Contribution to Book
Ch. 1 An overview: sibilant merger & its development (2021)
Sociolinguistic approaches to sibilant variation in Spanish
(2021)
Abstract
The evolution of the medieval sibilant phonetic system is central to understanding how original Castilian expanded and evolved on both sides of the Atlantic. At the same time, it helps to distinguish varieties such as Andalusian Spanish, trans-Atlantic Spanish, and Judeo-Spanish, which in many ways constitutes proof of all the diachronic processes happening during and after the late medieval period. The sibilant merger and its resulting graphic confusion represent a crucial chapter in the development of Spanish. This study offers an extensive overview of the evidence, chronology, dialectal divergence, theories of causation, and phonetic background of this merger. It helps the reader understand how the sibilant system evolved into its modern realization by exploring the origins and different steps in their complex evolution.
Keywords
- Sibilants,
- devoicing,
- voicing,
- dialects,
- aspiration,
- merger
Disciplines
Publication Date
Spring April 28, 2021
Citation Information
Eva Núñez-Méndez. "Ch. 1 An overview: sibilant merger & its development (2021)" Sociolinguistic approaches to sibilant variation in Spanish (2021) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/eva_nunez-mendez/49/