Velar palatalization in Chilean public speech

Tanya L Flores

doi:10.5334/gjgl.105

Abstract

This is a socio-phonetic study that employs an acoustic analysis and a speech accommodation analysis following a variationist sociolinguistic framework. The acoustic analysis provides a phonetic characterization of the variation of /x/ in Chilean Spanish using spectrographic support, which fills a gap in current literature on this specific sound change. The linear regression analysis and speech accommodation analysis work together to identify the motivators for velar palatalization in this variety of Spanish and its acquisition of overt prestige. The results of this study update previous literature on Chilean palatalization regarding internal and external motivators, while adding variant usage patterns based on interlocutor age effects and speech style differences. Public speech data is used in this study to show the extension of velar palatalization into the most formal registers of Chilean Spanish.

Highlights

Introduction and background1.1 Palatalization of /x/ in Chilean Spanish Lenz (1940) was the first to document the palatalization of the velar fricative /x/ to the palatal fricative [ç] before front vowels /i/, /e/, and the glide /ie/ in Chilean Spanish
Cepeda (1991) maintains that the palatalized fricative [ç] is a feminine marker used by all classes and age groups in Valdivia, and is considered prestigious among 24–42 year olds
Due to transitional or co-articulation effects into and out of the consonant, the center of gravity (COG) value calculated over the midpoint of each frication segment was selected as the most reliable value for determining a comparative place of articulation among tokens

Summary

Introduction

1.1 Palatalization of /x/ in Chilean Spanish Lenz (1940) was the first to document the palatalization of the velar fricative /x/ to the palatal fricative [ç] before front vowels /i/, /e/, and the glide /ie/ in Chilean Spanish While it is common for many Spanish speakers to palatalize /x/ before a high front vowel /i/ or glide /ie/, palatalization preceding a middle vowel /e/ (/xe/ → [çe]) is unique to the Chilean variety (Hualde 2005). Both Oroz (1966) and Hualde (2005) consider the Chilean variant a palatal fricative [ç], but there are no acoustic studies to date that provide detailed phonetic descriptions of the variants. Though earlier reports (Lenz 1940) had attributed the assimilation to contact with indigenous languages, Oroz’s work (1966) rejected this motivation given the spread of the variation across Chile, including areas with no indigenous language contact

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion