Some remarks on stress and reduction correlations in Spanish

Abstract

Spanish is well-known for its consonant reduction processes across all dialects. At the same time, its vowel inventory is not particularly rich, with 5 evenly distributed, stable vowel categories that tend not to change their qualities regardless of stress and rhythm. Meanwhile, several Spanish varieties show vowel reduction, but crucially without accompanying advancement in terms of consonantal weakening. Based on this evidence it is proposed that the two types of reduction are correlated to the extent that one excludes the other. Given the extraordinary stability of the Spanish vowels in the vast majority of the dialects, the paper investigates various cues to stress and reduction, which is followed by a discussion of empirical studies on SLA and speech perception and production. These studies point to the fact that given the distribution of Spanish sounds and the Spanish stress system, changes in stress and vowel quality inhibit comprehension of native categories (sounds, words and prosodic elements). This should be taken as a point of departure for further studies on speech perception, second language acquisition by speakers of languages with rigid vowel systems and the correlation between vocalic and consonantal weakening (reduction).