Ibe ian Spi an iza ion and Con inuan Sp eading
Joan Masca 6
Uni e si a Au bnoma de Ba celona
The spi an iza ion o oiced obs uen s in languages o he Ibe ian Peninsula is
examineú, especially o Ca alan and Spanish. Phonologicai analyses based on he
sp eading o he ea u e [con inuan ] ace se ious p oblems and
can
be man ained only
a he cos o empi icai inadequacy o pos ula ion o ad hoc in e p e a ion o
p inciples o addi ional ules. I is p oposed ha hese inadequacies s em om he
phonologicai cha ac e o he anaiyses, and ha
a
phone ic ea men o he
ai ema ion gi es mo e sa is ac o y esul s
.
The al e na ion be ween he se ies o oiced s ops [b], [d], [g], and hei espec i e spi an
app oximan s [PI,
[a],
[y] shows a e y simila dis ibu ion in he Spanish, Ca alan, Basque,
and Po uguese dialec s o he Ibe ian Peninsula. Some a ie ies o hese languages show a
di e en dis ibu ion, ha may ha e o be analyzed in a di e en way; he e
I
will use he em
"Ibe ian spi an iza ion" o e e o he dis ibu ion o s ops and spi an s desc ibed below, which
is sha ed, acco ding o he a ailable li e a u e and o my own obse a ions, by mos Ibe ian
a ie ies.l The de e mina ion o he p ope na u e o his dis ibu ion is in e es ing no on
desc ip i e g ounds alone, bu also because o he con o e ed s a us o he ea u e
[con inuan ] in phonological heo y
2,
in pa icula wi h espec o i s ep esen a ional p ope ies
which depend on i s possibili y o sp eading.
The
aim
o his pape is somewha limi ed: he main goa1 is o de e mine wha he exac na u e
o he dis ibu ion is, i.e. o es ablish he co ec linguis ic gene aliza ion ha co e s he
dis ibu ion. Since as a as I can see mos cu en desc ip ions ely on alse assump ions (o
Ca alan
Wo king Pape s in Linguis ics (CWPL),
1991:
167- 179.
Uni e si a Au bnoma de Ba celona
else on e y simpli ied e idence), a e iew o he basic ac s migh p o e qui e use ul. Mo e
speci icaly,
I
will each wo conclusions: a he desc ip i e le el, ha he dis ibu ion is
go e ned by phone ic ac o s, and w. . . he heo y o phonology, ha , consequen ly, Ibe ian
spi an iza ion cases do no cons i u e a gumen s o a sp eading ea men o [con inuan ].
1.
The
basic ac s
Spanish can illus a e he basic ac s. Mos desc ip ions o s anda d Cas ilian Spanish
( ollowing Na a o Tomás (1971)) p esen he ollowing s a e o a ai s (which will be e ised
la e ):
Pos pausall y b
j6n
gana
des' d6n
'well' 'wins' 'dis-dain'
A e nasals Ambos 6nda
U'S
gA 0
'bo h' 'wa e' 'a ca '
A e la e als: o d ald6a
mA1
dla
'hamle ' 'bad day'
b.
[Pl.
[al, [yl
a e ocoids
6j
plno
blwaa
$xo
( owels, glides) ' he e's wine' 'widow'
'I
do'
a e ica i es dezplo dezae
a y
Ano
'de ou ' 'si nce' 'A ghan'
a e
ka p6n
be he
m8
y w6sa
'coa1
'
'g een' 'hea y sea'
A e la e als: o b, g
m
l
p
68
es
'a housand imes'
Alga
'seaweed'
As can
be
seen om he examples in (1) no all possible con ex s a e a es ed in Cas ilian
Spanish; in pa icula , he e a e no examples o
b,
d,
g,
a e obs uen s s ops. This is so
because no obs uen s ops appea syllable inally; in his posi ion hey a e no mally weakened
and spi an ized
(
68
pol, e c.).
These con ex s a e ound in Ca alan, howe e . This language shows he same dis ibu ion o
[b], [d], [g] s. [PI, [a], [y] as in (1) (see, e.g., Wheele (1979)). Bu , as opposed o
Spanish, obs uen s ops a e ound syllable inally, and in his con ex he noncon inuan
e sions [b], [d], [g] show up; no e ha he e is also eg essi e oicing assimila ion, hence no
[pb], [kd], e c.:
(2)
ubb51
'socce '
sClbdi
'subjec ', ' assal'
k
6b
g%
'no ca '
s69
b5
'I
am good'
ma egda
'eme ald'
p5
g
gds
'li le as e
2.
The s anda d gene aliza ion
Thus s anda d desc ip ions ha e lead some au ho s (Goldsmi h (1981), Masca ó (1983), Hanis
(1984,1985), Hualde (1988), Rome a (1990), Palmada (199 1)) o p opose ha spi an iza ion
can
be
cap u ed
by
he gene aliza ion in
(3).
(3)
Spi an
P,
8,
8
appea a e [+con inuan ] segmen s, s ops appea a e [-con inuan ]
segmen s and a e pause.
When leshed ou in some pa icula heo y,
(3)
akes he o n o se e a1 a ian s, depending
on whe he only
P,
8,
).j,
(Hanis (1984)) only
b, d,
9,
(Hualde (1988)) o bo h (Lozano
(1979), Masca 6 (1983), Hams (1985), Palmada (1991)) a e de i ed by ule. In he amewo k
o au osegmen al phonology (3) has de e mined, as can be expec ed, he p oposa1 o a
sp eading ule ha associa es delinked o unspeci ied
b,
d,
g
o he [con ] alue o he
p eceding segmen ; in hose cases in whch no sp eading akes place, he unma ked [con ] alue
is assigned no mally by de aul .
The basic p oblem aced by analyses based on he gene aliza ion in
(3)
as applying o he da a in
(1)
is he odd beha io o la e als. The la e al de e mines he appea ance o spi an s in he case
o
b,
g, bu o a s op in he case o
d.
(m
p60esJ
Alga
s. ald6a). Bu [I] should
be
ei he
[+can ]
o [-con ], and we would expec consequen ly a uni o m solu ion, i.e., ei he
ld,
*
lb,
*
19
o
*
18,
lp,
18,
which is w ong in ei he case.
Le 's call his he "la e al p oblem." Al hough I don' wan o en e in o he phonological
ea men s in de ail, I hink ha i is ai o say ha ,
as
shown by he di e si y o ea men s
a ailable, he e a e no sa is ac o y solu ions. This is e en mo e he case i he ac s a e
examined in mo e de ail (c . below).
3.
The
issue o homo ganici y.
Almos
all
phonological analyses, since
Hanis
(1%9), ha e ied
o
sol e he la e al p oblem by
de i ing he asymme y om he homo ganic cha ac e o he clus e
ld.
This has been done by
including a condi ion o sameness o place in he ule i sel , o by de i ing he e ec s om
mo e gene al p inciples.3
In his sec ion I wan o show ha a "homo ganic solu ion" is w ong on a ac ual basis. No ice
i s ha in Spanish, as shown in
(I),
he co ela ion be ween lack o spi an iza ion and
homo ganici y holds owing o a lack o e idence: he e a e cases o
ho no ganic
clus e s o
nasal o la e al
+
s op (m
b,
nd,
99,
ld) which obey he gene aliza ion, bu no a es ed cases o
he e o ganic
clus e s o nasal o la e al
+
spi an . In o he wo ds, he homo ganic solu ion
makes a speci ic he p edic ion, namely ha oiced s ops a e he e o ganic nasal o la e al will
spi an ize, bu he p edic ion canno be checked because nasals and la e als only appea
assimila ed in place o he ollowing oiced s op.
Mo eo e , his lack o coun e examples o he homo ganic solu ion is mo e appa en han eal.
In he case o clus e s wi h an ini ial ica i e we can ge
€Ja
(p og essi e assimila ion o place
and eg essi e assimila ion o oice):
em
be@e 'ins ead o ', and al hough i is clea ly
homo ganic wi h he p eceding consonan , he
d
ge s spi an ized.
Bu e en in he case o nasals and la e als, i we go beyond he no mal cases,
as
hose epo ed
in (I), he e is coun e e idence o he "homo ganic solu ion". I a p onuncia ion wi h
he e o ganic clus e s is o ced on speake s, we ne e ge he spi an --as a "homo ganic
solu ion" would p edic . This canno be done wi h all he cases, bu is qui e na u al o clus e s
like md,
mg,
gb, gd, in which case he s op appea s exac ly as in he cases whe e
homo ganici y holds. I should be poin ed ou ha in all "homo ganic" analyses homo ganici y
is c ucial o la e als, bu only in some (e.g. Hualde
(1988))
o nasals
as
well.
(4)
En Vie na m d]eí Su 'in Sou h Vie nam'
E1 Isla[m glue e o ' he igh ing Islam'
pa lu [ ;] b] a a o 'cheap pa king'
go[g dle pla a 'sil e gong'

In he case o Ca alan i is much easie o show ha spi an iza ion does no depend on
homo ganici y: he e o ganic clus e s o o al o nasal s op
+
b,d,g a e qui e equen , and
include also la e als.
(5)
a.
~Clbdi
b.
s6m d6s
'we a e wo' c.
g
BA d ndi
' u key'
keb
ga
s6m
g 6ns
'we a e big'
b6Adu
6 J
(place name)
s69 b5
6p
b5
'good yea '
up6A d5w
'egg yoik'
ma agda BJ
db
' ough yea '
uAdapSw
'po hole'
ep
g an
'bis yea '
s y~ d as
' i e days'
b
~
d
S
a
'I
come ea ly'
g dhlpa
'sun ise'
4.
Back o he ac s.
The ine icacy o he homo ganic solu ion lea es us wi h he la e al p oblem unsol ed. In
addi ion, analyses based on he gene aliza ion in
(3)
ace u he p oblems when he empi ical
domain is checked somewha mo e ca e ully. The e a e mainly wo p oblems o
be
added: i s ,
he "di e ences in a iabili y" ha de e mine an asymme y be ween con ex s showing ixed
solu ions, and con ex s ha allow bo h spi an s and s ops
in
a ia ion; second, he addi ional
odd case o ica i e+b,d,g clus e s, whe e we ge a dis ibu ion simila o ha o la e als.
Some o he li e a u e igh ly s esses he a iabili y o he phenomenon: in some cases he
solu ion p esen ed in
(1)
is dominan , bu no unique, and spi an and s op can bo h appea in
some con ex s.4 Second, con ex s do no beha e equally wi h espec o a iabili y. In some
cases he e is ha dly any a ia ion: he o ms
in
(6a) a e o ms ha a e no only e y a e
s a is ically in on o he spi an ized o ms in (6a'): when p esen ed wi h such sequences,
speake s ha e s ong nega i e judgemen s o accep abili y.
On
he o he hand, o (6b) hose
judgemen s ange om dubious o accep able, when compa ed wi h he mo e no mal cases o
(6b').
(6) a.
*
aba *ada
*
aga
a.'
apa
aaa
aya
*a npa
*
ancla
*
agya
*
alaa
amba anda
agga
alda
b. (?)axba (?)asda
(?)sega
b.'
axpa
asaa
aeya5
(?>Pa
(?)3a
(?)ga
ba
da
ga
In
he absence o mo e de ailed expe imen al da a, he a iabili y can be summa ized
as
ollows.
I
indica e he di e en con ex s (7a-k) and he con inuan alues o he elemen o he le o b,
d,
o g, and o b,
d,
g hemsel es, and
I
ha e added an example.
CLUSTER
OBSTRUENT STOP
NASAL
VOCOIDS,
R
LATERAL
+
D
LATERAL
+
B
,
G
PAUSE
FRICATIVES
+
B
D
G:
F+
B
CJlTBR,
HOMORGANiC
F
+
D,G
Chl-EF
HEXEBORGAMC
CONT
VALUE
[con ] 1s [con ] 2nd
- -
EXAMPLE
sClbdi (Ca .)
6nda
bIw Sa
ald6a
alga
gana
bC
b Gs
k
(Ca .)
dezae
bCl
3i 6k a
(Ca .)
dezplo
(7) inco po a es he obse a ion, o mal1 y epo ed a leas o Ca alan (Recasens
(
1986)), ha
in he case o he clus e
b
we no mally ind he s op
([
b]). Acco ding o my own
obse a ions wi h se e al speake s, he s op is much mo e a o ed in he case o @ han in he
o he cases o ica i e
+
b,
d,
g.,
i.e.:
(8) a.
b>p
b.
8>d
c.
-9
bu b usc bu di ec e bu glacial
ilbso basc ilbso disc e ilbso gallec
iom e bal iom doble iom glo ids
The da a summa ized in. (7) show he ollowing p oblems o an analysis based on sp eading
o [con inuan ]. Fi s he la e al p oblem, as al eady no ed. Second, he ac ha , al hough
homo ganici y has been shown no o play a ole in he case o nasals, la e als and s ops, in he
case o ica i es
a
close place o a icula ion makes he s op, i no s ic ly necessa y, a leas
p e e ed (7h), o possible (7i). Thi d, why should he e be a iabili y in pos pausal posi ion,
and a e homo ganic o quasi-homo ganic ica i es? I is a he s ihng ha in he cases in
which he [con inuan ] alue is assigned by de aul , as o owels and nasals, o unclea
(la e als) we ge a ixed solu ion, whe eas in hose cases whe e i is unde lying ( ica i es) we
ge a iabili y. Dialec s showing Ibe ian spi an iza ion di e widely in su ace esul s
depending on he in e ac ion o o he p ocesses, bu all show he kind o ixed beha io o
(3)
o
(7).
Le 's examine he la e al p oblem i s . And le us suppose o a momen ha we abandon he
equi emen o a s ic phonological solu ion. Is he e any hing in common, e.g. be ween clea
s ops, as in (7a, b), and [I] o [A] ollowed by [d]? Is he e any hing in common, simila ly,
be ween clea con inuan s, like owels o glides (7c), and [I] o [8] ollowed by
[PI
o [a]? A
ca e ul examina ion o he execu ion o a sequence like [ld] shows ha he a icula o y
co ela es o
[+can ],
ai low h ough an open ocal ac hold ue o all he ocal ac , excep
o i s cen al pa , in he pala oal eola egion. In his a ea he ai low is in e up ed by he
con ac o he on pa o he ongue blade and he ee h. Lowe ing o he back o he ongue
blade allows he ai o escape a ound he cen al closu e, be ween he cheek and he ee h.
A
phonological solu ion imposes /l/ o be ei he [+con inuan ] o [-con inuan ], bu phone ically
he co ela es o his ea u e a e no equally dis ibu ed along he ocal ac . Fo /l/ he e is
ai low om he glo is o he lips, bu he den o-pala o-al eola egion is excluded. The same
holds ue o
/ i,
which di e s om he o me because he lingual con ac is ex ended u he
back. In a ce ain sense we a e ex ending he idea ha nasals, hough clea ly con inuan s in a
global sense, a e
o al
s ops, o la e als, ha
--N.B.,
phone ically-- hough con inuan s in a
global sense, a e s ops in he cen al al eopala al egion.
The gene al idea is hus ha a)
no phona ion
implies (unde no mal ci cums ances)
NO
ai low;
b)
o al o al closu e
implies
NOai low
(o close o ze o
i
he e is a p essu e inc ease); c)
o al
o al ape u e
(du ing phona ion) implies
ai Jow.;
d)
local closu es
de e mine
ai low
in gene al,
bu
NO
ai low
locally..
The e is
an
ob ious way o cap u e he ideas ske ched abo e. Spi an iza ion is co ela ed wi h
exis ence o ai low du ing he p oduc ion o he p eceding segmen . Bu , c ucially, his ai low
has o
be
egis e ed a he place o a icula ion o he spi an izing consonan , no a he place o
he p eceding segmen i sel . In o he wo ds,
[d]
is a s op because a
i s
place o a icula ion,
i.e. he den al egion, he e is no ai low du ing he a icula ion o [I]. On he o he hand,
[PI
and [VI a e spi an s because a
i s
place o a icula ion, i.e. he labial and he ela egions,
espec i ely, he e is ai low du ing he a icula ion o [I]
The e is
an
ob ious way o cap u e he ideas ske ched abo e. Spi an iza ion is co ela ed wi h
exis ence o ai low du ing he p oduc ion o he p eceding segmen . Bu , c ucially, his ai low