On the relevance of voice quality in contact varieties
Non-modal phonation type in Afro-Yungueño Spanish
This paper focuses on the role of voice quality variation in the system of a contact language, Afro-Yungueño
Spanish, a restructured variety of Spanish spoken in the Bolivian Yungas valleys. Based on case studies of naturally occurring
conversation between multiple speakers, we show that certain non-modal phonation types, in this case falsetto and breathy voice,
are used to index expressiveness, intensification, or emphasis. We argue that these practices have discursive meaning that could
otherwise also be encoded by means of grammatical and lexical resources, and that they are an integral part of the linguistic
system of this variety. We claim that these practices may have resulted from the specific socio-historical context in which this
variety evolved. This suggests that voice quality and ecological factors should not be underestimated in order to reach a more
complete picture of how meaning is conveyed in apparently simplified contact languages.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Voice quality and prosody in language contact
- 3.Afro-Yungueño Spanish
- 4.Terminology and data
- 5.Results
- 5.1Falsetto
- 5.2Breathy voice
- 6.Discussion
- Notes
-
References
References (67)
Babel, Anna M.
2010 Contact and Contrast in Valley Spanish. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Michigan.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bakker, Peter
2008 Pidgins versus creoles versus Pidgincreoles. In
Silvia Kouwenberg and
John Victor Singler, eds.
The Handbook of Pidgin and Creole Studies. Oxford: Blackwell. 130–157.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bakker, Peter
2009 Phonological complexity in Pidgins. In
Nicholas Faraclas and
Thomas B. Klein, eds.
Simplicity and Complexity in Creoles and Pidgins. London: Battlebridge. 7–27.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Blount, Ben G. and Elise J. Padgug
1977 Prosodic, paralinguistic, and interactional features in parent-child speech: English and Spanish.
Journal of Child Language 4(1): 67–86.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bonnie, Richard J.
2011 The Segmental Features of Ghanaian English Pronunciation: A Description of Usage at the Mesolectal Level. Unpublished MPhil thesis, University of Ghana.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bruyn, Adrienne
2008 Grammaticalization in pidgins and creoles. In
Silvia Kouwenberg and
John Victor Singler, eds.
The Handbook of Pidgin and Creole Studies. London: Blackwell. 385–410.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Campbell, Nick and Parham Mokhtari
2003 Voice quality: The 4th prosodic dimension.
Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences. Barcelona: ICPhS. 2417–2420.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Clements, J. Clancy and Shelome Gooden
Colton, Raymond H. and Harry Hollien
1973 Perceptual differentiation of the modal and falsetto registers.
Folia Phoniatrica 251: 270–280.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Daval-Markussen, Aymeric and Peter Bakker
2017 Typology of Creole languages. In
Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and
R. M. W. Dixon, eds.
The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Typology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 254–286.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
DeGraff, Michel
2005 Linguists’ most dangerous myth: The fallacy of Creole Exceptionalism.
Language in Society 341: 533–591.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Esling, John H. and Jerold A. Edmondson
2011 Acoustical analysis of voice quality for sociophonetic purposes. In
Marianna Di Paolo and
Malcah Yaeger-Dror, eds.
Sociophonetics: A Student’s Guide. London and New York: Routledge. 131–148.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Faraclas, Nicholas
2009 Suprasegmentals and the myth of the simplicity continuum from ‘Pidgin’, to ‘Creole’, to ‘natural languages’. In
Nicholas Faraclas and
Thomas B. Klein, eds.
Simplicity and Complexity in Creoles and Pidgins. London: Battlebridge. 29–47.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ferrand, Carole T.
2002 Harmonics-to-noise ratio: An index of vocal aging.
Journal of Voice 16(4): 480–487.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Foley, W. A.
1997 Anthropological Linguistics. An Introduction. London: Blackwell.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gil, David
2006 How complex are isolating languages? In
Matti Miestamo,
Kaius Sinnemäki, and
Fred Karlsson, eds.
Language Complexity: Typology, Contact, Change. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 109–132.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gobl, Christer and Ailbhe Ní Chasaide
2003 The role of voice quality in communicating emotion, mood and attitude.
Speech Communication 401: 189–212.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Good, Jeff
2004 Tone and accent in Saramaccan: Charting a deep split in the phonology of a language.
Lingua 114: 575–619.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gordon, Matthew and Peter Ladefoged
2001 Phonation types: A cross-linguistic overview.
Journal of Phonetics 291: 383–406.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Grivičić, Tamara and Chad Nilep
2004 When phonation matters: The use and function of yeah and creaky voice.
Colorado Research in Linguistics 17(1): 1–11.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Heine, Bernd and Tania Kuteva
2005 Language Contact and Grammatical Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Henton, Caroline G. and R. A. W. Bladon
1985 Breathiness in normal female speech: Inefficiency versus desirability.
Language and Communication 5(3): 221–227.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hidalgo Navarro, Antonio
2011 Humor, prosodia e intensificación pragmática en la conversación coloquial española.
VERBA 381: 271–292.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hinton, Leanne, Johanna Nichols, and John J. Ohala
eds. 1994 Sound Symbolism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hualde, José Ignacio and Armin Schwegler
Jourdan, Christine
2008 The cultural in Pidgin genesis. In
Silvia Kouwenberg and
John V. Singler, eds.
The Handbook of Pidgin and Creole Studies. London: Wiley Blackwell. 359–381.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kerswill, Paul
2010 Contact and new varieties. In
Raymond Hickey, ed.
The Handbook of Language Contact. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. 230–251.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kuster, Wouter
2006 Complexity in linguistic theory, language learning and language change. In
Matti Miestamo,
Kaius Sinnemäki and
Fred Karlsson, eds.
Language Complexity: Typology, Contact, Change. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 3–22.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Labov, William
1972 Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ladd, D. Robert, Kim E. A. Silverman, Frank Tolkmitt, Günther Bergmann and Klaus R. Scherer
1985 Evidence for the independent function of intonation contour type, voice quality, and F0 range in signaling speaker affect.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 78(2): 435–444.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Laver, John
1980 The Phonetic Description of Voice Quality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lipski, John M.
2008 Afro-Bolivian Spanish. Madrid/Frankfurt: Iberoamericana/Vervuert.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lipski, John M.
2015 ‘Toned-up’ Spanish: Stress → pitch → tone(?) in Equatorial Guinea. In
Christina Tortora,
Marcel den Dikken,
Ignacio L. Montoya, and
Teresa O’Neill, eds.
Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 91. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 233–256.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lucchesi, Dante, Alan Baxter, and Ilza Ribeiro
eds. 2009 O português afro-brasileiro. Salvador: EDUFBA.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matras, Yaron and Jeannette Sakel
2007 Grammatical Borrowing in Cross-Linguistic Perspective. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
McWhorter, John
2011 Linguistic Simplicity and Complexity: Why do Languages Undress? Berlin: DeGruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mendoza-Denton, Norma
2011 The semiotic hitchhiker’s guide to creaky voice: Circulation and gendered hardcore in a Chicana/o gang persona.
Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 21(2): 261–280.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Meyerhoff, Miriam and Anna Strycharz
2013 Communities of practice. In
J. K. Chambers and
Natalie Schilling, eds.
The Handbook of Language Variation and Change, 2nd ed. Malden: Wiley. 428–447.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mühlhäusler, Peter
1996 Linguistic adaptation to changed environmental conditions: Some lessons from the past. In
Alwin Fill, ed.
Sprachökologie und Ökolinguistik. Tübingen: Stauffenburg. 105–130.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Newman, Michael and Angela Wu
2011 ‘Do you sound Asian when you speak English?’ Racial identification and voice in Chinese and Korean Americans’ English.
American Speech 86(2): 152–178.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Nielsen, Rasmus
2010 ‘I ain’t never been charged with nothing!’: The use of falsetto speech as a linguistic strategy of indignation.
University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 15(2): 110–121.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ohala, John J.
1994 The frequency code underlies the sound symbolic use of voice pitch. In
Leanne Hinton,
Johanna Nichols, and
John J. Ohala, eds.
Sound Symbolism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 325–347.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Perez, Danae
2014 Contact languages in contact: On the challenge of compiling the corpus of Afro-Yungueño Spanish. Paper presented at Contact, Variation and Change: Afro-Latin Language Varieties, Aarhus, Denmark.
Perez, Danae
fc.
Social conditioning of the transmission of areal features in the Central Andes. In
Eeva Sippola and
Danae M. Perez eds.
Postcolonial Varieties in the Americas Berlin De Gruyter
Podesva, Robert J.
2007 Phonation type as a stylistic variable: The use of falsetto in constructing a persona.
Journal of Sociolinguistics 11(4): 478–504.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Podesva, Robert J.
2013 Gender and the social meaning of non-modal phonation types. In
Chundra Cathcart,
I-Hsuan Chen,
Greg Finley,
Shinae Kang,
Clare S. Sandy, and
Elise Stickles, eds.
Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, 427–448.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Podesva, Robert J. and Patrick Callier
2015 Voice quality and identity.
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 351: 173–194.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Schwegler, Armin
2014 Portuguese remnants in the Afro-Hispanic diaspora. In
Patrícia Amaral and
Ana M. Carvalho, eds.
Portuguese–Spanish Interfaces: Diachrony, Synchrony, and Contact. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 403–441.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sicoli, Mark A.
2010 Shifting voices with participant roles: Voice qualities and speech registers in Mesoamerica.
Language in Society 391: 521–553.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sicoli, Mark A.
2015 Voice registers. In
Deborah Tannen,
Heidi E. Hamilton, and
Deborah Schiffrin, eds.
The Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Malden: Wiley. 105–126.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Siegel, Jason F.
2010 Decreolization: A critical review. In
J. Clancy Clements,
Megan E. Solon,
Jason F. Siegel, and
B. Devan Steiner, eds.
ULC Working Papers 9: New Perspectives on Language Contact and Contact-Induced Language Change. Bloomington: Indiana University Linguistics Club. 83–98.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Stross, Brian
2013 Falsetto voice and observational logic: Motivated meanings.
Language in Society 42(2): 139–162.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Stuart-Smith, Jane
1999 Glasgow: Accent and voice quality. In
Paul Foulkes and
Gerald Docherty, eds.
Urban Voices: Accent Studies in the British Isles. London: Arnold. 203–222.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Studer, Elena F. S. de
1984 [1958] La trata de Negros en el Río de la Plata durante el siglo XVIII. Buenos Aires: Edigraf.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Szakay, Anita
2012 Voice quality as a marker of ethnicity in New Zealand: From acoustics to perception.
Journal of Sociolinguistics 16(3): 382–397.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Trittin, Pamela Jean and Andrés des Santos y Lleó
1995 Voice quality analysis of male and female Spanish speakers.
Speech Communication 161: 359–368.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Trudgill, Peter
2011 Sociolinguistic Typology: Social Determinants of Linguistic Complexity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wennerstrom, Ann
2001 The Music of Everyday Speech. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yakpo, Kofi
2018 A Grammar of Pichi. Berlin: Language Science Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yuasa, Ikuko Patricia
2010 Creaky voice: A new feminine voice quality for young urban-oriented upwardly mobile American women? American Speech 85(3): 315–337.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (3)
Cited by 3 other publications
Ozerov, Pavel
2021.
Prosodic salience in Anal Naga: where non-arbitrariness, phaticity and engagement meet.
Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 6:1
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Danae Perez, Marianne Hundt, Johannes Kabatek & Daniel Schreier
2021.
English and Spanish,
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Perez, Danae M.
2021.
Contact Scenarios and Varieties of Spanish beyond Europe. In
English and Spanish,
► pp. 115 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.