Not The King's Spanish
Consonant Clusters
Spanish speakers are famous for their difficulties with certain consonant clusters (just ask someone to say the word
Spanish without an initial [e]), but there are other phenomena with adjacent consonants in the Spanish language that
often slip under our radar. Ponder the following examples of consonant assimilation:
Assimilation occurs between two consecutive consonants when one of the consonants takes on a characteristic of
the other. For example, in the word mismo the s, which is normally an unvoiced consonant, takes on what English
speakers know as a voiced z sound because it precedes an m, which is a voiced consonant. Bet you didnt know that
the z sound existed in Spanish.
Another example of assimilation between consecutive consonants is when the consonants, when alone, are
articulated in very distant parts of the mouth from one another. For example, in the word banco the n, which
is normally articulated with the tongue against the alveolar ridge (that fleshy part just above the inside of your
upper-teeth), becomes a velar ng sound [?] in order to assimilate to the k sound [k] (also a velar consonant,
meaning that it is articulated with the tongue against the soft palate in the back of your mouth) that immediately
follows. Since the k sound is articulated in the back of your mouth, the n sound naturally assimilates to the c
in order to avoid a difficult articulation. Just try to say the word bank without changing the n sound to an
ng sound. Its not easy.
An example of consonant assimilation that can influence both spelling (and at times, spelling mistakes) and
pronunciation is the assimilation of an n that precedes a b or p. An n preceding a b or a p must become
a bilabial [m], making the transition very easy from the nasal consonant to the bilabial [b] or [p]. For example, the
phrase un barco, will sound like [um barko]. The same thing happens with un plan that becomes [um plan]
This tendency for n to become [m] also arises within the spelling of individual words. The Latin prefix
in- also has a form im- that is used exclusively when the rest of the word that follows starts with a b or a p.
Just think of the following examples: incapaz, intocable, indomable
(dont ask why I thought of this word); on the other
hand, you have improbable and imperfecciσn.
Not only does this example of assimilation change pronunciation and spelling, but also leads to some spelling
mistakes. Have you ever seen hombre written as honbre? I have seen it written that way many times and
have wondered
about the reason for such a glaring mistake for some time without an iron-clad explanation. However, I do suspect that
it has everything to do with the spelling rule in Spanish that you cant have an n before a b. It sounds kind of
silly that someone would put an n somewhere simply because a rule tells them to do otherwise. For this reason I am so
confused by the spelling mistake, because it hints at a sort of awareness of a spelling rule, meanwhile the spelling
mistake is quite often the product of illiteracy. My only answer up until this point is that many people are
subconsciously aware that the article un is often pronounced like an m, even though it is always spelled with an n.
Then, in cases where an m sound precedes a b within a word, its simply a toss-up between writing an
n or an m, depending on whether they are thinking of the article un that often sounds like [um], or simply the sound [m]
which is also quite prevalent in Spanish. Regardless of the case, the seemingly unconscionable spelling error between m and n
is understandable given the assimilation the n undergoes in similar phonological situations.
|
