Abstract

MELERO GARCIA, FERNANDO. Sociophonetic Variation: Comparison of Gradual and Categorical Analysis. Cuad. linguist. hisp. [online]. 2021, n.37, e101.  Epub Nov 20, 2021. ISSN 0121-053X.  https://doi.org/10.19053/0121053x.n37.2021.12184.

This paper compares results of two different sociophonetic analysis models: a continuous model and a categorical one. The sociophonetic variable investigated is the production of intervocalic /d/ in Madrid. In the continuous model, the weakening of /d/ was calculated by taking acoustic intensity measurements, in such a way that said analysis can accurately inform on the entire spectrum of possible productions of /d/ (i.e., from very occlusive to very weakened). In the categorical model, the weakening of /d/ was coded in a binary way (retention or total elision) so that this analysis only informs of the most extreme case of consonant weakening: elision. The same linguistic and extralinguistic independent variables were included in both statistical analyses. Although the results of both analyses show significant similarities regarding the effect of the independent variables, differences were also found. In addition to providing a sociophonetic characterization of the production of /d/ in Madrid, this article highlights some considerations that must be taken into account when examining sociophonetic phenomena with both continuous and categorical methods.

Keywords : acoustics; phonetics; methodology; sociolinguistics.

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