A sociolinguistic analysis of /s/-aspiration in Madrid Spanish

This volume provides a description of the sociolinguistic distribution of /s/-aspiration in the speech of second-generation Madrid native speakers living in the neighborhoods of Madrid proper. Geographically Madrid is situated in the center of the Iberian Peninsula, on the border between the non /s/-aspirating conservative varieties of Spanish in the north (Castile-Leon), from the /s/-aspirating innovative varieties of Spanish in the south (Castile-La Mancha and Andalusia). Spanish spoken within the Madrid limits is generally considered standard Spanish, however, rates of /s/-aspiration present in the speech of Madrid subjects is strong evidence that this dialect belongs to the group of non-standard Spanish dialects.

This book contributes to broadening the limited sociolinguistic knowledge we have about the relative status of Madrid Spanish on a standard vs. non-standard variant continuum. /s/- aspiration is analyzed as it relates to the intralinguistic variable phonetic environment and extralinguistic variables as well, pointing to specific social groups that seem to be leaders in this innovative change.

Chapter 1 introduces the research topic, addresses research questions and motivations for the study. Chapter 2 provides a synchronic and diachronic description of /s/-aspiration from a theoretical perspective as well as an overview of previous studies on Castilian Spanish. In Chapter 3 the procedures, material, and criteria used in interviewing and data collection are described. Chapter 4 displays the results derived from frequency tables and statistical analysis of the data. Chapter 5 provides a discussion of these results as they pertain to each intralinguistic and extralinguistic variable used in the study. Chapter 6 summarizes the findings, underlines contributions of the present study and suggests directions for future research.