Arbizuko hizkeraren zenbait soinu bereizgarriz

Abstract

The purpose of this short paper is to offer some preliminary acoustic data for some unusual phonological developments in the Basque variety spoken in Arbizu, Navarra. The most striking phonological feature in this dialect is the existence of an epenthetic voiced stop [b], which contrasts with [Ã] in the intervocalic environment. This phonological contrast is quite unexpected, given the fact that the alternation between continuant and noncontinuant voiced obstruents in Basque, like in Spanish, is generally taken to be a rather low-level phonetic phenomenon (see Mascaró 1983, 1991, among others). Other uncommon properties of this dialect, which are documented here, are the existence of a well-developed contrast in vowel length, and the presence of a voiced prepalatal fricative in one single item, the word for ‘water’, [udÛ], which in other dialects is [ur].