A variationist account of voice onset time (VOT) among bilingual West Indians in Panama

Abstract

Abstract The present study is concerned with language contact between Creole English and Spanish spoken by bilingual West Indians living in Panama City, Panama. The goal is to examine the speech patterns of monolinguals of Creole English and Spanish and Creole English-Spanish bilinguals by employing the comparative variationist method. A series of statistical comparisons of the factors contributing to voice onset time (VOT) of the voiceless coronal plosive /t/ in four varieties were carried out to address phonetic permeability due to contact. These comparisons reveal evidence of different types of contact-induced outcomes among bilinguals. When speaking Spanish, convergence, which is the result of direct transfer from Creole English, is apparent in terms of rate of speech. When speaking Creole English, there is also evidence of convergence, particularly in the preceding segment variable. Furthermore, the comparisons reveal processes of indirect transfer from Spanish, such as simplification in terms of following vowel height, and the creation of alternations in terms of phone position and syllable stress. These contact-induced changes are interpreted as evidence that bilingual West Indians are resisting influence from a more dominant Mestizo culture, and are creating West Indian norms. It is proposed that this community is in the initial stages of developing new emerging varieties.