Coda Consonant Deletion in Andalusian Spanish

Coda consonant deletion is common in Andalusian Spanish. The process is especially common in informal situations. Two consonants which are especially prone to coda consonant deletion are the alveolar fricative and the alveolar trill.

In the following words coda consonant deletion is often realized:

carne (meat)
costa (coast)
fresco (fresh)
gobierno (government)
horno (oven)
isla (island)
perla (pearl)
puentes (bridges)
puerta (door)
seis (six)

The alveolar fricative of words such as fresco and seis can also be realized as a glottal fricative. This process is known as glottalization. Though the word isla may appear to consist of a complex onset in the second syllable, this analysis does not apply to Spanish because the consonant sequence /sl/ never occurs word-initially in Spanish. For example, the word slogan is eslogan in Spanish. Furthermore, if this consonant sequence were in the onset, deletion and glottalization of the alveolar fricative would not be applicable.

One of the characteristics of Andalusian Spanish is consonant coda deletion. The coda is the least perceptually salient part of the syllable and thus the likeliest to undergo deletion. The feature of consonant coda deletion occurs not only in Andalusian Spanish but also in other varieties.