Stylistic Variation in Spanish Phonology



Richard E. Morris

The Ohio State University





This dissertation is an investigation of phonological variation 
 occurring as a function of stylistic choice in Spanish.  The main
 variable processes include glide formation, vowel coalescence, vowel
 deletion, nasal and lateral place assimilation, nasal neutralization,
 continuancy assimilation, obstruent devoicing, voicing assimilation,
 and aspiration.  Optimality Theory (OT) is the theoretical framework.
 

Previous generative work on phonological variation in Spanish and other
 languages has been couched in discussions of "optional" or "variable"
 rules.  More recently, a principle of "floating" constraints (FCs) has
 been applied to explain inter-speaker variation.  The present study
 develops the FC theory of variation and applies it systematically to
 the analysis of stylistic data from several dialects of Spanish.  It is
 argued that stylistic variation in Spanish - and indeed in all
 languages - is the result of variable dominance relations among ranked
 universal constraints.  The primary advantage of the FC model is its
 ability to account for all speech processes, variable as well as
 categorical, within a single framework.



Under this model, constraints fall into two broadly-defined constraint
 families, MARKEDNESS and FAITHFULNESS.  Data from a variety of Spanish
 dialects are given to show that when FAITHFULNESS constraints outrank
 MARKEDNESS constraints, maximally distinctive (careful speech) forms
 are optimized.  When the reverse is true, maximally economical (casual
 speech) forms are optimized.  Forms associated with intermediate speech
 styles are allowed by the interleaving of FAITHFULNESS and MARKEDNESS
 constraints, and often represent a "compromise" between careful and
 casual style.