Re: THEORY: phonemes and Optimality Theory tutorial

On Wed, 15 Nov 2000 00:21:50 -0500, Carlos Thompson
<carlos_thompson@...> wrote:

> > Carlos Thompson wrote:
> > > In Spanish, flapped /r/ and trilled /rr/ only contrast in
> > > intervocalic positions not begining a word. In codas the consonant is
> > > always trilled.
> >
> > Interesting.  My Spanish dictionary said that <r> is pronounced as a
> > trill "at the beginning of a word, or in the middle of a word and
> > preceded by l, n, or s" and as a tap "at the end of a word, or in
> > the middle of a word and not preceded by l, n, or s", so it gave
> > <forma>, <deber>, <otro>, <pero> as having the tap pronunciation. Does
> > the pronunciation of <r> vary from region to region? Or perhaps by age
> > group? Or is my dictionary just completely wrong?
>
> Well, for me it would be difficult to pronounce word final <r> as an
> alveolar flap, much less a tap (or am I messing up this concepts?),
> then in "deber" there is definitively a trill (well I can pronounce a
> retroflex flap, but this would sound alien). About "forma", there
> seems to be a free variation between the flap and the trill, being the
> trill the one showing up in carefull speech.
I'm pretty sure the final and preconsonantal trills are regional. I can't
recall hearing them (but then I probably don't notice allophonic variation
when I'm listening to understand!) Final /r/ is pronounced [l] by some
speakers, and I've even seen it written that way (but not often).

> Anyhow the trill in "deber" will become a flap or tap when adding a
> suffix (like the plural for the noun: "deberes" or the future tense
> for the verb: "deberá").
>
> In onset clusters it is a tap/flap, as well as intervocalic when
> written with a single <r>, then "otro" and "pero" use the tap/flap
> pronunciation.
>
> One ortographic question are "sub-" compounds. In words like "subrayar"
> (to underline), I will pronounce with a trill from "sub-" + "rayar" (word
> initial <r>), but the written word suggest a flapped pronunciation. Some
> other words like "subrogar" (subrogate) I pronounce with the flap;
> probably because I don't analyze it as a compund... much less
> subrepticio" (sudden)... "repticio" isn't even a word in Spanish.
>
> -- Carlos Th.
Jeff