Heritage Spanish /bdg/ in an underexplored social context
Inspired by source input varieties, cross-generational studies on heritage Spanish, work on heritage Spanish /bdg/, and a lack of research on heritage speakers (HSs) in rural settings, we analyzed data from five HSs of Spanish and one parent of each HS, all of whom live in a rural area of the Midwestern US.
Our results reveal consistent weakening to [βðɣ] across the board. We first see that HSs weaken all three phonemes more than parents. Second, we observe that those with a higher degree of English proficiency show more weakening of /bdg/ realizations. Third, we find that those who have more exposure to English actually weaken /b/ to a greater degree. Fourth, speakers born in the US exhibit more weakening than those born in Mexico, but only for /bg/. In sum, our data suggest that segregation, isolation, and the continued influx of immigrants are key factors in minority language maintenance.
