Velar palatalization in Chilean public speech

Abstract

This is a socio-phonetic study that employs an acoustic analysis and a speech accommodation analysis following a variationist sociolinguistic framework. The acoustic analysis provides a phonetic characterization of the variation of /x/ in Chilean Spanish using spectrographic support, which fills a gap in current literature on this specific sound change. The linear regression analysis and speech accommodation analysis work together to identify the motivators for velar palatalization in this variety of Spanish and its acquisition of overt prestige. The results of this study update previous literature on Chilean palatalization regarding internal and external motivators, while adding variant usage patterns based on interlocutor age effects and speech style differences. Public speech data is used in this study to show the extension of velar palatalization into the most formal registers of Chilean Spanish.