Chapter 1. The role of social cues in the perception of final vowel contrasts in Asturian Spanish
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Sonia Barnes
Abstract
Influenced by the minority language of the region, speakers of Asturian Spanish vary in their production of word-final back vowels in the masculine singular morpheme, with realizations that range from Spanish [o] (/pero/) to Asturian [u] (/peru/). Previous research has found that listeners’ social judgements of speakers are affected by whether [-o] or [-u] are used. This study explores how social cues about the speakers affect the listeners’ perception of these vowels. The results of a binary forced-choice identification task combined with sociolinguistic priming show that productions paired with visuals of urban status were more likely to be identified as Spanish /-o/, but only when listeners were in favor of Asturian attaining co-official status. The results contribute to our understanding of the role that explicit stigmatization and overt language attitudes have on phonetic representation.
Abstract
Influenced by the minority language of the region, speakers of Asturian Spanish vary in their production of word-final back vowels in the masculine singular morpheme, with realizations that range from Spanish [o] (/pero/) to Asturian [u] (/peru/). Previous research has found that listeners’ social judgements of speakers are affected by whether [-o] or [-u] are used. This study explores how social cues about the speakers affect the listeners’ perception of these vowels. The results of a binary forced-choice identification task combined with sociolinguistic priming show that productions paired with visuals of urban status were more likely to be identified as Spanish /-o/, but only when listeners were in favor of Asturian attaining co-official status. The results contribute to our understanding of the role that explicit stigmatization and overt language attitudes have on phonetic representation.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Spain
- Chapter 1. The role of social cues in the perception of final vowel contrasts in Asturian Spanish 15
- Chapter 2. Covert and overt attitudes towards Catalonian Spanish laterals and intervocalic fricatives 39
- Chapter 3. Dialectology meets sociophonetics 85
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South America
- Chapter 4. Regional identity in Highland Ecuador 125
- Chapter 5. Spanish and Palenquero 153
- Chapter 6. The role of social networks in cross-dialectal variation in the perception of the Rioplatense assibilated pre-palatal [ʃ] 187
- Chapter 7. The social perception of intervocalic /k/ voicing in Chilean Spanish 211
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North America
- Chapter 8. The sociophonetic perception of heritage Spanish speakers in the United States 239
- Chapter 9. Spoken word recognition and shesheo in Northwestern Mexico 265
- Chapter 10. The perception-production connection 287
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Future Directions
- Chapter 11. Of intersectionality, replicability, and holistic perspectives 315
- Chapter 12. Future directions for sociophonetic research in Spanish 327
- Index 341
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Spain
- Chapter 1. The role of social cues in the perception of final vowel contrasts in Asturian Spanish 15
- Chapter 2. Covert and overt attitudes towards Catalonian Spanish laterals and intervocalic fricatives 39
- Chapter 3. Dialectology meets sociophonetics 85
-
South America
- Chapter 4. Regional identity in Highland Ecuador 125
- Chapter 5. Spanish and Palenquero 153
- Chapter 6. The role of social networks in cross-dialectal variation in the perception of the Rioplatense assibilated pre-palatal [ʃ] 187
- Chapter 7. The social perception of intervocalic /k/ voicing in Chilean Spanish 211
-
North America
- Chapter 8. The sociophonetic perception of heritage Spanish speakers in the United States 239
- Chapter 9. Spoken word recognition and shesheo in Northwestern Mexico 265
- Chapter 10. The perception-production connection 287
-
Future Directions
- Chapter 11. Of intersectionality, replicability, and holistic perspectives 315
- Chapter 12. Future directions for sociophonetic research in Spanish 327
- Index 341
