Abstract

This chapter describes the reduction of lexically heterosyllabic vowel sequences in Spanish. At the lexical level, word-internal vowel sequences may be syllabified as either tautosyllabic (diphthong) or heterosyllabic (hiatus). Postlexically, hiatus, both inside words and across word boundaries, may be avoided by merger of heterosyllabic vowels in a single syllable. However, not all sequences undergo merger or may do so with equal readiness. Syllable count in poetry provides useful evidence regarding which specific types of sequences may be reduced to a single syllable. Both the factors that have been claimed to affect the likelihood of merger and the phonetic realization of merged sequences are examined.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationThe Routledge Handbook of Spanish Phonology
EditorsSonia Colina, Fernando Martínez-Gil
PublisherRoutledge
Pages162-180
Number of pages19
ISBN (Electronic)9781351855167
ISBN (Print)9780415785693
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2019

Publication series

NameRoutledge Spanish Language Handbooks

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Arts and Humanities
  • General Social Sciences

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