Chapter published in:
New Approaches to Language Attitudes in the Hispanic and Lusophone World
Edited by Talia Bugel and Cecilia Montes-Alcalá
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 25] 2020
► pp. 12–38

Prosody perception meets language attitudes

Vowel lengthening, status judgments, and stereotypes in Argentina

| James Madison University
A long pre-tonic vowel is associated with the regional variety of Cordoban Spanish in Argentina (Lang-Rigal, 2015a). This paper seeks to discover how, and if, prosodic production is correlated with perceived competence. Listeners judged the intelligence and occupation of anonymous speakers based on samples of their spontaneous speech. Results show that perceived speaker intelligence and occupation correlate with the degree of pre-tonic vowel lengthening (t = 4.577, p < .01). When a longer pre-tonic vowel was produced, the speaker’s competence was more negatively evaluated. However, Córdoba speakers were evaluated positively for attractiveness and integrity, supporting Labov et al. (1968), Giles (1971, 1973), and Preston (1999) who found regional varieties were viewed as non-standard and of lower social status relative to the perceived standard dialect.
Keywords: Córdoba Argentina, language attitudes, perception, vowel lengthening, dialects of Argentina
Published online: 30 April 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.25.01lan
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