Neutralization of the Tap/Trill Contrast in the Bilingual Creole-Spanish Community of the Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia

This study examines the segmental duration of non-vibrant rhotics in a language contact scenario in the Western Caribbean, where an English-based Creole co-exists with Spanish: The Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia. The unexplored phenomenon of the neutralization of the tap/trill contrast merits...

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Main Author: Falcon Restrepo-Ramos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad de Antioquia 2022-02-01
Series:Ikala: Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.udea.edu.co/index.php/ikala/article/view/345240
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author Falcon Restrepo-Ramos
author_facet Falcon Restrepo-Ramos
author_sort Falcon Restrepo-Ramos
collection DOAJ
description This study examines the segmental duration of non-vibrant rhotics in a language contact scenario in the Western Caribbean, where an English-based Creole co-exists with Spanish: The Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia. The unexplored phenomenon of the neutralization of the tap/trill contrast merits a thorough analysis to examine the effects of language contact in this Creole-Spanish bilingual population. To do this, the segmental duration of 619 non-vibrant, intervocalic taps and trills were compared in three generations of Raizal Spanish (the bilingual Spanish variety) and contrasted with the duration of Continental Spanish (the monolingual variety spoken by Colombian immigrants from Continental Colombia). While there are language-specific differences in rhotic duration between Creole and Spanish, results show that Raizal Spanish has longer durations that differ from the monolingual Spanish variety. A cross-generational examination revealed that the neutralizations of the tap/trill contrast in older bilinguals, as third-generation speakers, are converging toward the monolingual variety, distancing themselves from the older second and first generations. This phenomenon signals a change in progress resulting from diverging variation patterns of duration in tap/trill segments in generations of bilingual Raizales. These findings suggest a changing sociolinguistic panorama in which stable bilingualism is taking place among younger individuals.
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spelling doaj.art-623ad8ab2f1644b58d2308c865a9f0822022-12-21T23:46:24ZengUniversidad de AntioquiaIkala: Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura0123-34322145-566X2022-02-0127110.17533/udea.ikala.v27n1a07Neutralization of the Tap/Trill Contrast in the Bilingual Creole-Spanish Community of the Archipelago of San Andres, ColombiaFalcon Restrepo-Ramos0College of Charleston This study examines the segmental duration of non-vibrant rhotics in a language contact scenario in the Western Caribbean, where an English-based Creole co-exists with Spanish: The Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia. The unexplored phenomenon of the neutralization of the tap/trill contrast merits a thorough analysis to examine the effects of language contact in this Creole-Spanish bilingual population. To do this, the segmental duration of 619 non-vibrant, intervocalic taps and trills were compared in three generations of Raizal Spanish (the bilingual Spanish variety) and contrasted with the duration of Continental Spanish (the monolingual variety spoken by Colombian immigrants from Continental Colombia). While there are language-specific differences in rhotic duration between Creole and Spanish, results show that Raizal Spanish has longer durations that differ from the monolingual Spanish variety. A cross-generational examination revealed that the neutralizations of the tap/trill contrast in older bilinguals, as third-generation speakers, are converging toward the monolingual variety, distancing themselves from the older second and first generations. This phenomenon signals a change in progress resulting from diverging variation patterns of duration in tap/trill segments in generations of bilingual Raizales. These findings suggest a changing sociolinguistic panorama in which stable bilingualism is taking place among younger individuals. https://revistas.udea.edu.co/index.php/ikala/article/view/345240Archipelago of San Andresnon-vibrant rhoticsRaizal Spanishsegmental durationCreolelanguage contact
spellingShingle Falcon Restrepo-Ramos
Neutralization of the Tap/Trill Contrast in the Bilingual Creole-Spanish Community of the Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia
Ikala: Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura
Archipelago of San Andres
non-vibrant rhotics
Raizal Spanish
segmental duration
Creole
language contact
title Neutralization of the Tap/Trill Contrast in the Bilingual Creole-Spanish Community of the Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia
title_full Neutralization of the Tap/Trill Contrast in the Bilingual Creole-Spanish Community of the Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia
title_fullStr Neutralization of the Tap/Trill Contrast in the Bilingual Creole-Spanish Community of the Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia
title_full_unstemmed Neutralization of the Tap/Trill Contrast in the Bilingual Creole-Spanish Community of the Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia
title_short Neutralization of the Tap/Trill Contrast in the Bilingual Creole-Spanish Community of the Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia
title_sort neutralization of the tap trill contrast in the bilingual creole spanish community of the archipelago of san andres colombia
topic Archipelago of San Andres
non-vibrant rhotics
Raizal Spanish
segmental duration
Creole
language contact
url https://revistas.udea.edu.co/index.php/ikala/article/view/345240
work_keys_str_mv AT falconrestreporamos neutralizationofthetaptrillcontrastinthebilingualcreolespanishcommunityofthearchipelagoofsanandrescolombia