Vowel Mutability: The Case for Spanish

• Main Authors: Marks, Emilia Alonso, Moates, Danny R, Bond, Zinny S, Vazquez, Leonor
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 01.03.1998
• Subjects: Language Patterns; Language Processing; Language Research; Linguistic Theory; Native Speakers; Nonsense Words; Phonology; Spanish; Vocabulary; Vowels

Replicating research originally performed with native speakers of English, this study investigated the mutability of vowels in Spanish. The study was based on the theory that when presented with non-words, native speakers are more likely to change the vowel than the consonant to arrive at an existing lexical item. It was hypothesized that if English vowels are more mutable than consonants because of the structural characteristics of the language, then Spanish vowels should be less mutable. Subjects were 30 native speakers of Spanish from a variety of national backgrounds, all college-educated adults. They were presented with 60 non-words that could be changed into real Spanish words by altering one consonant or one vowel. The results did not match the prediction, and suggest that the size of the vowel repertoire or language-specific characteristics may not be the main factor. An alternative explanation for the mutability in vowels in word reconstructions may be that consonants impose more constraints on the possible real word solutions. (MSE)