Variation in Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish suffix -ismo is the equivalent of the English -ism. It occurs in a number of words such as capitalismo (capitalism), federalismo (federalism) and nacionalismo (nacionalism). This suffix also has four possible pronunciations. Let us illustrate.

The suffix -ismo has the following pronunciations:

1) [ismo]

2) [izmo]

3) [ihmo]

4) [i:mo]

The first two pronunciations are the most standard. The first one is the same as the spelling of the suffix. In the second pronunciation we have an example of voicing assimilaton. The assimilation is regressive because the voiced nasal triggers voicing in the fricative. The third pronunciation is an example of glottalization. This can also be classified as debuccalization, which is a type of lenition. The fourth pronunciation is the most complex. Here we have deletion and compensatory lengthening. The word-initial vowel lengthens to compensate for the loss of the consonant.

The first and second pronunciations of the suffix are the most formal. In contrast, the last two are the least formal. The Spanish suffix -ismo can be pronounced in four different ways. The pronunciations illustrate voicing, glottalization, deletion and compensatory lengthening.