Resyllabification Reconsidered: On the Durational Properties of Word-Final /s/ in Spanish

Abstract

Corresponding author: Patrycja StrycharczukWord-final consonants in Spanish are commonly assumed to undergo resyllabification across a word boundary before a following vowel, e.g., /los#otros/ 'the others' is realised as [lo.so.tros]. However, in many dialects of Spanish, word-final pre-vocalic consonants ('derived onsets') pattern phonologically with canonical codas and distinctly from canonical onsets. This property of derived onsets has been the subject of much interest in the phonological literature, and has led some linguists to question whether resyllabification indeed applies in all Spanish dialects. In this paper, we evaluate evidence for resyllabification based on acoustic data from 11 speakers of Peninsular Spanish. The results show that word-final pre-vocalic /s/ has increased duration compared to coda /s/, but at the same time, it is shorter compared to word-initial or word-medial pre-vocalic /s/. This result challenges an analysis where derived onsets become phonologically indistinguishable from canonical onsets. We consider an alternative in the form of partial resyllabification, and we further discuss the role of the syllable as a relevant unit in explaining /s/-sandhi in Spanish.

The role of gesture duration in the initial unstressed vowel shift in Galician. A first approximation

“…Since our hypothesis is that there is a relationship between the duration and the quality of mid vowels, since 10 Notwithstanding recent studies that question whether resyllabification of final /s/ between prosodic groups takes place in Spanish (Strycharczuk & Kohlberger, 2016), the behaviour of this final /s/ in boundaries between prosodic groups in Galician seems to suggest that, at least in Galician, resyllabification does occur (Fernández Rei, 2002, pp. 60 -62).…”

Glottalizing at word junctures: Exploring bidirectional transfer in child and adult Spanish heritage speakers

“…Phonetic studies on the production of Spanish resyllabified consonants have examined their acoustic and perceptual correlates (Hualde & Prieto, 2014;Lahoz-Bengoechea & Jiménez-Bravo, 2020;Strycharczuk & Kohlberger, 2016). While some Spanish consonants are capable of undergoing allophonic processes (e.g., /s/→[h] in Chinato Spanish and Buenos Aires Argentinian Spanish [Hualde, 1991;Kaisse, 1996], /ɾ/→[r] [Scarpace, 2017]), most Spanish consonants are not.…”

“…While some Spanish consonants are capable of undergoing allophonic processes (e.g., /s/→[h] in Chinato Spanish and Buenos Aires Argentinian Spanish [Hualde, 1991;Kaisse, 1996], /ɾ/→[r] [Scarpace, 2017]), most Spanish consonants are not. As such, they have been examined in terms of durational differences with respect to canonical onsets and canonical codas (Hualde, Simonet, & Nadeu, 2011;Strycharczuk & Kohlberger, 2016) or differences in f0 alignment (Torreira, 2007). In addition, resyllabification may not apply to certain consonants in some dialects (e.g., /n/ and /s/ in Quito Spanish [Robinson, 2012], /s/ in Ecuadorian Spanish [Bradley & Delforge, 2006]).…”

“…The extent to which the consonant is completely resyllabified has been recently discussed in the phonetics literature, but this debate is outside of the scope of the current study (Hualde & Prieto, 2014;Strycharczuk & Kohlberger, 2016), as both partial and complete resyllabification should result in modal phonation.…”

Vowel Compression in Altiplateau Mexican Spanish

“…The most in-depth study on the acoustics of consonants in resyllabification contexts comes from Strycharczuk & Kohlberger (2016) which examines the duration of /s/ in Peninsular Spanish. Results highlight that putative resyllabified onsets (i.e.…”