Abstract

ZULOAGA, Eneko. LANGUAGE CONTACT AND CHANGE IN THE PAST: ON THE SPANISH SIBILANTS IN 17TH CENTURY BILBAO. Anu. let. lingüíst. filol. [online]. 2019, vol.7, n.2, pp.83-119.  Epub Nov 29, 2021. ISSN 2448-8224.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.adel.7.2.2019.1555.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a thorough analysis of the transition between the phonological systems of Mediaeval and Modern Castilian. The goal is to describe the sibilant system of 17th century Bilbao Castilian, i.e. a variety spoken in a bilingual (Basque-Castilian) area in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. For that purpose, the manuscript of Rafael de Micoleta (1653) was chosen as the central area of study. I discuss to what extent the neutralizations between the voiced/voiceless and fricative/affricate sibilant contrasts were completed, as well as how /θ/, new at that time, was extended. Furthermore, I study the presence of the seseo, its distributional relationship with /θ/, and the possible influence of Basque-Romance contact in both its origin and development.

I argue that the aforementioned neutralizations were quite advanced in the 17th century. However, I defend that 17th century Bilbao Castilian lacked the interdental /θ/, at least as a widespread pronunciation. In addition, I argue that any influence of the neutralizations occurred in Basque has to be ruled out as an explanation of the origin of the Castilian seseo, even though this influence cannot be discarded for subsequent periods.

Keywords : Castilian of the Basque Country; graphemics; phonetics; phonology; sibilants; seseo; Basque-Romance contact.