Phonological history of Spanish coronal fricatives

In Spanish dialectology, the way people say certain sounds is one of the biggest things that makes different areas of Spain and Latin America sound unique. These sounds are called coronal fricatives, and they include the distinction between two different “s” sounds, like in the words “casa” (house) and “caza” (hunt). Some places only use one kind of “s” sound, while others use a mix of sounds that can sound a bit like “th” in English.

There is a common story that these different sounds started because a Spanish king couldn’t pronounce them clearly, but that isn’t true. The real reason these sounds changed over time goes back to events that happened in the 15th century. These changes have shaped how Spanish is spoken in many places today.

Origins

Castilian 'lisp'

A common story says that the way some Spanish speakers say a certain sound comes from a king who spoke with a lisp, and that this way of speaking spread to others. However, experts have shown this story is not true. The sound in question began to develop much later than the king's time. Also, a true lisp would not create the differences in sounds that are found in standard Spanish today.

Historical evolution

In the 15th century, Spanish had many different sounds made with the tongue and lips. Over time, these sounds changed and merged in different ways in various parts of Spain. In the north, some sounds stayed distinct, while in the south, they merged together. These changes led to the different ways Spanish is pronounced today in places like Spain and Latin America.

The changes continued into the 16th and 17th centuries. In the north, some sounds became quieter or disappeared, while others stayed but changed shape. In the south, new sounds appeared that were similar to existing ones. Over time, these sounds moved to make them easier to tell apart.

In the south, these changes created sounds that were like the ones in the north. In some areas, a sound became similar to the one used in standard Spanish for certain letters. In other areas, the sound became like the English "s". This latter way of speaking spread to many parts of Latin America.

The way these sounds developed in Ladino, a language that split from Spanish in the 15th century, stayed closer to how Portuguese sounds.

Modern changes

Main articles: Spanish dialects and varieties § Debuccalization of coda /s/, and Spanish phonology § Realization of /s/

In many modern dialects, a certain sound can become very weak, and in some cases, it disappears completely, affecting the sounds of nearby vowels or consonants.

Distinction

Distinction (Spanish: distinción) is a special way of saying two Spanish sounds that are written with the letters ⟨s⟩, ⟨z⟩, and ⟨c⟩ (only before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩, called the "soft" ⟨c⟩).

• The letter ⟨s⟩ makes a hissing sound like in the English word "sun."
• The letters ⟨z⟩ and soft ⟨c⟩ make a soft "th" sound like in the English word "think."

By the early 1700s, the many different sounds of old Spanish had blended into just a few, but the spelling stayed the same. Later, rules were made to match the spelling with these sounds. This way of speaking is common in most of Spain, especially in the central and northern areas. Some people who speak Catalan or Basque might not follow this exactly, and the same goes for some speakers of Galician.

In many places in Spain, the distinction is between a sharp "s" sound and a soft "th" sound. However, in some parts of Andalusia, like Almería, Granada, Jaén, and Huelva, people use a softer "s" sound instead.

Lack of distinction

In most Spanish-speaking places, people do not say the sounds /s/ and /θ/ differently. This is called neutralización.

Seseo

Seseo is when both /s/ and /θ/ are said the same way, as [s]. For example, the words casa (house) and caza (hunt) sound the same. Seseo is common in many countries and is the standard way of speaking in Hispanic America, the Philippines, and parts of Spain like the Canary Islands and Andalusia.

Ceceo

Ceceo is when /s/ and /θ/ also sound the same, but they are said as a different sound, like [s̟]. This happens in some parts of southern Spain and a few other places. It is less common and sometimes seen as unusual.

Ceseo or seceo

Some people mix these ways of speaking, using different sounds depending on the situation or without thinking about it. This mixing is normal and follows certain patterns.