The Acoustic Realization of the Stop Voicing Contrast in Argentine Spanish

Abstract

Consonant lenition is a synchronic and diachronic sound change in which consonants become "weaker" or more vowel-like in certain contexts, especially between vowels. Given the variability in how Spanish dialects lenite the voiced stops and given that some varieties of Spanish have been shown to weaken the voiceless stops too, this raises the question of how different dialects of Spanish realize the stop voicing contrast. This thesis explores this issue for Argentine Spanish. The findings indicate that the stop voicing contrast is maintained in Argentine Spanish. Also, place of articulation does not affect the stop voicing contrast in this variety. This study contributes to our understanding of lenition processes and contrast maintenance in varieties of Spanish by illustrating how the stop voicing contrast is realized in one particular variety.