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Abha Arabic is a dialect of Arabic (ISO 693-3: ara), belonging to the Semitic language family group, and spoken primarily in Abha city. Abha Arabic can be broadly classified as a variety of Arabic from the Arabian Peninsula group (Versteegh, 2014), and further sub-classified as a south (-west) Arabian dialect (Ingham, 1982). Abha city is the administrative capital of the province of Asir, in south-west Saudi Arabia (Figure 1). The population of Abha is approximately 290,185 and that of the Asir province is 1,601,725, according to the most recent data on the population (General Authority for Statistics, 2010). The province is named after the Asir tribe, who first inhabited Abha and the surrounding regions. The present day Abha Arabic dialect thus represents a blending of Bedouin and urban dialects. The first settlers to Abha were the Bani-Mghed tribe (an Asir tribe) followed by three additional Asir tribes (Alkam, Rabiah w Rufeda, Bani-Malik) and other nearby tribes such as the Gahtaːn, Bal-lahmir, Bal-lasmir, Shahran, Rejal Alma', all of which had distinct dialects (Al-Azraqi, 1998). These dialects merged to varying degrees and were further influenced by urban education and mass media, which were and continue to be dominated by Modern Standard Arabic (henceforth MSA) (Al-Azraqi, 1998).1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spanish normative grammar considers any two-vowel combination of /e/, /a/, and /o/ as a hiatus, accepting that they can be pronounced as a diphthong in lower basilects and/or informal registers. This article analyzes speeches of educated speakers, performing an acoustic analysis of 60 segmental and suprasegmental features in 493 vowel sequences. Linear mixed-effects models suggest that two-vowel sequences of /e/, /a/, and /o/ are pronounced as diphthongs in 77.27 % of cases; suprasegmental features (especially duration) are the most reliable cues to distinguish a hiatus from a diphthong in Spanish. These results call for a re-examination of diphthong classification in Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eastern Andalusian Spanish deletes all coda consonants; yet, coda deletion analyses have focused on /-s/. The acoustic and statistical analyses of 317 tokens of /u/ in 24 Eastern Andalusian speakers confirm that the differences in quality between word-final /u/ and /u/ preceding deleted /-s/, /-r/, and /-θ/ are statistically significant. Furthermore, /-s/, /-r/, and /-θ/ deletion changes the quality of a preceding /u/ in different degrees but the difference of quality between these three realisations of /u/ is not statistically significant. Likewise, a perception experiment confirms that Eastern Andalusian speakers can identify whether or not /u/ is followed by an underlying /-s/, /-r/, or /-θ/; however, they cannot identify the deleted consonant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Syllable-final consonant deletion has been widely documented in Eastern Andalusian Spanish, although the effects of consonant deletion on preceding vowels are still unknown. Studies analyzing syllable-final consonants in Eastern Andalusian Spanish have focused on /-s/, disregarding other consonants which are also deleted in this position. The present paper aims to extend this traditional focus by analyzing how /-s/, /-r/ and /-θ/ deletion affects preceding /i/. After analyzing 383 samples of /i/ word-finally and before underlying word-final /s/, /r/ and /θ/ in Western Almería (Eastern Andalusia), it is confirmed that the deletion of these three consonants changes the quality of preceding /i/. Furthermore, the results of a perception test confirm that speakers of Eastern Andalusian Spanish can identify whether or not /i/ is followed by an underlying /-s/, /-r/ or /-θ/ and they can also identify two types of /i/ in isolation: word-final /i/ and /i/ preceding underlying /-r/; this identification occurs at a rate which is statistically significant. It is hypothesized that, apart from vowel height and frontness, a suprasegmental feature could be the perceptual cue used to identify an underlying consonant after a vowel in this variety of Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research, especially on second language (L2) English, has shown the positive effects of explicit pronunciation teaching. However, some beliefs which prevent explicit pronunciation teaching still remain, notably, the belief that regular speaking during class time is enough to improve pronunciation outcomes. This article analyses the evolution of L2 Spanish vowels in four students at an Australian university. An analysis of 1,387 vowels from the first, third and sixth semesters of a Spanish major with no particular focus on explicit pronunciation teaching shows minimal change in the quality of the students’ vowels, indicating very little improvement in pronunciation across their six-semester language major. The results suggest that speaking during class is not enough to improve L2 Spanish pronunciation and support explicit pronunciation teaching in the language classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 524 vowels from Eastern Andalusian Speakers with articulation disorder are analysed. • The vowels are analysed word-finally and before underlying /-s/, /-r/ and /-θ/. • The vowels have different quality depending on the underlying phonemic context. • Disordered speech displays more features of regional accents than previously thought. Eastern Andalusian Spanish deletes coda consonants and the effects of such deletions have been widely studied. However, this has been done almost exclusively for /s/. Furthermore, no study has considered Eastern Andalusian speakers with articulation disorders. The present paper explores the consequences of /s/, /r/, and /θ/ deletion on preceding vowels in Eastern Andalusian speakers with articulation disorders. The vowels from eight speakers with articulation disorders are analysed in word-final position and before underlying /-s/, /-r/, and /-θ/. Acoustic and statistical analyses show that speakers with an articulation disorder do not simply delete word-final consonants, as posited in the literature for these type of speakers, but they also display lowering and fronting/backing, which is typical in this variety of Spanish. The results from the analyses of the 524 vowels from the present study are compared to data of speakers not affected by articulation disorders from the literature. While the vowels of both groups of speakers suffer different alterations depending on the underlying consonant they precede, the intensity of such alterations varies between both groups. It is hypothesised that functional compensation forces explain why speakers with articulation disorders acquire some features of Eastern Andalusian vowels but not others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• I review different analyses of Eastern Andalusian Spanish plurals. • I manipulate recorded words to test the perception of singular and plural words. • I analyse the identification of singular/plural according to different parameters. • I conclude that the morpheme of plurality is dislocated in Eastern Andalusian. This paper examines whether the morpheme of plurality has shifted from word-final to word-initial syllable in Eastern Andalusian Spanish. This would be explained by word-medial vowel lowering caused by vowel harmony, which extends leftwards from the vowel preceding deleted /-s/ up to the stressed vowel. Two experiments are performed: (1) Eastern Andalusian speakers have to decide if each item is singular or plural by listening to the first syllable of paroxytone disyllabic words; (2) Paroxytone disyllabic words are manipulated and the first syllable is taken from a singular word and the second syllable from its plural, and vice versa; the participants have to categorise each item as singular or plural. An analysis of 4503 answers shows that these speakers can identify singular /ˈCV.CV/ words by listening to the first syllable only when the first syllable contains /e/ or /o/ and plural only when the first syllable contains /o/; they can identify singular /ˈCVC.CV/ words when the first syllable contains /o/, /i/ or /u/ and plurals when they contain /e/ or /o/. The morpheme of plurality has not shifted completely to word-initial syllable but it is hypothesised that there is a shift currently underway and that this is more advanced for /e/ and /o/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]