Chapter published in:
Spanish Phonetics and Phonology in Contact: Studies from Africa, the Americas, and Spain
Edited by Rajiv Rao
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 28] 2020
► pp. 64–81

The vowel spaces of Spanish-K’ichee’ bilinguals

| Middlebury College
The point vowels /i, a, u/ serve to mark the extremes of the acoustic vowel space; however, previous experimental research on K’ichee’ has shown that the acoustic location of point vowels varies according to the vowel inventory of the specific dialect of K’ichee’. The present study analyzes the acoustic vowel spaces of Guatemalan Spanish monolinguals and of Spanish-K’ichee’ bilinguals from two K’ichee’ dialects with different vowel inventories. The results of a production task reveal that the bilingual Spanish vowel spaces differ from those of monolinguals. Furthermore, although these bilinguals maintain cross-language differences in their mid vowels, their Spanish point vowels correspond in acoustic location to their K’ichee’ point vowels, meaning they have similar acoustic vowel spaces in both languages.
Keywords: acoustic vowel space, point vowels, Guatemalan Spanish, K’ichee’, bilingualism
Published online: 06 August 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.28.03bai
References

References

Aissen, J., England, N. C., & Zavala Maldonado, R.
(2017) The Mayan languages. Abingdon, UK/New York, NY: Routledge. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Alvar, M.
(1990a) Nuevas notas sobre el español de Yucatán. In M. Alvar (Ed.), Norma lingüística sevillana y español de América (pp. 141–178). Madrid: Ediciones de Cultura Hispánica.Google Scholar
(1990b) Encuestas fonéticas en el suroccidente de Guatemala. In M. Alvar (Ed.), Norma lingüística sevillana y español de América (pp. 179–221). Madrid: Ediciones de Cultura Hispánica.Google Scholar
Alvord, S. M., & Rogers, B. M. A.
(2014) Miami-Cuban Spanish vowels in contact. Sociolinguistic Studies, 8(1), 139–170. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Amengual, M., & Chamorro, P.
(2015) The effects of language dominance in the perception and production of the Galician mid vowel contrasts. Phonetica, 72(4), 207–236. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Baird, B. O.
(2014) Acoustic correlates of stress in K’ichee’: A preliminary investigation. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics, 74, 21–34.Google Scholar
(2015) Pre-nuclear peak alignment in the Spanish of Spanish-K'ichee' (Mayan) bilinguals. In E. W. Willis, P. Martín Butragueño, & E. Herrera Zendejas (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 6th Conference on Laboratory Approaches to Romance Phonology (pp. 163–174). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
(2017) Prosodic transfer among Spanish-K’ichee’ Bilinguals. In K. Bellamy, M. W. Child, P. González, A. Muntendam, & M. Carmen Parafita Couto (Eds.), Multidisciplinary approaches to bilingualism in the Hispanic and Lusophone world (pp. 147–172). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2018a) Syntactic and prosodic contrastive focus marking in K’ichee’. International Journal of American Linguistics, 84(3), 295–325. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2018b) Dialectal evolution of the vowel systems of K’ichee’. In D. Recasens & F. Sánchez Miret (Eds.), Production and perception mechanisms of sound change (pp. 203–217). Munich: Lincom.Google Scholar
Baker, W., & Trofimovich, P.
(2005) Interaction of native- and second-language vowel system(s) in early and late bilinguals. Language & Speech, 48(1), 1–27. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Birdsong, D., Gertken, L. M., & Amengual, M.
(2012) Bilingual Language Profile: An easy-to-use instrument to assess bilingualism. COERLL, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved from https://​sites​.la​.utexas​.edu​/bilingual> (18 February, 2020).Google Scholar
Boersma, P., & Weenink D.
(1999–2016) Praat: Doing phonetics by computer [Software program]. Retrieved from http://​www​.praat​.org (18 February, 2020).Google Scholar
Bradlow, A.
(1995) A comparative acoustic study of English and Spanish vowels. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, 97(3), 1916–1924. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Carranza, M.
(2008) Fenómenos de interferencia fónica relacionados con la vocal /ɯ/ de la interlengua de estudiantes japoneses de español como lengua extranjera. Estudios Lingüísticos Hispánicos, 23, 1–21.Google Scholar
Chen, Y.
(2007) A comparison of Spanish produced by Chinese L2 learners and Spanish speakers: an acoustic phonetics approach (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, IL.
Crothers, J.
(1978) Typological and universals of vowel systems. In B. Greenburg (Ed.), Universals of human languages (pp. 93–152). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Delforge, A. M.
(2008) Unstressed vowel reduction in Andean Spanish. In L. Colantoni & J. Steele (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Laboratory Approaches to Spanish Phonology (pp. 108–124). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Disner, S.
(1983) Vowel quality: The relation between universal and language-specific factors. UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics, 58, 1–158.Google Scholar
England, N. C.
(1992) La autonomía de los idiomas mayas: Historia e identidad. Guatemala City: Cholsamaj.Google Scholar
(2003) Mayan language revival and revitalization politics: Linguists and linguistic ideologies. American Anthropologist, 105(4), 733–743. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
England, N. C., & Baird, B. O.
(2017) Phonology and phonetics. In J. Aissen, N. C. England, & R. Zavala Maldonado (Eds.), The Mayan languages (pp. 175–200). Abingdon, UK/New York, NY: Routledge. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Escudero, P., & Boersma, P.
(2002) The subset problem in L2 perceptual development: Multiple-category assimilation by Dutch learners of Spanish. In B. Skarabela, S. Fish, & A. Do (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty-sixth Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 208–219). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Frazier, M.
(2009) The production and perception of pitch and glottalization in Yucatec Maya (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
García Tesoro, A. I.
(2002a) El español en contacto con lenguas mayas: Guatemala. In A. Palacios & A. I. García Tesoro (Eds.), El indigenismo americano III (Colección Cuadernos de Filología, Vol. XLVIII, pp. 31–58). Valencia: Universidad de Valencia.Google Scholar
(2002b) Lenguas en contacto: Español y lenguas mayas en Guatemala. Lingüística (ALFAL), 14, 59–106.Google Scholar
(2005) Español en contacto con lenguas mayas en Guatemala. In C. Ferrero, N. Lasso, & V. Lang (Eds.), Variedades lingüísticas y lenguas en contacto en el mundo de habla hispana (pp. 25–34). Bloomington IN: Author House.Google Scholar
(2008) Guatemala. In A. Palacios (Ed.), El español en América: Contactos lingüísticos en Hispanoamérica (pp. 97–117). Barcelona: Ariel Letras.Google Scholar
Guion, S.
(2003) The vowel systems of Quichua-Spanish bilinguals: Age of acquisition effects on the mutual influence of the first and second language. Phonetica, 60, 98–128. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Guion, S., Flege, J., & Loftin, J.
(2000) The effect of L1 use on pronunciation in Quichua-Spanish bilinguals. Journal of Phonetics, 28, 27–42. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hualde, J. I.
(2005) The sounds of Spanish. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Iruela, A.
(1997) Adquisición del vocalismo español por holandeses: Análisis en estilo semiespontáneo. Estudios de Fonética Experimental, 9, 135–180.Google Scholar
Jongman, A., Fourakis, M., & Sereno, J.
(1989) The acoustic vowel space of Modern Greek and German. Language and Speech, 32(3), 221–248. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kakita, Y., & Fujimara, K.
(1977) Computational model of the tongue: A revised version. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, 62, S15. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Liljencrants, J., & Lindblom, B.
(1972) Numerical simulations of vowel quality systems: The role of perceptual contrast. Language, 48, 839–862. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Lindbolm, B.
(1986) Phonetic universals in vowel systems. In J. Ohala & J. Jaeger (Eds.), Experimental phonology (pp. 13–44). New York, NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Lindbolm, B., & Engstrand, O.
(1989) In what sense is speech quantal? Journal of Phonetics, 17, 107–121. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Lipski, J.
(2015) Colliding vowel systems in Andean Spanish: Carryovers and emergent properties. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 5(1), 91–121. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
López Ixcoy, C.
(1994) Las vocales en K’ichee’. Antigua, Guatemala: OKMA.Google Scholar
(1997) Ri Ukemiik ri K’ichee’ Chii’: Gramática K’ichee’. Guatemala City: Cholsamaj.Google Scholar
Malmberg, B.
(1965) Estudios de fonética hispánica. Madrid: CSIC.Google Scholar
Martin, L.
(1978) Mayan influence in Guatemalan Spanish: A research outline and test case. In N. C. England (Ed.), Papers in Mayan linguistics (pp. 106–126). Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.Google Scholar
(1985) Una mi tacita de café: The indefinite article in Guatemala Spanish. Hispania, 68(2), 383–387. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Mendez, A.
(1982) Production of American English and Spanish vowels. Language and Speech, 25, 191–197. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Montgomery-Anderson, B.
(2010) Grammaticalization through language contact: The periphrastic passive in Chontal Mayan. Journal of Language Contact, 3(1), 84–100. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, G. S., & Escudero, P.
(2007) A cross-dialect comparison of Peninsular- and Peruvian-Spanish vowels. In Proceedings from the XVI International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (pp. 1505–1508). Saarbrücken, Germany.
Oliver Rajan, J.
(2007) Mobility and its effects on vowel raising in the coffee zone of Puerto Rico. In J. Holmquist, A. Lorenzino, & L. Sayahi (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the Third Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics (pp. 44–52). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
O’Rourke, E.
(2010) Dialect differences and the bilingual vowel space in Peruvian Spanish. In M. Ortega-Llebaria (Ed.), Selected proceedings of the 4th Conference on Laboratory Approaches to Spanish Phonology (pp. 20–30). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Pérez Silva, J., Acurio, J., & Benedezú, R.
(2008) Contra el prejuicio lingüístico de la motosidad. Un estudio de las vocales del castellano andino desde la fonética acústica. Lima: Instituto Riva-Agüero, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.Google Scholar
Perkell, J. S., & Cohen, M. H.
(1989) An indirect test of the quantal nature of speech in the production of the vowels /i/, /a/, /u/. Journal of Phonetics, 17, 123–133. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Perrier, P.
(1990) De l’usage des modèles pour l’étude de la production de la parole. Grenoble: Habilitation à diriger des recherches, Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble.Google Scholar
Quilis, A., & Esgueva, M.
(1983) Realización de los fonemas vocálicos españoles en posición fonética normal. In M. Esgueva & M. Cantarero (Eds.), Estudios de fonética (pp.159–251). Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.Google Scholar
Richards, M.
(2003) Atlas lingüístico de Guatemala. Guatemala City: Serviprensa.Google Scholar
Romero, S.
(2015) Language and ethnicity among the K’ichee’ Maya. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press.Google Scholar
Rosenblat, A.
(1967) Contactos intralingüísticos en el mundo hispánico. In N. Polusssen & J. Sánchez Romero (Eds.), Actas del Segundo Congreso Internacional de Hispanistas (pp. 109–154). Nijmegen: Instituto español de la Universidad de Nimega.Google Scholar
Schwartz, J., Boë, L., Vallée, N., & Abry, C.
(1997a) Major trends in vowel system inventories. Journal of Phonetics, 25(3), 233–254. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(1997b) The Dispersion-Focalization Theory of vowel systems. Journal of Phonetics, 25(3), 255–286. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Stevens, K. N.
(1972) The quantal nature of speech: Evidence from articulatory acoustic data. In E. David & P. Denes (Eds.), Human communication: A unified view (pp. 51–66). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
(1989) On the quantal nature of speech. Journal of Phonetics, 17, 3–46. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Syrdal, A. K., & Gopal, H. S.
(1986) A perceptual model of vowel recognition based on the auditory representation of American English vowels. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, 79, 1086–1100. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Traunmüller, H.
(1990) Analytical expressions for the tonotopic sensory scale. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, 88, 97–100. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Valera, B.
(1992) El español cubano-americano. New York, NY: Senda Nueva.Google Scholar
Willis, E. W.
(2005) An initial estimation of Southwest Spanish vowels. Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 24(1–2), 185–198.Google Scholar
Zavala, V.
(1999) Reconsideraciones en torno al castellano andino. Lexis, 23, 25–85.Google Scholar