Resumen

The German language, spoken as a group language in the South of Chile by descendants of earlier 19th century German immigrants, is being replaced by Spanish among the younger generations of this Chilean German community. The study reports evidence of the grandchildren's main use of Spanish, in contrast with the use of German by their parents and grandparents, as shown in their permanent daily linguistic interaction with different addressees of the Spanish speaking community in the cities of Osorno, Purranque, Frutillar and Puerto Varas.