Keywords

diphthongization, Spanish, nonce words, neologisms

Abstract

The alternation between the mid-vowels / e/, /o/ and the diphthongs /je/ and /we/ is widespread in Spanish, and several rule-based analyses claim to account for it. However, they are founded on a small body of evidence. These analyses are evaluated against data from a large corpus, and cannot account for the non-discrete nature of diphthongization as evidenced in the corpus. The corpus data suggest that diphthongization has a gradient relationship to the derivational suffixes. · A nonderivational account, based on Bybee's model (1985, 1988, 1991), better embodies the scalar relationship between diphthongization and the suffixes. This relationship was tested using a questic;mnaire involving nonce words and neologisms. The results support the hypothesized relationship in most instances.

Original Publication Citation

1996. “Diphthongization in Spanish Derivational Morphology: An Empirical Investigation.” Hispanic Linguistics 8.1-35.