Doctoral Dissertation Research: Rhotic variation in the Spanish spoken by Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico and Western Massachusetts

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

Rhotic sounds in general, particularly the trill, present enormous cross-dialectal variation in Spanish, especially in Puerto Rican Spanish (PRS). This variation has been attested not only on the island of Puerto Rico but also in some Puerto Rican diasporic communities in the U.S. The present project focuses on trill variation in the PRS spoken in Western Massachusetts, specifically in the urban centers of Holyoke and Springfield, where the Puerto Rican diaspora has been present since the 1950s. In these cities we also find some of the highest per capita populations of Puerto Ricans in the U.S. However, this is the first acoustic study of PRS as spoken in this region. Using experimental designs and acoustic analysis, the first purpose of this research project is to provide a comprehensive description of trill variation in Western Massachusetts, uncovering any differences among those realizations found in the diaspora as well as in relevant speech communities in Puerto Rico. As such, the research will contribute to the debate as to whether there are specific mainland varieties of PRS. Furthermore, recent work in PRS suggests that the phonemes /h/ and /x/ are becoming neutralized (e.g. Ramón 'Raymond' and jamón 'ham' become homophonous). In this vein, a further objective of this study is to understand whether there is evidence for this neutralization in the PRS spoken in Western Massachusetts. This phenomenon will be examined through both production and perception experiments. While the project is of theoretical importance for the linguistic subfields of laboratory phonology and sociolinguistics, there are also practical implications that should allow for instructors and speakers in general to promote and destigmatize the Spanish of the Latino community in Western Massachusetts and to understand that trill realizations constitute a legitimate variation that exists in Puerto Rico as well as in the diaspora.