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In:Hispanic Linguistics: Current issues and new directions
Edited by Alfonso Morales-Front, Michael J. Ferreira, Ronald P. Leow and Cristina Sanz
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 26] 2020
► pp. 207–228

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Demystifying Salvadoran [sθ]

Evidence for /s/ lenition

 | University of California, Los Angeles
Published online: 13 May 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.26.10bro
Abstract
In the Central American countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, /s/ not only weakens to [h] and [Ø] but is variably produced as a voiceless approximant that is perceptually similar to interdental [θ]. While this sound, which I refer to as [sθ], has become a defining characteristic of these dialects, little is known about its acoustic nature or what drives its use linguistically. This paper aims to forge a more complete understanding of this sound in Central America via an exploration of these components in the Spanish of El Salvador. Acoustic and sociophonetic analyses of [sθ] in the speech of 72 Salvadorans reveal that this sound can be situated on an articulatory continuum between [s] and [h] and may be the result of gestural undershoot within a framework of gradient consonant lenition.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Salvadoran /s/
  • 3.An effort-based approach to consonant lenition
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Hypotheses
    • 4.2Data collection and analysis
  • 5.Acoustic evidence for lenition
    • 5.1Duration analysis
    • 5.2COG analysis
  • 6.Evidence from linguistic environment
    • 6.1Prosodic position
    • 6.2Preceding segment
    • 6.3Following segment
    • 6.4Results
  • 7.Discussion and conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
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Bongiovanni, Silvina
2024. Accounting for effects of monitored speech: vowel nasalization, nasal consonant weakening and /s/ production in Spanish. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 17:2 ► pp. 197 ff. DOI logo

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