Nicolás Gutiérrez Palma

The interaction of subsyllabic encoding and stress assignment: A new examination of an old problem in Spanish

This study employs a naming task to examine the role of the syllable in speech production, focusing on a lesser-studied aspect of syllabic processing, the interaction of subsyllabic patterns (i.e., syllable phonotactics) and higher-level prosody, in this case, stress assignment in Spanish. Specifically, we examine a controversial debate in Spanish regarding the interaction of syllable weight and stress placement, showing that traditional representations of weight fail to predict the differential modulation of stress placement by rising versus falling diphthongs in Spanish nonce forms. Our results also suggest that the internal structure of the syllable plays a larger role than is assumed in the processing literature in that it modulates higher-level processes such as stress encoding. Our results thus inform the debate regarding syllable weight in Spanish and linguistic theorising more broadly, as well as expand our understanding of the importance of the syllable, and more specifically its internal structure, in modulating word processing.

The Syllabification of the Spanish On-Glide: A Behavioral Study

Abstract This paper reports the findings of an experiment designed to test the syllabification of on-glides in Spanish by means of a behavioral task. Traditional approaches to Spanish syllabification assume that on-glides are syllabified with the vowel in the nucleus. However, findings from the developmental literature suggest that at least during early stages of acquisition an alternative onset syllabification is possible. The results of the present study reveal general support for the traditional nuclear approach to Spanish on-glides but also suggest the possibility of gradient syllabification patterns.

Procesamiento silábico y acento en español

Resumen El estudio del componente fonologico del lenguaje puede hacerse tanto sobre sus elementos simples (rasgos distintivos y fonemas) como sobre la forma en que estos se combinan en elementos mas complejos. En el primer caso se habla de fonologia segmental y en el segundo, de fonologia suprasegmental o prosodia. La investigacion psicologica se ha centrado casi exclusivamente en el estudio del procesamiento que se realiza en el primero de estos dos niveles, asi como en el procesamiento silabico. El resto de los aspectos de la fonologia suprasegmental, como el acento lexico o la entonacion, entre otros, han recibido mucha menos atencion. En este trabajo se hace una revision de algunas de las investigaciones mas recientes que tratan sobre el acento lexico y su relacion con el procesamiento silabico de las palabras. De igual modo, se discuten las implicaciones practicas de dichos trabajos, principalmente en lo relativo al aprendizaje de la lectura.