(In)complete neutralization in Western Andalusian Spanish

Abstract

The present study addresses the occurrence of affrication in clusters other than /st/ in Western Andalusian Spanish, by means of production and perception tasks comprising /st/, /kt/, and /pt/. Our findings reveal incomplete neutralization in production, given that /kt/ presented a higher closure ratio and a lower VOT ratio than /pt/ and /st/. In perception, the three clusters were similarly labeled according to a pattern: /st/ > /kt/ > /pt/. Certain parameters such as closure and VOT ratios and center of gravity seemed to have an influence on perception. These results indicate that neutralization may be complete in perception and incomplete in production.

Toeing the Party Line: Indexicality and Regional Andalusian Phonetic Features in Political Speech

“…However, no instances of de-affrication have been found in the corpus of political speech; instead, an alveolar fronted variant [ > ts] has been identified that has received relatively little attention outside of Chile (Flores 2014(Flores , 2018, where it is explained by contact with aboriginal languages like Huilliche, which contrasts / > tS/ and /úù/ (Henríquez-Barahona and Fuentes-Grandón 2018). The frication in this fronted affricate, discussed in greater depth by Pollock (2022), differs quantitatively in its center of gravity (COG, Hz) from that in post-alveolar production and could result from analogy to the affrication of /st/ clusters described by Del Saz (2019) in AS. This raises interesting questions regarding possible neutralization between minimal pairs (e.g., hecho ("fact") [e > tso] and esto ("this") [e > tso]).…”

Buenas no[tʃ]es y mu[ts]isimas gracias: A Sociophonetic Study of the Alveolar Affricate in Peninsular Spanish Political Speech

“…However, should alveolar production of the Spanish affricate acquire further social meaning and currency in Peninsular Spanish, there is also the opportunity for the neutralization of phonological contrast for some Andalusian speakers. As described by Torreira (2006), Ruch (2012), Del Saz (2019), and Vida-Castro and Villena-Ponsoda (2016, among others (also see Footnote 1), there is a separate process whereby the alveolar fricative /s/ undergoes elision in /st/ clusters, yielding not only productions with post-aspiration [t h ], but also those with affrication [ts]. Perceptual work by the aforementioned authors has also identified comparisons between [ts] resulting from /st/ and /tS/ segments.…”

“…1 A correlation has also been pointed out between affricate productions of [t s ] in the wake of /s/ reduction before /t/ and a fronted variant associated with the affricate /tS/, by researchers including Torreira (2006), Ruch (2012), Del Saz (2019), and Vida-Castro (2022. Research in this vein has also begun to examine the production of [ts] deriving from affricates.…”

Phonetic variation in Italian L2: An acoustic analysis of sibilant fricatives in the speech of L1 Spanish learners

“…Evolved from a medieval inventory which included both voiced and voiceless sibilant fricatives, i.e., /s, z, ʃ, ʒ/, modern Castilian Spanish only maintained the voiceless phoneme /s/ (Lapesa, 1942;Fradejas Rueda, 1997; the high dialectal and intra-speaker variability has been frequently addressed by Spanish phoneticians, e.g. Univaso et al, 2014;Del Saz, 2023). The voiced allophone [z] may appear in free variation before a voiced consonant in syllable codas unless in very careful speech (Schwegler et al, 2010;Harris, 1969) or, more rarely, even between vowels, especially in fast and informal speech, as attested by Torreblanca (1983; for a few areas in Central Spain.…”