The Use of Gheada in Three Generations of Women from Carballo, a Coruña

The Use of gheada in Three Generations of Women from Carballo, A Coruña

Juan Antonio Thomas The University at Albany

1. Introduction

Gheada, pronounced [hea∂a], is a phonetic and phonological trait of Galician which consists of the absence of the voiced, velar occlusive [g] and the presence of some type of aspiration, a voiced or voiceless velar, glottal, pharyngeal, or uvular fricative. Although the trait is acoustically and articulatorially similar to the Castilian voiceless velar fricative, the aspirated initial f- in Gascon, and the gorgia toscana, the Galician gheada presents a unique phonemic and sociolinguistic problem among the romance languages. Some consider the gheada to be an influence of Castilian Spanish, a product of the age-old diglossic relationship between Galician and Castilian (Freixeiro Mato, 1998: 154); others have shown that the gheada can be considered an innovation within the Galician sound system (Santamarina, 1980). Its use corresponds to sociolinguistic factors (Recalde Fernández: 1994, 1995; Thomas, 2005) and ever since its origin, it has been spurned (Freixeiro Mato, 1998: 157) as a characteristic of rustic and uneducated speech. The use of the gheada is considered appropriate for the familiar domain but not for formal uses of Galician. The official prescriptive grammar of Galician (Instituto da Lingua Galega/ Real Academia Galega, 2005: 9), approved by the Xunta de Galicia, cites the aspiration as an acceptable allophone of the phoneme /g/ but does not accept its representation in written texts. Many individuals consider the trait to be an innovative characteristic of Galician which distinguishes it from its sister language Portuguese; however, such a positive consideration does not affect the speakers’ linguistic behavior and even intellectuals who proclaim the uniqueness of gheada, avoid its use.

1.1 Description and types of the gheada

In order to represent the sound of the gheada orthographically gh is used. This combination demonstrates the alternating nature [g] / [h] of the trait. Not all Galician speakers, regardless of the social value of the trait, possess [h] in their phonetic inventories. Galician without gheada is spoken in the eastern halves of the provinces of Lugo and Ourense. This system is represented in (1).

(1) gato cat [gato] un gato a cat[uhgato] o gato the cat [ogato] domingo Sunday [domíhgo]

In the phonemic inventory of Galician without gheada, the phoneme /g/ has two allophones: [g] and [g] in complementary distribution. The voiced, velar stop [g] is found in word initial position or after a nasal. The voiced, velar approximant [g] is found after a vowel; a coronal liquid resonant [l] or [r]; or after a coronal strident [s]or [z]. Because of regressive assimilation, the strident [z] usually is found before [g]. Based on the realization of the group - ng- there are three systems of gheada (Fernandez Rei: 167). The system which comprises the majority of the territory is summarized in equation 2. Instead of the

(2) gato [háto] un gato [uhháto] o gato [oháto] domingo [domíhho] phoneme /g/, there is a fricative aspiration, here represented as /h/. This phoneme consists of one allophone, very frequently it is the voiceless glottal fricative [h]; other studies (Fernández Rei; Labrana- Barrero, van Oosterzee) cite a different fricative in this system of one phoneme, one

© 2007 Juan Antonio Thomas. Selected Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics, ed. Jonathan Holmquist et al., 61-73. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. 62 allophone. System (2) is spoken in the major cities of Galicia: Santiago, A Coruña, and Pontevedra, as well as the eastern part of the province of A Coruña (Fernández Rei: 168). There are two other ‘hybrid’ systems. Equation (3) represents the system with the allophones [h] and [g]. Speakers of this variety hale from the western parts of Ourense and Lugo, the northern areas of the

(3) gato [háto] un gato [uhháto] o gato [oháto] domingo [domíhgo] province of Pontevedra and the south-eastern areas of the province of A Coruña. The allophone [g] appears only in the middle of words after a nasal resonant. In all other contexts, [h] is found, even in word initial position following a nasal un gato [uhháto]. Castro (1991: 211) describes this phenomenon as two contextually conditioned allophones of one phoneme /g/; however, the two allophones [h] and [g] are articulatorily so different that speakers would have trouble recognizing them as variants of the same phoneme. Santamarina believes (1980: 248) that this system consists of two phonemes /h/ and /g/; however, there are no contrastive minimal pairs of /g/ and /h/ in this description, similar to the situation of /h/ and /h/ in English. There is yet another system in which the speakers have ‘resolved’ the problem of the phonological description of the system shown in (3). Equation (4) represents the system which has two phonemes /h/ and /k/- the allophone [g] is absent from this variety.

(4) gato [háto] un gato [uhháto] o gato [oháto] domingo [domíhko]

The phoneme /k/ is very stable and exists in many contexts, even after a nasal in word internal position, for example, cinco [qíhko]. The speakers of system four have neutralized the group -ng- as - nk-. System four is found in the western parts of Galicia: in Fisterra and the Ría de Muros.

2. Experimental

María Luz Cures Vázquez (Luz), a translator and linguist at the Instituto da Lingua Galega (Galician Language Institute) of the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela in Santiago de Compostela, interviewed and recorded nine females in December, 2001. Table 1 summarizes some biographical information about the participants, who form part of Luz’ social network in the vila of Carballo (a division of population between that of a city and village) in the province of A Coruña. Some of the women are from A Brea, a rural village which has been integrated into Carballo because of the former’s growth during recent years. Hence, the participants are from both urban (U) and rural (R) habitats. Carballo and A Brea are located west of a line drawn between two main cities of Galicia: the city of A Coruña and the capital city Santiago de Compostela. Carballo is in Bergantiños, and according to dialectological studies it is a region where three systems of gheada are in close proximity (Fernández Rei: 165): [domihgo] -[domihho] -[domihko]. All participants have Galician as their first language as well as habitual language. Marital status is designated as (S) single or (M) married. The variables: habitat, relationship to the interviewer, and family relationship to the other participants co- vary. The kinship relations among the participants are shown in (5). The interview of the first three females proceeded as follows: (1) the oral test- Luz read a series of definitions/ descriptions and the interviewees were asked to say a word associated with the description; (2) the reading test- each participant read a list of words and; (3) the free conversation- each participant was asked to narrate some story or detail, of their own choosing, for example, What did they do in the morning, etc? All woman performed part three, but speakers 4 through 8 did not perform the reading test. The items in the oral and reading tests were not exactly the same for all speakers, although many did coincide. Luz gave a copy of the recordings to J. A. Thomas in July 2003. 63

Table 1: Participants’ information

person age habitat mari- profession educa- relationship to the relation- U/R tal tion other participants ship to the status interviewer 1Ana 18 U S student high granddaughter of 6 sister Cures school cousin of 2 niece of 3 2 Marta 8 U S student elemen- daughter of 3 cousin tary cousin of 1 granddaughter of 6 3 Belén 43 U M housewife elemen- mother of 2; aunt aunt tary of 1; daughter of 6 4. Ana 14 R S student elemen- daughter of 8;sister friend Suárez tary of 7; niece of 5; granddaughter of 9 5. 41 R S teacher’s high aunt of 4 and 7 friend María assistant school sister of 8 Carme daughter of 9 6. 64 U M fish elemen- mother of 3 grand- María vendor tary grandmother of 2, 1 mother Luz (retired) 7. Tania 20 R S student high daughter of 8; sister friend school of 4; niece of 5; granddaughter of 9 8 45 R M baker elemen- mother of 4, 7 friend Encar- wido tary sister of 5 nita w daughter of 9 9 María > R M baker none mother of 8, 5 friend José 70 grandmother of 7, 4

(5) Family trees of the participants

María José (9) María Luz (6) ØØ Encarnita (8) + María Carme (5) Belén (3) + (not a participant) ØØØ Tania (7) + Ana Suárez (4) Marta (2) Ana Cures (1)

The goal of this investigation was to analyze and characterize the gheada employed (or not employed) by these nine speakers. The statistical program SPSS was used to answer questions such as is the use of the trait in a particular linguistic context statistically significant or not? The Praat Program was used to determine the phonetic realization of the aspiration.

3. Results and Discussion

Table 2 offers a comprehensive summary of the results. The frequency of gheada is reported as a percentage of all the occurrences of [h] with respect to the sum of [g] + [h]. There is a noticeable variation in the percentages in the oral interview test. The youngest participant, Marta (2), used the fricative in the lowest frequency. Her mother, Belén (3), used it at a low frequency but in a slightly higher number of examples than her daughter. Speaker 6 (María Luz) used gheada in a greater number of words than either her daughter (Belén) or granddaughter (Marta), although not as much as other granddaughter, Ana Cures (1), who used it exclusively. All these women belong to the urban habitat of Carballo. The other pair of mother/daughter speakers, sisters Ana Suárez (4) and Tania(7) and their mother Encarnita (8), used [h] at a high frequency. Tania used it in 100% of all possible contexts. María Carme(5), who also belongs to this family, used it at a lower frequency than her relatives- she works in a school as a teacher’s assistant. This group of women represents the rural habitat of A Brea. 64

Table 2: Overall Frequencies of the use of gheada (% [h]) in the three tests.

Speaker the oral interview the reading test the free speech test 1 100 28.4 94.7 2 7.7 0 72.7 3 16.1 2.9 55.6 4 85.7 -not performed- 20 5 62.5 -not performed- 40 6 68.4 -not performed- 100 7 100 -not performed 100 8 100 -not performed- 83.3 9 -not performed- -not performed- 100

Table 3 summarizes the examples of [g]/[h] in the oral test in five phonetic contexts in which gheada, [h], and non-gheada, [g], can occur. These are: 1. after a nasal (-ng- or -nh-; [domihgo] / [domihho]); 2. word initial (g_ or h_ [galiqya]/ [haliqya]); 3. intervocalic ( VgV or VhV, [ogato]/[ohato]) ;

Table 3: Details of the Oral Test: frequency of h/g (context observed / all possible contexts) (%)

person -ng- -nh- g_ h_ vgv vhv CgV ChV Vg Vh total total C C g% h% 1 0/3 3/3 0/15 15/15 0/18 18/18 0/2 2/2 - - 0 100 (0%) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) 2 3/3 0/3 9/10 1/10 9/10 1/10 2/2 0/2 1/1 0/1 92. 7.7 (100) (0) (90) (10) (90) (10) (100) (0) 100 (0) 3 3 3/3 0/3 7/11 4/11 13/14 1/14 2/2 0/2 1/1 0/1 83. 16.1 (100) (0) (64) (36) (93) (7) (100) (0) 100 (0) 9 4 1/2 1/2 0/1 1/1 0/4 4/4 - - - - 14. 85.7 (50) (50) (0) (100) (0) (100) 3 5 0/2 2/2 0/1 1/1 3/4 1/4 0/1 1/1 - - 37. 62.5 (0) (100) (0) (100) (75) (25) (0) (100) 5 6 2/2 0/2 2/9 7/9 1/6 5/6 1/2 1/2 - - 31. 68.4 (100) (0) (22) (78) (17) (83) (50) (50) 6 7 0/1 1/1 0/2 2/2 0/4 4/4 0/1 1/1 - - 0 100 (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) 8 0/1 1/1 0/1 1/1 0/5 5/5 0/1 1/1 - - 0 100 (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) total 9/17 8/17 18/50 32/50 26/65 39/65 5/11 6/11 2/2 0/2 32. 67.5 (53) (47) (36) (64) (40) (60) (45) (55) 100 (0) 5 t-test t = -1.284 t=-1.284 t=-1.017 t = -0.795 sig t= -1.33 df = 7 df = 7 df = 7 df = 6 df = 2 df = 7

4. after a consonant but before a vowel (CgV, ChV [ozgatos]/[oshatos]); and 5. after a vowel but before a consonant (VgC, VhC, [iglesya] /[ihlesya]). In the oral interview, speaker 1 used the aspiration in all contexts, even after nasal. Marta showed only three cases of gheada in her oral interview: two in word initial position [haliñas] ‘hens’ and [halo] ‘rooster’ and one intervocalic example [ohato] ‘the cat’. It is interesting to note that many speakers, on referring to common domestic and barnyard animals tend to use systematically gheada. Belén pronounces [h] at a slightly greater frequently in the oral test than her daughter, and gave four examples in word initial position: [halo] rooster, [haraÚe] garage, [hasolina] gasoline, and [hasolineyras] gasoline stations; and one example between vowels [ohato]. She gave no examples of it after a nasal or any other consonant. Ana Suárez, María Carme and María Luz defined fewer words. Ana Suárez gave one example of gheada after a nasal [nihhéh] nobody, but she also said [domihgo]. She pronounced four examples of [h] 65 between vowels: [ohato], [ahaliña], [ahosto] August; [bihote] mustache; and one word initial example [hraqyas] thank you. María Carme, who is Ana Suárez’ aunt, gave two examples after nasal: [uhamahheyra] a hose as well as [domihho]; one word initial guapo handsome [huapo], and one between vowels [ohato]. María Luz offered more examples but none after a nasal- on the contrary, she gave two with the sequence -hg-. She gave seven word initial examples, five intervocalic examples and one between consonant and vowel [oshwantes] the gloves. Even though their oral tests were considerably shorter than the other 6 participants, Tania and Encarnita used gheada exclusively, even after nasals. In Table 3, below each set of two columns (each set of two columns refer to the same linguistic context) are the results of the Student’s t- test performed at the 95 % confidence level. This test compared the use of [g] in a particular phonological context to the use of [h] in the same context. Based on the data in table, the only context in which the null hypothesis was rejected- that the two means are equivalent- in favor of a statistically significant use of gheada was the opposition VgC/VhC, because two speakers, Marta and her mother, said [iglesya] church, a Castilianism typically pronounced with the voiced velar approximant (allophone of /g/). The last two columns represent the overall use/non-use of gheada, and the t-test performed on data in those columns did not reject the null hypothesis. Even though the average frequency of [h] is 67.5 %, the t-test indicates a speaker dependent, diaphasic, use of the trait in the oral test format. Some speakers always use gheada (1, 7 and 8); others alternate, and yet others rarely employ it (2 and 3). Not all participants performed the reading part of the investigation. Reading is an activity in which gheada is usually banished. Accordingly, its frequency, shown in table 4, is lower than in the oral test. Even Ana Cures, who used gheada exclusively in the oral test, only used it at a frequency of

Table 4: Details of the Reading Test: frequency of h/g: context observed / all possible contexts, (%)

Per- -ng- -nh- g_ h_ vgv vhv CgV ChV VgC VhC g% h% son total total 1 17/18 1/18 26/42 16/42 9/18 9/18 10/10 0 6/7 1/7 68/95 27/95 (94) (6) (62) (38) (50) (50) (100) (0) (86) (14) (72) (28) 2 8/8 0 14/14 0 6/6 0 3/3 0 1/1 0 32/32 (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) 3 6/6 0 12/12 0 9/10 1/10 5/5 0 1/1 0 33/34 1/34 (100) (0) (100) (0) (90) (10) (100) (0) (100) (0) (97) (3) total 31/32 1/32 52/68 16/68 24/34 10/34 18/18 0/18 8/9 1/9 89.7 10.3 (97) (3) (76) (24) (71) (29) (100) (0) (89) (11) % %

t- t=24(sig) t-2.947 t= 1.964 sig t=9.714(sig) t= 4.468 (sig) test df 2

28.4 %. Table 4 indicates that in her reading she uses it more in word initial and intervocalic positions, but only gave one out of eighteen examples of it after a nasal [enhantÚe] hook. Marta read no examples of [h]and Belén read [meyha] witch, an intervocalic example. The t-tests were also performed on the percentages of [h] of the reading interview. The results show that in three specific contexts –ng-/-nh-; CgV/ChV; and VgC/VhC the null hypothesis is rejected at the 95 % confidence level and there exists a statistically significant absence of gheada. The same is found with total use: a t-test performed on the summary columns of Table 4 indicate that the readers do not use the aspiration at a statistically significant frequency in the reading test. The fact that Ana Cures read with less gheada than she answered the oral test illustrates that the trait’s use is situation/ register dependent. The use of the phenomenon is discouraged in formal settings such as schools; these participants, as well as all Galicians, were taught to read with the velar voiced stop /g/. The statistical summary of the phonetic contexts of the free speech interview, performed by all nine participants, is in Table 5. Unlike the oral and reading tests, which were designed to include examples of words with all phonetic contexts, the free speech part could not be controlled; therefore, this portion can be considered a more spontaneous and natural method of eliciting the variable, as compared to the 66

Table 5: Summary of the free speech text: frequency of [h] and [g] %

Per- -ng- -nh- g_ h_ vgv vhv CgV ChV VgC VhC g h son total total 1 0/2 2/2 - - 0/12 12/12 0/2 2/2 1/3 2/3 1/19 18/19 (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (0) (33) (67) (5.3) (94.7) 2 1/2 1/2 - - 2/8 6/8 0/1 1/1 - - 3/11 8/11 (50) (50) (25) (75) (0) (100) (27.3) (72.7) 3 - - - - 3/5 2/5 0/3 3/3 1/1 0/1 4/9 5/9 (60) (40) (0) (100) (100) (0) (44.4) (55.6) 4 - - 2/2 0/2 6/7 1/7 3/5 2/5 1/1 0/1 12/15 3/15 (10 (0) (86) (14) (60) (40) (100) (0) (80) (20) 0) 5 0/1 1/1 1/1 0/1 8/12 4/12 0/1 1/1 - - 9/15 6/15 (0) (100) (10 (0) (75) (25) (0) (100) (60) (40) 0) 6 0/2 2/2 - - 0/10 10/10 0/4 4/4 0/1 1/1 0/27 27/27 (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) (0) (100) 7 - - - - 0/5 5/5 - - 0/5 5/5 (0) (100) (0) (100) 8 1/1 0/1 - - 0/4 4/4 0/1 1/1 1/6 5/6 (10 (0) (0) (100) (0) (100) (16.7) (83.3) 0) 9 - - 0/4 4/4 0/20 20/20 0/2 2/2 0/1 1/1 (0) 27/27 (100) total 2/8 6/8 3/7 4/7 19/83 64/83 3/19 16/19 3/7 4/7 30/134 104/ (25) (75) (46) (54) (23) (77) (16) (84) (43) (57) (22) 134 (78) t- df=4 df = 2 df= 8 df= 7 (sig) df= 4 df = 8 test t= -1.0 t = 0.5 t = -1.875 t = -5.667 t= -.150 t = -2.445 (sig)

reading and oral test formats already discussed. The cordial relationship that all participants have with Luz also mitigated the formalness of the task. Table 5 shows inter-speaker variation. Once again, Speakers 2, 3, 4, and 5 use gheada less frequently than other speakers and Speakers 4 and 5 show fewer examples of its use than 2 and 3, especially in the intervocalic examples. Nevertheless, the t-test performed on the percentages in the last two columns shows that the use of [h] is statistically more frequent than [g]. The particular context CgV/ChV also shows a statistical greater use. More contexts may have shown statistical significance if analyzed as an entire group rather than by individual speakers. For example, speaker seven gave five examples of words which could be realized with gheada, which she did indeed use in all cases. Ana Suárez and María Carme each pronounced fifteen words which could be realized with gheada, but each one used it in 20 % and 40 % of those contexts, respectively. In addition to the sociolinguistic context, the ‘type’ of word or the context of the word’s use may play a role in the use of gheada or not. For example, María Carme registered a lower frequency of the trait in her free speech interview than in the oral test, because in the former she used examples such as Portugal and Braga. Although Tania does say Portu[h]al, her aunt may have pronounced these toponyms without the aspiration since gheada does not exist in Portuguese. Ana Suárez may have pronounced Bur[g]os and Sa[g]rada familia because she may have learned these proper nouns via the Castilian language. It is useful to analyze some examples from the free speech portion. Ana Cures uses gheada almost exclusively, even after -n-; she pronounced one example of the voiced velar approximant in integral [integral]. María Jose used gheada in all possible contexts where it could be realized. She did not pronounce any words with -nh-/-ng-, but she did say [h] in word initial position. This woman is from 67 the rural habitat, and has had little schooling. Her daughter Encarnita pronounced [h] in all possible contexts in her oral interview, but in the free speech section, she gave one example of [nihgunas] none, although in the oral test she gave one example of –nh-. The family members Marta, Belén, and Maria Luz show intergenerational variation in the use of the aspiration. Marta used gheada more in the free speech section than in her oral interview and reading test. In the contexts after a nasal she gives two examples; one without gheada [inglés] English and one with it con un [h]lobo ‘with a balloon’. In the intervocalic contexts, she tends to use it more often than not, although she gives one intervocalic example without it: para [g]alego ‘ for Galician’. Her mother offers more intervocalic phrases without the trait, but in the context ChV, she uses it more often than not. In all three tests, Belén and Marta tend to avoid gheada. They are from the urban habitat, and although they have Galician as habitual and initial language, and Belén does not have advanced studies, she shows great interest in ‘speaking according to prestigious norms’. She makes an effort to adapt her speech and indeed to influence her daughter’s to the ‘less marked’ voiced velar stop/ fricative usage. Her mother, however, uses gheada more often than not. In the free speech part of this study, all her examples were pronounced with it, even after nasal. Ana Cures, who is the cousin and niece of Marta and Be"lén respectively, also shows linguistic consciousness as we will discuss later. In the oral tests does not adjust her speech to avoid gheada, but rather she considers the use of the aspiration to be the normal articulation. This divergence within the same family shows how the use or not of gheada also depends on individual attitudes. The family members Ana Suárez, Tania, Encarnita, María Carme and María José offer another interesting model of intergenerational use of gheada. Tania gave a short free speech section, with only five words which could be realized with gheada, which she used in all cases: [ahosto] August; [amiho] friend; [portuhal] Portugal; and [faho] I make/do. Her aunt María Carme used the articulation less and her sister used it even less frequently, especially in the intervocalic context; the explanation for this low frequency may relate to the nature of the word: Castilian and Portuguese topynyms, words associated with the church/ school, words learned through Castilian, etc. Encarnita used the trait in all cases except after nasal nin[g]unas ‘none’, and her mother, the eldest of all speakers, shows 100% usage of the trait. All these women are from the rural habitat. In general, they do not have the linguistic consciousness that Belén and Ana Cures have- they speak Galician as their habitual language and use the aspiration spontaneously without any conscious suppression or ostentation. Ana Cures, on the other hand, does show linguistic consciousness, is proud of her language and of her variety with gheada. The interchange she had with her sister Luz, the interviewer, at the beginning of the reading test hints at this fact. Luz questioned Ana’s systematic use of gheada as the reading test progressed (see(6)). Ana used gheada in a context where it is socially marked. She defended herself by saying that if she reads in her own house she reads with [h] even though [esganar] begins a whole series of words with /g/.

(6) Interchange between Luz and Ana during the reading test Ana: ...ghaivota, ghanador, ghardería... Luz Le como les ti normalmente. ¿Cómo lerías eso? Ana ¿Cómo cómo lería...? Luz Na escola ¿cómo les? Ana ...sin gheada. ¿Leo sin gheada? Luz Le como ti leas. Ana ¿ee? Luz ¡Le como ti leas normalmente na escola! Ana ¡Pero que normalmente se leo na miña casa leo con gheada! se non.. Luz Pois, le con gheada Ana ghracioso, ghratis, ghuapo, maghosto, aghulla, esganar... (Ana: ....ghaivota, ghanador, ghardería... Luz Read as you read normally. How would you read that? Ana How, how would I read..? Luz At school, how do you read? Ana ..without gheada...¿Should I read without gheada? Luz Read however you would read! Ana ee? Luz Read as you would read at school! 68

Ana But... normally if I read at home I read with gheada! If not... Luz All right then read with gheada. Ana ghracioso, ghratis, ghuapo, maghosto, aghulla, esganar...... )

(7) The frequency of gheada versus the formalness of the task

120 100 80 Ana Cures 60 Marta Belén 40 frequency ([h] %) 20 0 reading oral free conv

Cross tabulations of the socio-linguistic variables versus the gheada frequency of all participants showed no statistically significant dependencies. The results of this study do show, though, that the use of gheada is dependent on the ‘formalness of the task’. The graph in (7) summarizes this formalness factor based on the three tests performed by Ana, Marta and Belén. However, the phonemic and phonetic system of the women interviewed here do not conform to any of the four theoretical systems described above. Based on the three tests discussed above, any attempt to describe neatly the gheada of these women does not lead to a unique and clean solution but rather to a system of the allophones [g], [g], and [h]; the allophones are not always conditioned linguistically, but socially, according to register, or according to the words origin (learned via Castilian, or a toponym in Portuguese or in Castilian). The same speaker can use or not use the trait interchangeably in the same speech event. In the free speech section, Belén pronounces amiga/s as both [amiga]and [amihas]. With no socially stigmatizing situations preventing the use of gheada, the system of these women resembles that of equation 2 with /h/ as the phoneme; however, based on the analysis above, the sounds [g] and [g] are part of all of the participants’ Galician phonetic inventory, resulting in a unique system not described theoretically nor geographically, but rather sociolinguistically. 4. Results and Discussion: Acoustic studies of the speakers’ gheada

Figures 1 and 2 are spectrograms generated by Praat based on sound files in the compact disk which accompanies Ladefoged’s text (2001). Figure 1 shows word initial [h], a voiceless glottal fricative. The spectrogram is also consistent with Ladefoged’s description of [h] as a type of vowel onset sound, since it has formant structure which anticipates the following vowel [a]. The intervocalic glottal fricative shown at the bottom of Figure 1 more clearly shows the vowel structure of the preceding and following [a]. Labraña- Barrero and van Oosterzee (2003) found a peak around 3000 Hz and a lower intensity peak between 5000 and 6000 Hz for the voiceless glottal fricative. The spectrogram below in figure one, based and Ladefoged’s recordings shows a peak around 2500 Hz. 69

Fig 1: Spectrograms of the voiceless glottal Fig 2: Spectrograms of the voiceless fricative.(top) word initial [ha]; (bottom) pharyngeal fricative. (top) word initial intervocalic [aha] (bottom) intervocalic

Many authors ( Fernández Rei: 163; Freixeiro Mato: 154) have stated that gheada is a pharyngeal fricative, whose spectrograms of were produced from the sound files in Ladefoged’s compact disk; see Figure 2. The fricative depicted there shows large concentrations of energy at 700 Hz, 3200 Hz and 4500 Hz. Such high intensity peaks are not observed in either one of the spectrograms of the glottal (Fig 1). According to Labraña- Barrero and van Oosterzee(2003), the voiceless pharyngeal fricative shows resonance noise at around 1600 Hz, with an isolated band at 800 Hz; there is less energy between 1500 and 2500 Hz and a second band between 4000 and 6000 Hz. Their description coincides with the pharyngeal fricative shown above. Figures 3 and 4 below show additional spectrograms based on Ladefoged for the voiceless velar and uvular fricatives. The voiceless velar shows energy at 1200 –1300 Hz, and two higher bands located between 2500 and 4000 Hz. The voiceless uvular shows resonances at 900 – 1100 Hz and 2200- 2400, 3600-3700 Hz. As Labraña- Barrero and van Oosterzee observe, all values of the uvular fricative are lower than those for the velar fricative. 70

Fig 3 Spectrograms of the voiceless velar Fig 4 Spectrograms of the voiceless uvular fricative. Top [xa]; bottom [axa] fricative. Top [x a]; bottom[ax a]

[ x a ] [ x a ] 5000 5000

0 0 0 0.418576 0 0.414971 Time (s) Time (s)

a [ a x a ] [ x a ]

5000 5000

0 0 0 0.645756 0 0.662278 Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 5 represents the waveform and spectrogram for grande, which Ana pronounced during her oral interview, answering the definition “the opposite of small....”. The spectrogram shows a high energy peak around 1260 Hz. Between 3000 and 4500 Hz there are two additional bands of high intensity, at approximately 3280 and 4130 Hz. These frequencies, and focusing principally on the 1260 Hz, suggest that this speaker’s gheada is realized with the voiceless velar fricative [x]. Figure six shows the waveform and spectrogram for the same word grande; however, Ana said this example of grande during her reading test and the spectrogram shows a different pronunciation, consistent with [grande]; the initial consonant is a voiced velar stop [g]. The formant structure of the following simple vibrant [r] shows a bending of its second and third formants toward each other, similarly as in the spectrum for English gig (Ladefoged: 50). The stop [g] is released at a time of 0.073 seconds. Figures 5 and 6 represent the same entry in Ana’s lexicon, with two different phonetic realizations. In phonological terms, one might consider [x] and [g] to be in free variation since the meaning of the words does not change. However, in sociolinguistic terms, the two articulations are not in free 71 variation since they occur in two different registers. The gheada example is characteristic of a less formal register than [grande], recorded during the reading test.

Fig 5. Waveform and Spectrogram [xrande] Fig 6. Waveform and Spectrogram [grande] top: waveform [xrande]; bottom: spectrogram top: waveform; bottom: spectrogram

The other phonological contexts in which Ana uses gheada are shown in the following figures. Figure seven shows the waveform and the spectrogram for the intervocalic context o gato [oxato] during her oral interview. Noise is distributed among all frequencies but higher intensity bands are around 1200 Hz and two between 2500 Hz and 4000 Hz. The sound is a voiceless velar fricative. Because of the phonetic context, the ‘quasi formants’ appear in the spectrogram as an onset to the preceding vowel ‘o’ transitioning to the next vowel ‘a’. Figure eight gives the waveform and spectrogram of speaker one’s pronunciation of lengua ‘tongue’ [lehxua]. The spectrogram illustrates the fricative nature of gheada following the velar nasal. Bands of formant structure are seen between 100 –1300 Hz and at higher energy between 2900 and 4100 Hz. We have seen speaker one’s gheada in word initial position [xrande]; intervocalic position [oxato]; and after nasal [lehxwa]. Figure 9 shows the ChV context with ‘fleas’ [pulxas] and the VhC context with ‘a farm’ [uhaxranÚa]. The former shows energy at 1300, 3100, and 4300 Hz and the latter at 1300, 2900, 4050 Hz- once again consistent with the voiceless velar fricative. 72

Fig 7: top waveform; bottom spectrogram [oxato] Fig 8: top waveform; bottom spectrogram[lehxwa]

When speaking Galician without social pressures forcing her to abandon gheada, Ana possesses a phonemic system of one allophone [x]. Analysis of the other speakers’ spectrograms indicate similar phonetic realizations of gheada. Speaker nine, María José, in the phrase e agora ‘and now’ [eahora] shows the unvoiced pharyngeal fricative, see Fig 10. The spectrogram shows little energy below 3000 Hz. Some bands are seen between 850 –1000 Hz and then at higher frequency, 4000 Hz, characteristics suggestive of the unvoiced pharyngeal fricative. In other examples, such as gasóleo ‘diesel’ [xasoleo] and gasolina [xasolina], she uses the voiceless velar fricative.

Fig 9: left spectrogram ‘fleas’ [pulxas]; right spectrogram, ‘a farm’ [uhaxranÚa].

[p u l x a s ] [u h a x r a n Ú a ]

5000 5000

0 0 0 0.6 0 0.72 Time (s) Time (s) 73

5. Conclusions

This work has presented a description of the gheada used by a group of nine women from the town of Carballo, A Coruña, and relates their use of the trait to the theoretical models. Because of sociolinguistic considerations, the results show that actual speech does not conform nicely to any of the theoretical phonemic explanations of the gheada, but rather to a hybrid system consisting of allophones [h], [g], [g]; dependent upon formalness of the task. The last part of this study showed that the realization of the aspiration is the voiceless, velar fricative [x].

Fig 10 Spectrogram of María José’s of ‘e agora’ [ ea ë o r a] 5000

0 0 0.46 Time (s)

6. Acknowledgements

I thank my union for two Graduate Students’ GSEU/NYS Professional Development Awards, 2003 and 2005; the University at Albany Spanish department for a Foundation Award; and the Instituto da Lingua Galega for scholarships which partially supported this work. I especially would like to acknowledge Dr. José A. Fernández Canosa of the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela who first introduced me to the gheada and offered suggestions for this present work; and Dr. Xosé L. Regueira Fernández of the Instituto da lingua galega for advice on the spectrograms and for a copy of Labraña- Barrero and van Oosterzee’s study. I would also like to thank Ruth Scipione and Dr. Lofti Sayahi who helped facilitate my presentation at the WSS3. I am especially indebted to Luz Cures Vázquez for her interest in my work and for her recordings, and I would like to extend a warm thanks to Luz and all the women of Carballo/ A Brea who participated in this investigation.

References

Castro, Obdulia (1991) Aproximación a la fonología y morfologías gallegas PhD Thesis, Georgetown University, 1989. Reprod.: Ann Arbor: UMI. Fernández Rei, Francisco (1991) Dialectoloxía da lingua galega, Vigo; Xerais. Freixeiro Mato, Xosé.R. (1998) Gramática da lingua galega: fonética e fonoloxía, vol. 1, Vigo; A Nosa Terra. Instituto da Lingua Galega/ Real Academia Galega (2005) Normas ortográficas e morfológicas do idioma galego, Santiago de Compostela: RAG/ILG. Ladefoged, Peter (2001) Vowels and Consonants: An Introduction to the Sounds of Languages Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell Publishing. Labraña-Barrero, Sabela and Carlos van Oosterzee (2003) ‘An Acoustic Approach of Galician Gheada’ in 15th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences. Barcelona, 2003 Santamarina, Antón. (1980) "Novas consideracións ó redor das orixes da geada", Verba 7, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 243 - 249. Recalde Fernández, M. (1994) ‘Gheada e situación’, Verba, 21, Universiade de Santiago, 339 – 367. Recalde Fernández, M. (1995) ‘Unha aproximación ás actitudes e prexuízos cara á gheada’, Cadernos de lingua, 12, Vigo, Editorial Galaxia, S.A., 5 - 32. Thomas, Juan A (2005) “La divergencia entre actitudes y conducta lingüísticas: la gheada gallega y la formación de un registro culto oral” in Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics (WSS2, Albany 25-III-2004), http://www.lingref.com/cpp/wss/2/index.html Cascadilla Proceedings Project, 2005. Selected Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics edited by Jonathan Holmquist, Augusto Lorenzino, and Lotfi Sayahi

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Thomas, Juan Antonio. 2007. The Use of gheada in Three Generations of Women from Carballo, A Coruña. In Selected Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics, ed. Jonathan Holmquist, Augusto Lorenzino, and Lotfi Sayahi, 61-73. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. or: