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Rhotic production in the Spanish of Bluefields, Nicaragua, a language contact situation

Lopez Alonzo, Karen I
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1469104793

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Spanish and Portuguese.
This dissertation researches the production of rhotics in the Spanish of Bluefields, Nicaragua. This is a unique language contact situation between Spanish, the most recent language in the region, English/Kriol, Miskitu, and Sumo/Ulwa. Realizations of non-canonic rhotics have been reported in the Spanish of Bluefields speakers whose first language is not Spanish, and tap and retroflex realizations have been observed instead of the standard trill. The tap and the trill are recognized as normative in Spanish, and they are contrastive intervocalically. The rhotic observations in Bluefields are based on impressionistic descriptions (Lipski 2007; Rosales Solis 2008). Thus, to confirm and expand these earlier reports, I present a detailed sociophonetic study and explore the effect of different factors on rhotic production. I analyze linguistic factors (stress and phonological context) and sociolinguistic factors (first language, age and education level) that may influence the variation of these sounds. I study the distribution of the types of rhotics in four different positions: 1) Intervocalic (e.g. caro `expensive’ ['ka.¿o] vs. carro `car’ ['ka.ro]); 2) The beginning of the word (e.g. ramo `bunch’ ['ra.mo]); 3) Complex onsets (e.g. trato `I try’ ['t¿a.to]; and 4) Word final (e.g. mar `sea’ [ma¿]). I base my analysis on the data obtained during my 2013 summer fieldwork in Bluefields. I interviewed 30 participants, who completed a survey and an audio-recorded sociolinguistic interview. Each one of the interviews was acoustically analyzed by using Praat, in order to categorize each rhotic production. Based on 3,953 tokens, results show variation in all contexts, but stress is not significant. At the beginning of the word, speakers produce a trill [r], a tap [¿], an approximated tap [¿¿] or a fricative [r]. In intervocalic position, speakers maintain the contrast by producing a trill and a fricative when a trill would be expected, while producing some degree of neutralization with the approximated tap. I conclude that the fricative functions as an articulatory strategy to establish the contrast between rhotics in intervocalic position. In word-final position, participants present four variants: the tap [¿], the approximated tap [¿¿], the trill [r] and the fricative [r]. All three sociolinguistic factors are significant. Participants with L1 English/Kriol are the only speakers producing retroflex realizations in all contexts. The presence of the fricative happens among speakers with L1 English/Kriol and an indigenous language, suggesting that speakers who originally do not have the trill in their L1 present articulatory alternatives to approximate this sound. Spanish monolingual speakers tend to follow the normative rhotic production. Age results demonstrate that older participants produce fewer trills than the younger population. Finally, participants with a lower education level produce more trills than those with higher education, and these results are explained through the concept of linguistic insecurity. To conclude, this study offers an example of a thorough acoustic analysis of a community with multiple layers and overcomes the challenge of determining the sociolinguistic factors that influence variation of rhotics. Thus, this dissertation provides a model for future studies in complex communities such as the blufileña.
Rebeka Campos-Astorkiza (Advisor)
Terrell Morgan (Advisor)
226 p.
Language; Linguistics; Modern Language; Sociolinguistics
rhotics, Bluefields, Nicaragua, Spanish

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Citations

  • Lopez Alonzo, K. I. (2016). Rhotic production in the Spanish of Bluefields, Nicaragua, a language contact situation [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1469104793

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lopez Alonzo, Karen. Rhotic production in the Spanish of Bluefields, Nicaragua, a language contact situation. 2016. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1469104793.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lopez Alonzo, Karen. "Rhotic production in the Spanish of Bluefields, Nicaragua, a language contact situation." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1469104793

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1469104793
1,247
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