Eastern Andalusian Research Articles

A Feature Alignment Approach to Plural Realization in Eastern Andalusian Spanish

Using an optimality theoretic analysis, this study offers a conception of the problem of plural realization in Eastern Andalusian Spanish (EAS) where plural suffix /s/ was deleted diachronically that differs from other accounts that assign the EAS plural an underlying suffixal /s/ synchronically. Using alignment constraints, we argue that plural /s/ does not appear in the underlying form synchronically in EAS, but that instead the plural morpheme is represented by a floating [–ATR]PL feature that aligns to the right edge of the word and spreads left. The [–ATR] feature, represented phonetically as a laxing or opening of vowels, applies to all mid vowels, low vowels in word final position, and combines with vowel epenthesis to explain Eastern Andalusian pluralization tendencies in words with final consonants. We discuss the behavior of high vowels, which can be transparent to harmony, and focus in particular on the plural of words that end in a final stressed vowel that have been rarely discussed in the EAS literature. We develop an optimality-theoretic analysis on the Granada variety and extend that analysis to other varieties with somewhat different patterns.

Covariants of Gemination in Eastern Andalusian Spanish: /t/ following Underlying /s/, /k/, /p/ and /ks/

In Eastern Andalusian Spanish, consonants are deleted in syllable-final position, triggering regular gemination of a following consonant, even across word boundaries. This paper investigates five underlying phonemic contexts involving /t/, including singleton /t/ and four different underlying /C+t/ sequences that typically surface as [t:], by analyzing how durational and formant differences vary depending on the presence and identity of the preceding underlying consonant. Following the acoustic and statistical analyses of 444 instances of /ˈeta/, /ˈesta/, /ˈekta/, /ˈepta/ and /ˈeksta/, a Discriminant Function Analysis shows that differences in the total duration of /t/ and in the duration of the closure of /t/ are the strongest cues to distinguishing singletons from geminated consonants, with 91.9% and 90.6% accurate classifications, respectively. Cues indicating which specific consonants have been deleted before /t/ are much less robust and more varied in nature. It is unclear, however, whether this outcome is due to different compensation strategies in each case or whether they are affected by some kind of underlying coarticulatory effect. Given that gemination in this language variety is the result of regular /C1C2/ to [Cː] assimilation, and that its underlying phonemic status has not been demonstrated, Eastern Andalusian Spanish is unusual amongst languages studied with respect to gemination, making this study typologically interesting.

Persistence and Opacity in Eastern Andalusian Harmony

This paper proposes a novel account of a derivationally opaque aspect of ATR harmony in Eastern Andalusian. Harmony in the language is driven by Positional Licensing: [-ATR] originating on final vowels must spread to the stressed vowel. Intervening post-tonic vowels optionally also harmonize, as do pretonic vowels. Typically in licensing-driven systems, if harmony is unable to reach the licensor, harmony does not affect non-licensing positions either. Not so in Eastern Andalusian: high vowels do not harmonize, but a stressed high vowel does not prevent unstressed vowels from harmonizing as normal – harmony can overapply on these vowels. The analysis, couched in serial Harmonic Grammar, develops a new mechanism called persistence that accounts for this opacity. Under persistence, once a feature satisfies Positional Licensing by spreading to the licensing position, Positional Licensing remains satisfied for the rest of the derivation, even if the feature vacates the licensing position. This allows a stressed high vowel to harmonize, thereby permitting unstressed vowels to harmonize, too, and then harmony can retract off the high vowel without running afoul of Positional Licensing.

Categorical and gradient ungrammaticality in optional processes

Current theories of optionality often take a gradient view of grammaticality: unattested variants are not categorically excluded but rather highly improbable. Vowel harmony in Eastern Andalusian challenges this view. Unstressed vowels optionally harmonize in a coordinated fashion. For example, if one posttonic vowel harmonizes, they all must. Different implementations of noisy harmonic grammar are tested for their ability to account for this pattern. Only the implementation that categorically excludes forms with uncoordinated harmony succeeds; other implementations, which can only make such forms unlikely outputs, provide inferior models. This contrast indicates that there remains a need for a categorical approach to (un)grammaticality alongside a gradient approach.

Eastern Andalusian Spanish

Eastern Andalusian Spanish (henceforth EAS), is spoken in the east of Andalusia, the southernmost autonomous region of Spain. EAS is most similar to Western Andalusian Spanish (WAS) and to Murcian Spanish, the latter spoken in the autonomous region of Murcia, immediately to the east of Andalusia, and it shares some phonetic traits with EAS, such as vowel lowering. Geographically, Eastern Andalusia includes the provinces of Almería, Granada, Jaén and Málaga, although the precise linguistic delimitation of this area is somewhat more complicated (Figure 1). The main criterion to differentiate EAS from WAS is the lowering or opening of vowels preceding underlying /s/ (Villena Ponsoda 2000). More detailed information on the differences between EAS and WAS can be found in Jiménez Fernández (1999), Villena Ponsoda (2000), Moya Corral (2010) and Valeš (2014). According to Alvar, Llorente & Salvador (1973: map 1696), Cádiz and Huelva in the west are the only Andalusian provinces where vowel lowering before underlying /s/ is not found. As the geographical extent of this phenomenon is widely debated, it is difficult to calculate the precise number of speakers of EAS, but we can assert that this geolect is the native variety of Spanish of approximately 2,800,000 speakers if we take into account the figures from the last census of Andalusia in 2011 (Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía 2011).

The vowel system of Eastern Andalusian Spanish speakers with articulation disorders

Eastern Andalusian Spanish deletes coda consonants and the effects of such deletions have been widely studied. However, this has been done almost exclusively for /s/. Furthermore, no study has considered Eastern Andalusian speakers with articulation disorders. The present paper explores the consequences of /s/, /r/, and /θ/ deletion on preceding vowels in Eastern Andalusian speakers with articulation disorders. The vowels from eight speakers with articulation disorders are analysed in word-final position and before underlying /-s/, /-r/, and /-θ/. Acoustic and statistical analyses show that speakers with an articulation disorder do not simply delete word-final consonants, as posited in the literature for these type of speakers, but they also display lowering and fronting/backing, which is typical in this variety of Spanish. The results from the analyses of the 524 vowels from the present study are compared to data of speakers not affected by articulation disorders from the literature. While the vowels of both groups of speakers suffer different alterations depending on the underlying consonant they precede, the intensity of such alterations varies between both groups. It is hypothesised that functional compensation forces explain why speakers with articulation disorders acquire some features of Eastern Andalusian vowels but not others.

Morpheme dislocation in Eastern Andalusian Spanish plurals

This paper examines whether the morpheme of plurality has shifted from word-final to word-initial syllable in Eastern Andalusian Spanish. This would be explained by word-medial vowel lowering caused by vowel harmony, which extends leftwards from the vowel preceding deleted /-s/ up to the stressed vowel. Two experiments are performed: (1) Eastern Andalusian speakers have to decide if each item is singular or plural by listening to the first syllable of paroxytone disyllabic words; (2) Paroxytone disyllabic words are manipulated and the first syllable is taken from a singular word and the second syllable from its plural, and vice versa; the participants have to categorise each item as singular or plural. An analysis of 4503 answers shows that these speakers can identify singular /ˈCV.CV/ words by listening to the first syllable only when the first syllable contains /e/ or /o/ and plural only when the first syllable contains /o/; they can identify singular /ˈCVC.CV/ words when the first syllable contains /o/, /i/ or /u/ and plurals when they contain /e/ or /o/. The morpheme of plurality has not shifted completely to word-initial syllable but it is hypothesised that there is a shift currently underway and that this is more advanced for /e/ and /o/.

Consonant Deletion and Eastern Andalusian Spanish Vowels: The Effect of Word-final /s/, /r/ and /θ/ Deletion on /i/

Syllable-final consonant deletion has been widely documented in Eastern Andalusian Spanish, although the effects of consonant deletion on preceding vowels are still unknown. Studies analyzing syllable-final consonants in Eastern Andalusian Spanish have focused on /-s/, disregarding other consonants which are also deleted in this position. The present paper aims to extend this traditional focus by analyzing how /-s/, /-r/ and /-θ/ deletion affects preceding /i/. After analyzing 383 samples of /i/ word-finally and before underlying word-final /s/, /r/ and /θ/ in Western Almería (Eastern Andalusia), it is confirmed that the deletion of these three consonants changes the quality of preceding /i/. Furthermore, the results of a perception test confirm that speakers of Eastern Andalusian Spanish can identify whether or not /i/ is followed by an underlying /-s/, /-r/ or /-θ/ and they can also identify two types of /i/ in isolation: word-final /i/ and /i/ preceding underlying /-r/; this identification occurs at a rate which is statistically significant. It is hypothesized that, apart from vowel height and frontness, a suprasegmental feature could be the perceptual cue used to identify an underlying consonant after a vowel in this variety of Spanish.

New Perspectives On Automatic And Morphophonological Alternations: Harmonic Processes In Two Peninsular Varieties Of Spanish

The present study investigated vowel harmony (VH) in two varieties of Peninsular Spanish - Eastern Andalusian and Montañes. Despite both varieties exhibiting VH, the triggers and targets for each variety result in metaphonic alternations that are quite distinct. Although previous research has extensively documented the VH of Andalusia and Montañes, no study has yet systematically compared the two using a singular metric for determining automatic (i.e., phonological) and morphophonological alternations.To address these questions, VH in each variety is described in detail and then classified as either an automatic or morphophonological alternation according to the following eight criteria indicated in Haspelmath and Sims (2010): phonological versus morphological or lexical conditioning, phonetic coherency, phonetic distance, restriction to derived environments, extension to loanwords, sensitivity to speech-style, creation of new segments, and restriction to the word level. In order to gain a more compete understanding of the morphology-phonology interface in Spanish, we explore similarities and differences in the VH of Eastern Andalusia and of the north of Spain. We seek to determine if VH in each region is more characteristic of automatic or morphophonological alternations.An in-depth analysis of the VH in each variety is revealed that a binary classification was less appropriate than viewing these alternations on a continuum. The nuanced representation of these alternations on a continuum is a unique contribution to the literature on Spanish VH and provides a fresh perspective on the nature of VH alternations in Peninsular Spanish.

Four low central vowels in Eastern Andalusian Spanish: /a/ before underlying /-s/, /-r/, and /-θ/ in El Ejido

Abstract Coda-final consonant deletion has been extensively documented in Eastern Andalusian Spanish; however, its effects on neighbouring segments is still unknown. Scholars working on consonant deletion in Eastern Andalusian Spanish have mainly focused on /s/, given the semantic importance of this consonant in Spanish. As a result, other consonants which are often deleted syllable-finally in this geolect have been studied to a much lesser degree. The present paper aims to expand the traditional view on vowel doubling by analysing /-s/, /-r/, and /-Ɵ/ deletion before /a/. Firstly, the speech of 24 speakers from El Ejido (Eastern Andalusia) is analysed to ascertain how the deletion of word final /s/, /r/, and /Ɵ/ changes the quality of a preceding /a/. Secondly, a perception test is carried out with native speakers from the local area to confirm whether these speakers can differentiate perceptually between word-final /a/ and /a/ preceding underlying /-s/, /-r/, or /-Ɵ/. This paper presents two main conclusions: 1) /-s/, /-r/, and /-Ɵ/ deletion changes the quality of a preceding /a/ to different degrees; 2) EAS speakers can identify whether /a/ is followed or not by an underlying /-s/, /-r/, or /-Ɵ/, but they cannot identify which consonant has been deleted in each case.

The phonetics and phonology of Eastern Andalusian Spanish: A review of literature from 1881 to 2016

Despite previous studies on Eastern Andalusian Spanish, interest on this geolect boomed only after the theory of vowel doubling was posited for this variety of Spanish. According to this theory, in Eastern Andalusian Spanish, vowels preceding /s/ aspiration or deletion change their quality, thus, carrying the semantic function of /s/. Since then, many researchers have studied the vowel and consonant systems of this variety of Spanish and the phonetic-phonological debate is still ongoing. This article reviews the main studies on Eastern Andalusian Spanish pronunciation between 1881 and 2016, comparing the different findings in that period and summarising them chronologically. The article finishes with an outline of widely accepted and debated features of Eastern Andalusian Spanish in order to identify future lines of research.

Patterns of vowel laxing and harmony in Iberian Spanish: Data from production and perception

We investigate the production and perception outcomes of sound changes involving phonological vowel harmony, and how phonetic processes (i.e., /s/ lenition and vowel laxing) bear on these outcomes. Our data come from two varieties of Iberian Spanish: Eastern Andalusian Spanish (EAS), a variety that undergoes lenition of word-final /s/, and North-Central Peninsular Spanish (NCPS), a variety that typically retains /s/. In Experiment 1 we show that EAS (but not NCPS) speakers lax the low and mid vowels /a e o/ (i.e., approximating [æ ɛ ɔ], respectively) of /as es os/-final words. In Experiment 2 we show that EAS (but not NCPS) speakers harmonize the mid vowels /e o/ when followed by laxed /a e o/. We analyze this right-to-left spreading as a phonologically-induced change, and argue that it cannot be interpreted as anticipatory coarticulation with word-final lax vowels. During Experiment 3, EAS and NCPS listeners judged the grammatical status of stimuli from the minimal pair [nene] – [nεnε] (‘boy’ – ‘boys’) in a forced-choice word identification task. While all listeners tended to associate [nene]-type stimuli as singular words, EAS listeners alone reliably associated [nεnε]-type stimuli as plural words. This suggests that EAS listeners have greater perceptual sensitivity to the /e/-/ε/ contrast than NCPS listeners. Altogether, our multifaceted approach offers insight on sound change from varied temporal perspectives: we explain what historical factors may have led to laxing and phonological harmony, and what synchronic motivations these processes may have.

Four mid back vowels in Eastern Andalusian Spanish

AbstractThe deletion of syllable-final consonants in Eastern Andalusian Spanish has been extensively documented; however, there is no consensus about its effect on neighbouring vowels. Researchers have focused on the effects of /s/ deletion on vowels to analyse how its semantic value is conveyed, while other consonants which are also deleted have been ignored. This paper examines the effects of word-final /s/, /r/, and /θ/ deletion on preceding /o/ from the point of view of production and perception. Regarding production, acoustic analyses of data from El Ejido (Eastern Andalusia), show specific changes to the F1 and F2 of /o/ depending on the underlying consonant it precedes (/s/, /r/, or /θ/). Likewise, a perception test demonstrates that Eastern Andalusian speakers can distinguish between more types of mid back vowels than previously thought.

Four mid front vowels in Western Almería

Eastern Andalusian Spanish neutralises consonants in coda, although despite the neutralisation of most coda consonants, phonemic value has only been given to vowels preceding deleted /s/. The present paper expands on this traditional view and shows a more complex reality. This study will analyse differences between word-final /e/ and /e/ preceding deleted word-final /s/, /r/, and /θ/ in Western Almería (Eastern Andalusia) to determine if the deletion of each of these consonants causes consistent changes of quality to /e/, creating a system of four mid front vowels. A perception analysis will then determine if Western Almería speakers can distinguish between each of those vowels, which will confirm whether these realisations of /e/ have allophonic or phonemic value. An analysis shows consistent F1 and F2 values depending on whether /e/ is in coda or whether it precedes word-final /s/, /r/, or /θ/ deletion. Furthermore, perception tests show an ability to distinguish between some of those four mid front vowels.

Synchronic and diachronic factors in the change from pre-aspiration to post-aspiration in Andalusian Spanish

The study is concerned with the mechanisms by which pre- and post-aspiration are related synchronically and diachronically in Andalusian Spanish. An analysis of isolated word productions by 24 speakers of a Western Andalusian and by 24 of an Eastern Andalusian variety each divided into two age groups provided evidence for a sound change in progress: younger speakers and those of the Western Andalusian variety were more likely to produce /st/ with a shorter pre-aspiration and with a longer post-aspiration phase than their older and Eastern Andalusian counterparts. The results of further between-group duration analyses show that the sound change cannot be entirely explained by a realignment from an anti-phase to an in-phase timing relationship between the closure and glottal opening; they also provide evidence for the development of a trading relationship between the duration of the closure and the duration of post-aspiration. In order to test whether perceptual factors might have contributed to this sound change, a perception experiment was carried out. Listeners of Argentinian Spanish judged stimuli of a minimal pair pasta-pata with variable pre-aspiration duration in a forced-choice perception test. When the continuum was synthesized with a slightly post-aspirated stop release, listeners were more inclined to perceive pasta, which suggests that post-aspiration is parsed with pre-aspiration and serves as a cue for the underlying /st/ even in a non-post-aspirating variety of Spanish.

TAP1 and TAP2 Polymorphisms and Their Linkage Disequilibrium With HLA-DR, -DP, and -DQ in an Eastern Andalusian Population

Transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) molecules are involved in the processing of endogenous peptides that bind to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. The possible functional significance of TAP polymorphisms for antigenic peptide transport is an unresolved issue. Population genetics is a tool for investigating the evolutionary and functional significance of genetic polymorphisms. We studied 105 unrelated individuals from Eastern Andalusia in Southern Spain for TAP1 and TAP2 polymorphisms and to detect linkage disequilibrium between TAP1 and TAP2 and between TAP1/TAP2 and human lymphocyte antigen (HLA) DR, DP, and DQ genes. HLA-DR, -DQ, -DP, and TAP1 loci were genotyped with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–sequence-specific oligonucleotide method, and TAP2 genes were typed by using the amplification-refractory mutation system–PCR technique. The alleles TAP1*D (3.3%), TAP2*D (2.4%), and TAP2*E (2.9%) were present in the Eastern Andalusian population but not in the general Spanish population. No evidence of linkage disequilibrium was found between TAP1 and TAP2 or between the TAP genes and HLA-DR, -DP, and -DQ in the Eastern Andalusian population. These results are consistent with the absence of coevolution between TAP and MHC class II genes and the hypothesis of selective neutrality.

Integrated Botrytis cinerea Management in Southeastern Spanish Greenhouses

AbstractA strategy for integrated biological and chemical control of Botrytis cinerea in unheated tomato greenhouses in southeastern Spain was tested. The biocontrol agent used was a commercial preparation developed from an isolate of Trichoderma harzianum T39 (Trichodex®). Decisions concerning whether to spray the biocontrol agent or a fungicide were made based on a future weather disease warning system called BOTMAN implemented as follows: no spraying when slow or no disease progress was expected; use of a chemical fungicide when an outbreak of epidemics was expected; in all other cases, application of Trichoderma harzianum T39 was recommended. A 4‐day weather forecast provided by the Eastern Andalusian Weather Forecast Service was used for predictions. The integrated strategy was compared with weekly applications of fungicides in two experiments conducted over 1998–99 and 1999–2000. Reduction of disease incidence was obtained only with the fungicide‐only treatment in the 1998–99 experiment (55%, P < 0.05). Application of BOTMAN gave high disease risk only in 2 dates or times in that experiment, so fungicides were only applied twice. For the remaining 12 dates or times, Trichodex® was sprayed. In the second experiment, application of BOTMAN gave moderate risk all the weeks and Trichodex® was applied nine times. In this experiment, disease level did not differ significantly (P < 0.05) from untreated plot. The reasons for failure of BOTMAN in Spanish conditions were discussed.

Sobre el valencià «gemecar» 'gemegar'

This paper focuses excusively on Valencian gemecar ‘gemegar’, “to whine”. It asserts that it is a generalized form in Valencian areas, where it can be found as early as the 15th century. On the one hand, it refutes the hypothesis that the word should be a back-formation from gemec, and on the other, that it should be linked to Mozarabic. The author shows the continuity with Aragonese gemecar, and underlines that Aragonese keeps intervocalic voiceless consonants, that gemecar can be found in Aragonese documents since the 14th century, and that it has expanded into neighbouring varieties, related to Aragonese (Murcian and Eastern Andalusian). Finally, the paper justifies the acceptance of the variety gemecar, alongside gemegar, in standardized Catalan.

A New Hypothesis on the Origin of the Eastern Andalusian Vowel System

Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: General Session and Parasession on Historical Issues in Sociolinguistics/Social Issues in Historical Linguistics (1995)