This sociophonetic study examines affricate variation through a continuous lens using diachronic data from Caracas Spanish. We investigate the relationship between frication and occlusion period duration in affricate segments across two steps. First, we present a phonetic characterization of the dependent variable and its variants. Second, we…

The present study examines the nature of the Spanish rhotics experimentally, investigating the possibilities that the trill is best understood as deriving from an underlying geminate or that the tap and trill may be separate phonemes. In order to explore these two theories, a behavioral task was designed exploiting the absence of native words in…

Papiamentu is a Creole language spoken in Curacao, Aruba, and Bonaire. (DS)

Discusses how determination of lexical items with Sub-Saharan origin in songs of voodoo rites of candomble and umbanda in southern and northeastern Brazil is complicated by factors like existence of phonological correspondence without accompanying semantic correspondence, difficulty of determining meaning of word in a given text, and high…

Investigates to what extent the variability between "siempre" and "todo el tiempo" in the San Antonio dialect demonstrates semantic convergence between them, and whether there will be a selection of the innovating form for the future. Examination of this variability may illuminate questions of how such changes occur…

An etymology of the Spanish "se" from Latin usage. (CHK)

Discusses the "g" found in first person singular present indicative forms of 14 Spanish verbs. Provides an integrated discussion of the structure and evolution of these verbs with regard to (1) morphological status of "g"; (2) reason for and nature of its extension; and (3) shared attributes of affected verbs. (Author/LMO)

Describes the behavior of the phoneme /s/ in Central American Spanish by comparing the speech patterns of residents of Guatemala City, San Salvador, Tegucigalpa, San Jose, and Managua. Considers the possible diachronic processes which could have given rise to the current configurations and the theoretical consequences implied by the…

Properispomenos" refers to nouns and adjectives in Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese accented on the penultimate syllable. (DS)

The origin, etymology and phonology of two words of Chinese origin found in Peruvian Spanish are outlined. The words, "chifa" and "chaufa," derive from Cantonese words for "rice" and have been adapted into Spanish. (CHK)

Discusses the influence of African languages on Spanish and Portuguese in Latin America. Provides a sampling of words of African origin with notes on their derivation. (EKN)

Attempts to explain the lack of the personal infinitive in Spanish even though such a construction exists in Portuguese. It is maintained that its use in Portuguese is one of personal style, and it is not needed nor required, as evidenced by the linguistic varieties present in the different socio-economic levels of Brazilian speech. (SL)

Offers a tentative explanation for the development of the phonological processes of aspiration and deletion of syllable final and word final position /s/ in Cuban Spanish. Summarizes other explanations of this phenomenon. (PMJ)

Notes that the employment of databases to the study of the history of a language is a method that allows for substantial improvement in investigative quality. Illustrates this with the example of the application of this method to two studies of the history of Spanish developed in the Language and Information Seminary of the Independent University…