Geographic and Sociolinguistic Variables in the Seseo of Murcia

Abstract

A fundamental difference between Castilian and Andalusian is the pronunciation of what in spelling is represented as “c + i, e” and “z + a, o, u” as in, for instance, “cielo” ‘sky,’ “cero” ‘zero,’ “zapato” ‘shoe,’ “zorro” ‘fox,’ “zumo” ‘juice,’ “gracias” ‘thanks,’ “cazuela” ‘pot’ (where “c” and “z” are at the onset), and also in coda position as in “luz” ‘light,’ “conozco” ‘I know,’ and “juzgar” ‘to judge,’ for example. The phono- logical development of the sounds in these sequences took place over centuries and resulted in what today is known in Spanish linguistics as “seseo”, “ceceo” and “distincion” or ‘differentiation.’ Seseo refers to the pronunciation of “c + i, e” or of “z” in any position or combination (be it prevocalic or posrvocalic) as a voiceless alveolar fricative. This happens in northern Andalusia, the Canary Islands, and in all of the Spanish- speaking countries of Latin America. Ceceo alludes to the pronunciation of “c + i, e” or “z” (as mentioned above), as well as of “s” as a voiceless (inter)dental fricative. It mainly occurs in southern Andalusia. Finally, distincion indicates the phonological contrast between orthographic “s” and “c + i, e” or “z.” The first is pronounced as a voiceless apicoalveolar fricative and the latter two are pronounced as a voiceless interdental fricative. This is done in Castilian Spanish as in, for example: “ves” [’beg] ‘you see’ vs. “vez” [’be6] ‘occasion’ and in “casa” [’kaga] ‘house’ vs. “caza” [’ka6a] ‘hunting.’ But nowhere in the Spanish-speaking world, with the exception of Murcia, is there partial seseo. Murcia, in general, has differentiation at the syllabic onset, but seseo at the syllabic coda.