This article investigates the linguistic and social constraints on final nasal variation in Yucatan Spanish (YS), based on data collected in Merida, Yucatan. Absolute final nasals in YS may surface variably as: [n], [ŋ], ø or [m] (e.g.pan→ [pám], ‘bread’). The results reveal a distribution of final nasal realization unique to YS, as well as detail its patterning throughout the community. Unlike some previous findings, the data under investigation here demonstrate [n] to be the preferred nasal variant, accounting for 60% of tokens. Regional variant [m] accounts for 25%, while [ŋ] and ø were infrequent variants, arising 8% and 5% of the time, respectively. Standard [n] occurs mostly among older speakers and Spanish monolinguals. Bilabial [m], however, is a recent innovation, led by younger speakers, women, and Mayan-Spanish bilinguals. The realization [m] may serve as a marker of regional identity for some speakers. For others, though, this variant is becoming a linguistic stereotype, as suggested by qualitative data from speaker comments and instances of [m] in the popular culture, including on internet websites.

This article examines the impact of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors on the production of glottalization (/ʔ/ and creaky voice) in Yucatan Spanish. The results of this study suggest that glottal insertion before vowel-initial words in Yucatan Spanish is the product of language contact mediated by internal development. It also indicates that glottal insertion, like other traditional features of Yucatan Spanish, is undergoing a process of standardization, whereby younger, more educated speakers employ a less traditional, more 'standard' variety of Spanish.

This study examines the possible role of language contact on the realization of /b d g/ in Yucatan Spanish (YS). Whereas standard Spanish displays an alternation between stops [b d g] and fricatives [β δ γ], YS shows a preference for stops in contexts that would require a fricative in other varieties. The extended use of [b d g] in YS has been attributed to influence from the contact language, Mayan, by some researchers (Nykl 1938, Mediz Bolio 1951, Lope Blanch 1987, while others prefer a language-internal explanation (Cassano 1977, Yager 1982. Therefore, the present study addresses the following research questions: Could the observed pattern for voiced stops be the result of language contact with Mayan? Is Mayan in a position to have influenced YS, thereby making a contact-based explanation plausible? Is there quantitative evidence of a link between speaking Mayan and higher rates of stop variants? Using the criteria established by Thomason (2001) for determining the possibility of contact-induced change, the study finds that there has been sufficient contact on both an individual and a societal level to warrant a contact-based explanation for [b d g]. Especially important was the previous trend to hire Mayan-speaking nannies in middle and upper class homes. Based on data from 40 sociolinguistic interviews, this study finds a significant effect for Mayan-Spanish bilingualism on the production of stops. Speakers over the age of 30, exposed to more Mayan and Mayaninfluenced Spanish, also produce significantly more stops. Based on data from this study and the presence of similar patterns in other bilingual regions, this study concludes that the higher rates of [b d g] in YS are due to language contact via shifting second language (L2) speakers of Spanish, but not due to specifically Mayan influence on the dialect.

This paper examines peak alignment in Veneto-Spanish bilinguals in the small community of Chipilo, Mexico. We have two goals: First, to provide a description of the peak alignment patterns present in bilingual Chipilo Spanish. As Chipilo Spanish is in contact with a northern Italian variety (Veneto), we hypothesize that changes in peak alignment from monolingual norms, specifically regarding early peak alignment, may be due to transfer from Veneto. Second, we seek to compare the present data, based on controlled speech, to the results of a previous study on semi-spontaneous speech in Chipilo Spanish, contributing to the literature that compares methodologies in intonation research (see Face 2003). Our results show that bilinguals demonstrate early peaks in controlled speech, although to a lesser extent than in semi-spontaneous speech. We attribute this to contact with Veneto and a strong sense of ethnolinguistic identity that leads speakers to maintain features of a Chipileño variety of Spanish.

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