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Spanish Diphthongization As A Non-Derivational Phenomenon, David Eddington

Faculty Publications

In a previous study on derivational morphology (Eddington 1996), the alternation between the unstressed mid-vowels /e/ and lo/, and the stressed diphthongs /je/ and /we/ was seen to escape straigh tforward explanation in rule-based a nalyses. Diphthongization in Spanish was instead attributed to the influence of other lexical items which contain the same derivational suffix.

The purpose of the present study is twofold. First, an experiment was carried out to test the validity of the findings of the previous study. Spanish speakers completed a questionn aire in which they decided between neologisms containing mid-vowels or diphthongs (e.g. hielo 'ice'+ -azo …