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This paper focuses on expressions of age combined with the verbs ser and estar in the Spanish of Guatemala and Mexico. It analyses the linguistic and extralinguistic factors favoring the extension of estar and the process of linguistic change involved in the expression of age in the two dialectal groups. Based on the analysis of three linguistic corpora from these communities (one from Ciudad de México and two from Guatemala), the results show, on the one hand, that estar is the most frequent copulative form, and, on the other, that some age-related adjectives favor the extension of the copulative form: chico, chiquito, grande. The paper concludes that age expressions with ser and estar are a feature of dialectal differentiation and, at the same time, an evolution of estar at the expense of ser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resumen En este trabajo se estudian las expresiones de edad con ser yestar en el español guatemalteco y el mexicano. Se analizan los factores lingüísticos y extralingüísticos que favorecen la extensión de estar y el proceso de cambio lingüístico en el contexto de la expresión de edad en ambas modalidades dialectales. Sobre la base del análisis de tres corpus sociolingüísticos pertenecientes a estas comunidades (uno de Ciudad de México y dos de Guatemala), los resultados muestran, por una parte, que estar es la cópulapredominante y, por la otra, que ciertos adjetivos de edad favorecen la extensión de esta cópula: chico, chiquito, grande. Nuestras conclusiones proponen que la expresión de la edad con los verbos copulativos ser y estar es un rasgo de diferenciación dialectal y constituye, a la vez, una etapa en la evolución deestar a expensas de ser. Palabras clave: sociolingüística – adjetivos de edad – cambio lingüístico – dialectología hispánica Abstract This paper focuses on expressions of age combined with the verbs ser and estar in the Spanish of Guatemala and Mexico. It analyses the linguistic and extralinguistic factors favoring the extension of estar and the process of linguistic change involved in the expression of age in the two dialectal groups. Based on the analysis of three linguistic corpora from these communities (one from Ciudad de México and two from Guatemala), the results show, on the one hand, that estar is the most frequent copulative form, and, on the other, that some age-related adjectives favor the extension of the copulative form: chico, chiquito, grande. The paper concludes that age expressions with ser and estar are a feature of dialectal differentiation and, at the same time, an evolution ofestar at the expense of ser. Keywords: sociolinguistics – age adjectives – linguistic change – Hispanic dialectology