Sociolinguistic Variation of Final Back Vowels in Urban Asturian Spanish
Document Type
Contribution to Book
Publication Date
2021
Publisher
Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Source Publication
The Routledge Handbook of Variationist Approaches to Spanish
Source ISSN
9780429200267
Original Item ID
DOI: 10.4324/9780429200267-5
Abstract
Influenced by the minority language of the region, speakers of urban Asturian Spanish vary in their production of final back vowels in the masculine singular morpheme, with realizations that range from Spanish [-o] to Asturian [-u]. This study investigates the effect of linguistic and social variables on the realization of the first two formants of these vowels. The results revealed that, while coarticulation and gender effects were observed in both formants, other social variables only had a significant effect on F1 frequency. In contrast, only linguistic variables had an effect on the frequency of the F2. Given the variability observed in the F2, I propose that changes along the F1 dimension might be more salient and, as a result, more suitable for indexing social meaning. The study also demonstrates that Asturian Spanish speakers use phonetic detail, such as small differences in formant frequencies and vowel-cluster configurations, to index social information.
Recommended Citation
Barnes, Sonia, "Sociolinguistic Variation of Final Back Vowels in Urban Asturian Spanish" (2021). Spanish Languages and Literatures Research and Publications. 96.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/span_fac/96
Comments
"Sociolinguistic Variation of Final Back Vowels in Urban Asturian Spanish" in The Routledge Handbook of Variationist Approaches to Spanish. Ed. Manuel Díaz-Campos. New York: Routledge (2022): 36-49. DOI.