decorative” morphology found in some world languages. We provide a detailed characterization of such morphology and further hypothesize some potential functions for it. We conclude by advocating for a sociopragmatics approach to intralinguistic variation that also considers the findings by language typology, but likewise for a typological approach to language diversity that pays attention to the findings by variationist sociolinguistics. Ultimately, our study argues for a unitary view of linguistic variation and for considering functions like aesthetics or play when explaining the design features of language. Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess All rights reserved http://www.europeana.eu/rights/rr-f/ info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion Marqueta Gracia, Bárbara Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-2199-1689 3013 567 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Lingüíst.y Liter.Hispán. Área Lengua Española (2025), [22 pp.] SPANISH IN CONTEXT SPANISH IN CONTEXT 1571-0718 543444 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/164175/files/texto_completo.pdf Postprint 1364731 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/164175/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Postprint oai:zaguan.unizar.es:164175 articulos driver 2025-11-27-15:16:28 ARTICLE