Articulation of Sibilant Fricatives in Colombian Spanish
Colombians constitute the largest South American population in the United States at 909,000 (or 24% of the total South American population in the U.S.), and Bogotá, Colombia is the most populated area within the Andean Highland region, yet relatively little is known about Colombian Spanish speech production. The majority of previous studies of Colombian phonetics have relied on perception and acoustic analysis. The present study contributes to Colombian Spanish phonetics by investigating the articulation of sibilant fricatives. In particular, the shape of the palate and tongue during the production of sibilants is investigated in an attempt to quantify the shape and size of the oral cavity in the vicinity of the sibilant constriction. Real-time three-dimensional ultrasound, palate impressions, acoustic recordings, and electroglottography are brought to bear on these issues.