Abstract
The acquisition of the Spanish 5-vowel system by speakers of the 3-vowel language Quechua (/I/-/a/-/&z.pupsil;/) seldom results in accurate approximation to Spanish vowel spaces when learning takes place informally in post-adolescence. The present study offers data from a minimal immersion environment in northern Ecuador. In a context in which few cues point to the existence of mid-high vocalic oppositions in Spanish (e.g. no literacy, no corrective feedback, almost no viable minimal pairs), these speakers reliably distinguish only three Spanish vowels in production. These Quechua-dominant bilinguals have amorphous front and back vowel spaces considerably broader than those defining Quechua /I/ and /&z.pupsil;/, but with no bimodal clustering. Left relatively unfettered, the hybrid system may contribute to an understanding of the relationship between vowel inventory and vowel space topology.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 91-121 |
| Number of pages | 31 |
| Journal | Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2015 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language
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Colliding vowel systems in Andean Spanish : Carryovers and emergent properties. / Lipski, John.
In: Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, Vol. 5, No. 1, 01.01.2015, p. 91-121.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Colliding vowel systems in Andean Spanish
T2 - Carryovers and emergent properties
AU - Lipski, John
PY - 2015/1/1
Y1 - 2015/1/1
N2 - The acquisition of the Spanish 5-vowel system by speakers of the 3-vowel language Quechua (/I/-/a/-/&z.pupsil;/) seldom results in accurate approximation to Spanish vowel spaces when learning takes place informally in post-adolescence. The present study offers data from a minimal immersion environment in northern Ecuador. In a context in which few cues point to the existence of mid-high vocalic oppositions in Spanish (e.g. no literacy, no corrective feedback, almost no viable minimal pairs), these speakers reliably distinguish only three Spanish vowels in production. These Quechua-dominant bilinguals have amorphous front and back vowel spaces considerably broader than those defining Quechua /I/ and /&z.pupsil;/, but with no bimodal clustering. Left relatively unfettered, the hybrid system may contribute to an understanding of the relationship between vowel inventory and vowel space topology.
AB - The acquisition of the Spanish 5-vowel system by speakers of the 3-vowel language Quechua (/I/-/a/-/&z.pupsil;/) seldom results in accurate approximation to Spanish vowel spaces when learning takes place informally in post-adolescence. The present study offers data from a minimal immersion environment in northern Ecuador. In a context in which few cues point to the existence of mid-high vocalic oppositions in Spanish (e.g. no literacy, no corrective feedback, almost no viable minimal pairs), these speakers reliably distinguish only three Spanish vowels in production. These Quechua-dominant bilinguals have amorphous front and back vowel spaces considerably broader than those defining Quechua /I/ and /&z.pupsil;/, but with no bimodal clustering. Left relatively unfettered, the hybrid system may contribute to an understanding of the relationship between vowel inventory and vowel space topology.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84928984903&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84928984903&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1075/lab.5.1.04lip
DO - 10.1075/lab.5.1.04lip
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84928984903
VL - 5
SP - 91
EP - 121
JO - Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
JF - Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
SN - 1879-9264
IS - 1
ER -