Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

Hispanic Studies

Supervisor

Yasaman Rafat

Abstract

The Andalusian variety of Spanish is characterized by a weakened articulation (Hualde, 2005). The purpose of the present study is to analyze and characterize liquid neutralization in this variety of Spanish. This experiment specifically provides new evidence on lateral rhotic alternation, quantifying the rate of lateral maintenance, substitution of laterals by rhotics, production of in between sounds and deletion in 40 Andalusian speakers of Spanish. In doing so, it rigorously examines the effect of a number of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors. The linguistic factors comprised of number of syllables, stress, position (incomplete neutralization) and across word boundary. The extra-linguistic factors comprised of rate of speech, age, sex, social class (level of education, place of residence), cultural affiliation and andalusian pride. The study therefore contributes to our understanding of factors that shape sound variation.

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