Where are hiatuses left?

We investigate the realization of iV sequences in a contact (CV) and non-contact (NCV) variety of Argentine Spanish. We test the following hypotheses: (1) diphthongization is increasing in CV; (2) diphthongization is sensitive to the etymological origin of the sequence; (3) delateralization in CV is an attractor for diphthongization. Results only support (1) and (2). While hiatuses are more frequent in CV, both varieties share the pan-Hispanic preference for diphthongs. However, CV and NCV differ from each other and from Peninsular varieties in the environments where hiatuses are left: NCV maintains few exceptional hiatuses and CV is less sensitive to the etymological origin of the sequence. Additionally, CV and NCV differ in the realization of diphthongs and of the diphthong/hiatus contrast: CV diphthongs are more coarticulated with V2 and more clearly differentiated from hiatuses. Thus, we argue that different varieties exploit different coarticulatory strategies to achieve a similar percept.