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Sonority and syllable structure in Chicano English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Otto Santa Ana A.
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles

Abstract

Three analyses of /-t,d/ deletion are undertaken to investigate whether convergence with the matrix regional dialect has taken place in Los Angeles Chicano English. Two superficial analyses mistakenly find convergence. A third emic multivariate analysis finds no phonological convergence. It is argued that sonority of adjacent consonants accounts for most of the variation. In order to give an account of the degree and direction of the /-t,d/ deletion processses in Chicano English, Clement's (1988) model of nonaffixal syllabification, which is also based on sonority, is extended to this affix-affecting delection process.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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