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In:Interdisciplinary Approaches to Romance Linguistics: In honor of Barbara E. Bullock and Almeida Jacqueline Toribio
Edited by Mark Amengual and Amanda Dalola
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 45] 2025
► pp. 69–95

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Chapter 3
Bilingualism and the assibilated /r/ in Guatemalan Spanish

 | Middlebury College
Published online: 2 September 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.45.03bai
Abstract
This study sociophonetically analyzes the assibilated /r/ in Guatemalan Spanish among bilinguals of Spanish and K’iche’, which also has a voiceless assibilated /r/ in word-final position. Results reveal that their Spanish assibilated /r/ is always voiceless, is limited to word-final position, primarily occurs before a pause, and is more prevalent among speakers that are more K’iche’-dominant. As the assibilated /r/ is a common rhotic variant across different varieties of Spanish, it cannot be claimed that it comes from K’iche’ in Guatemala. However, it is proposed that K’iche’ has influenced the realization of this rhotic variant in the Spanish of these bilinguals, as it is phonetically the same and is limited to the same phonological contexts as the K’iche’ assibilated /r/.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The assibilated /r/ in Guatemalan Spanish and K’iche’
    • 1.2The present study
  • 2.Methods
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Data collection and coding of tokens
    • 2.3Statistical analyses
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Voiceless assibilated /r/ vs. voiced /r/
    • 3.2Voiceless trill vs. voiced /r/
    • 3.3Generally devoiced /r/ vs. voiced /r/
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
References (69)
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