Anti-hiatus tendencies in Spanish: rate of occurrence and phonetic identification

Abstract: Spanish normative grammar considers any two-vowel combination of/e/,/a/, and/o/as a hiatus, accepting that they can be pronounced as a diphthong in lower basilects and/or informal registers. This article analyzes speeches of educated speakers, performing an acoustic analysis of 60 segmental and suprasegmental features in 493 vowel sequences. Linear mixed-effects models suggest that two-vowel sequences of/e/,/a/, and/o/are pronounced as diphthongs in 77.27 % of cases; suprasegmental features (especially duration) are the most reliable cues to distinguish a hiatus from a diphthong in Spanish. These results call for a re-examination of diphthong classification in Spanish.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Anti-hiatus tendencies in Spanish: rate of occurrence and phonetic identification ; volume:62 ; number:1 ; year:2024 ; pages:203-228 ; extent:26 ; Linguistics ; 62, Heft 1 (2024), 203-228 (gesamt 26)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Herrero de Haro, Alfredo ; Alcoholado Feltstrom, Antonio

Further information

• DOI: 10.1515/ling-2021-0228
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2024011613235977783056
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:38 AM CEST