Diphthongization of Non-High Vowel Sequences in Latin American Spanish

The findings of this study confirm that the articulation of Spanish adjacent vowels is internally driven by phonetic/phonological factors such as proximity to stress and initiality (with posttonic position being the most favorable for diphthongization to occur), but also provide evidence that the phenomenon does not apply regularly to all lexical items. The lexical variability observed not only between regions, but also intra-dialectally, is discussed in terms of the items frequency of usage as well the negative or positive social evaluation associated with the diphthongized forms. In sum, this dissertation analyzes the diphthongization of non-high hiatus sequences in Spanish as a sound change motivated by internal linguistic forces but mediated in its diffusion by social factors.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Spanish

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Garrido, Marisol

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hualde, Jose Ignacio

• Language, Modern

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3347387

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/86161