Descriptive Account of Spanish Loanword Phonology in Kaqchikel

Abstract

This paper examines Spanish loanwords in Kaqchikel from both diachronic and synchronic perspectives. This paper is, to my knowledge, the first descriptive account of any length concerning Spanish loanword phonology in Kaqchikel. The section pertaining to a diachronic perspective of Spanish loanwords examines observable assimilatory processes by which Spanish words may have entered the Kaqchikel lexicon. Some historical developments of Spanish phonology are explored, relating them to potential explanations for contemporary forms of Kaqchikel borrowings. The section treating loanwords from a synchronic perspective examines contemporary speaker data. A number of recurrent phenomena observed in the data are discussed. One of the central observations is that Kaqchikel appears to utilize a number of structurally unrelated processes in order to resolve non-native stress patterns in Spanish loanwords. The phenomenon of vowel devoicing was observed, which, as far as the author is aware has not previously been described as a process occurring in Kaqchikel; furthermore, this phenomenon was consistent with the typology of voiceless vowels, in spite of the fact that this process does not manifest in other areas of the phonology. Following a brief consideration of how the data patterns relate to the discussion found in the diachronic perspective section, limitations of the present work, as well as implications for future direction are considered before entertaining some concluding thoughts.