Four mid front vowels in Western Almeria: The effect of /s/, /r/, and /θ/ deletion in Eastern Andalusian Spanish

Eastern Andalusian Spanish neutralises consonants in coda, although despite the neutralisation of most coda consonants, phonemic value has only been given to vowels preceding deleted /s/. The present paper expands on this traditional view and shows a more complex reality. This study will analyse differences between word-final /e/ and /e/ preceding deleted word-final /s/, /r/, and /θ/ in Western Almería (Eastern Andalusia) to determine if the deletion of each of these consonants causes consistent changes of quality to /e/, creating a system of four mid front vowels. A perception analysis will then determine if Western Almería speakers can distinguish between each of those vowels, which will confirm whether these realisations of /e/ have allophonic or phonemic value. An analysis shows consistent F1 and F2 values depending on whether /e/ is in coda or whether it precedes word-final /s/, /r/, or /θ/ deletion. Furthermore, perception tests show an ability to distinguish between some of those four mid front vowels.