Journal of Experimental Phonetics

Exploring variables affecting vowel sequences across word boundaries in Peninsular Spanish

João Paulo Moraes Lima dos Santos — 2025-02-28

This article presents an analysis of variables that can influence the behavior of vowel sequences across word boundaries in Peninsular Spanish. The analyses have been conducted using the following variables: vowel type, syllable type, word type, articulation rate, stress, and the position of the sequence in the utterance. Results show that combinations with stress favor maintenance when considering the main accent of the utterance and the sequence’s position at the utterance boundary. On the other hand, vowel type, syllable type, and word type have presented fewer effects than stress on the preference to maintain the hiatus or contract it in any way, as there was a tendency for sandhi in almost all types of combinations. Lastly, articulation rate has shown higher rates correlating with increased likelihoods of sequence contraction.

Stop production of L1 Chinese - L2 English - L3 Spanish learners

Yanziye Wei — 2025-03-10

Previous research has provided valuable insights into third language speech acquisition, yet the results regarding the direction and source of cross-linguistic influence remain inconclusive. This study examines the production of stops by L1 Chinese - L2 English - L3 Spanish speakers across all three languages and compares their voice onset time (VOT) values to those of monolingual speakers in each language. The results revealed the mutual influence between L1 and L2 and a progressive transfer pattern following an L1 → L2 → L3 trajectory. Accordingly, L2, rather than L1, may serve as the primary source of transfer to L3. These findings have important implications for language teaching, suggesting that teachers should consider learners’ existing L2 knowledge in syllabus design.

An acoustic study of /r/ front fricatives in Bolivian Highland Spanish

Philippe Boula de Mareüil — 2025-03-03

This study focuses on the acoustic characteristics of two fricative variants of /r/ in the highlands of Bolivia: a dominant postalveolar retroflex variant with or without initial linguo-palatal contact, [r̝, ʐ], present alongside a fronted variant [z]. We aim to differentiate these variants and account for the contexts that trigger one or the other allophone. We analyse the productions of 10 speakers reading sentences in which words were inserted, including different stress and vowel contexts where /r/ appears. For 8 speakers, the results indicate that the [z] allophone occurs in 20% of productions, while 2 speakers do not produce this variant. The centre of gravity varies significantly according to the categorisation of [ʐ] vs [z], and the appearance of [z] is favoured by a front vowel context.

Articulatory characterization of /s/ in Northern Peninsular Spanish based on MRI images

Alexander Iribar Ibabe — 2025-03-19

This paper presents an articulatory characterisation of the phoneme /s/ in northern peninsular Spanish, based on the analysis of a series of magnetic resonance images (MRI), in 2D and 3D. The set of articulatory parameters used in the analysis has proven useful for the description of Basque sibilants (Iribar et al., 2020, 2022, 2024). Three different models of /s/ production are identified and described: apical alveolodental, laminar alveolar and laminar alveolodental; only the first of these models corresponds to the traditional description of the so-called northern ese norteña. The shape of the articulatory canal, which does not seem to be related to the articulatory models, is also studied.

Vowels in context

Md Imran Hossain — 2025-03-20

The aim of this study was to acoustically analyze the vowels of Uruguayan Spanish. A total of 27 native speakers of Uruguayan Spanish participated in the study, reading pseudowords in carrier sentences. The results indicate that vowels are characterized by specific values of the first two formants. Additionally, they exhibit intrinsic duration, intensity, and fundamental frequency values, which help distinguish different vowel categories to some extent. Notably, these acoustic vowel parameters are not invariant but are influenced by linguistic factors such as consonantal environment, lexical stress, and sentence context, as well as by the speakers’ gender. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the vowel system characteristics in Uruguayan Spanish.