Spanish Taps and Trills: Phonological Structure of an Isolated Opposition

Abstract

The Spanish Opposition of a tap [r] and trill [R] is unusual in several respects. Most contemporary phonological analyses postulate a single phoneine /r/, deriving the phonologically distinctive intervocalic trill from geminate /r-r/. This type of analysis fails to address several important issues. These include the fact that [r] is the only Spanish consonant which occurs onsetinitially in word-internal position but cannot occur word-initially, and the fact that the intervocalic trill [R] is clearly onset-initial, thus requiring a derivation which radically changes the syllabic structure from an underlying heterosyllabic geminate to a superficial onset-initial trill. In the present study an attempt is made to unify surface [r] and [R] via reference to syllabic templates, which allow a maximum of two consonantal elements in the onset. Manifestation s of [R] are analyzed äs maximizing the syllabic template, while intervocalic [r]is derived from a more marked underlying structure, preattached to the prosodic skeleton. Non-preattached /r/ is expanded to a dual structure, which ultimately produces [R], in appropriate contexts. The relatively marked nature of the [r]-[R] Opposition is demonstrated, and it is claimed that this Opposition is not a carryover from Latin quantitative distinctions.

Integrating articulatory constraints into models of second language phonological acquisition

“…Spanish, however, has two rhotics that contrast in intervocalic position. The formalization of this contrast has been the object of much debate (e.g., Colantoni, 2001;Harris, 1983;Lipski, 1990;Núñez Cedeño, 1989). This uncertainty constitutes a challenge for the formulation of hypotheses concerning English learners' ability to acquire the Spanish tap based on Brown's model, as what is crucial are the features of the TL segment's representation.…”

Intervocalic Tap and Trill Production in the Acquisition of Spanish as a Second Language

“…Trills in Spanish are described as involving two to three occlusions (e.g. Harris 1983, Hualde 2005, Lipski 1990and Quilis 1993, and within the languages of the world, trills can be produced with as few as one occlusion or contain more than three (Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996, p.218).…”

“…Elsewhere this contrast is neutralized and context determines whether the tap or trill occurs (e.g. Harris 1983, Hualde, 2004and Lipski 1990). Because these two rhotics signal a difference in meaning in word-medial intervocalic position, second language (L2) learners need to be able to produce both rhotics accurately in this environment.…”

Spanish rhotics and Dominican hypercorrect /s/

“…The following derivations show 6. Lipski (1990) proposes a rule similar to (18), but independently of any consideration of the implications of the UAC. 7.…”

“…7. For example, Bonet and Mascaró (1997) and Lipski (1990), who argue against the singletongeminate distinction, both appeal to prespecification as a strategy to avoid the strengthening of underlying taps in intervocalic position. However, these authors do not consider the implications of such an approach for the hypercorrection facts.…”