Frequency and sentence position in the production of word-final /d/ in North-Central Peninsular Spanish

Abstract

In Spanish, /b, d, g/ are usually pronounced as voiced approximants. In North-Central Peninsular Spanish, these speech sounds are frequently fricated and devoiced. Previous research on this dialect using nonce words showed that word-final /b, d, g/ are fricated more often in stressed syllables than in unstressed syllables [Gonzalez (2001, 2002)]. This study investigates whether other factors are responsible for frication and/or voicing of these sounds. Specifically, the role of frequency and sentence position is examined in the pronunciation of word-final /d/ in real words. Eight speakers of this dialect read a word list with 15 common words like verdad (truth) and 15 rare words like efod (ephod), both in sentence medial and sentence final position. The word list included eight tokens for each word and position, and it was randomized for each speaker and repetition. The effects of frequency and word position will be discussed, and the results will be contrasted with previous research. [Work supported by Del Amo and the Basque Government.] (To be presented in Spanish.)