Quote:
Originally Posted by Aprendo
...
I know one accent that I am hoping to ID the region and/or country, b/c I have no idea:
Example: the "b" is barely sound (or is it aspirated?). when the "b" is between to vowels.
Estaba is pronounced "estaba" but the "b" is barely pronounced and the lip barely (if at all) come together.
These same speakers also seem to reduce the "d" [th] sound when the "d" is between two vowels.
...
|
This phenomenon is characteristic of the voiced stop consonants /b/, /d/, and /g/ in most varieties of Spanish.
Between vowels all of these consonants normally are pronounced as fricatives, while after a pause or following a nasal consonant they normally are pronounced as stops.
The more casual the context, the more likely that these consonants will seem to disappear, regardless of which regional variety is used.
It's true that there may be some regional variation in how relaxed these consonants are pronounced at similar levels of casualness. However, when you compare the differences between regional varieties to the range of variation within individual varieties, the differences are not distinctive enough to be very useful for distinguishing regional accents compared to the variations in pronouncing several other consonants.
The consonants whose pronunciation varies most widely between regional varieties and which are most useful for distinguishing regional accents include:
- "s"
- "c" (before "e" and "i") and "z"
- "y" (or "hi") before another vowel
- "ll"
- "r" (especially at the end of a syllable)
- "rr"
- "g" (before "e" and "i") and "j"
You've already received some replies about some of these. Variations in intonation, rhythm, speed and word choice can also be helpful when trying to identify a particular regional variety.