Palatal Plosive of Canarian Spanish

The Spanish of the Canary Islands is distinct from that of the rest of Spain. Unlike in most of Spain, the voiceless interdental fricative in words such as cinco (five) is not used. Also, the alveopalatal affricate of standard Spanish is replaced with the palatal plosive.

In words such as champú (shampoo), chimenea (chimney) and chocolate (chocolate), most Spanish speakers use the voiceless alveopalatal affricate. It is the combination of a homorganic fricative and plosive. The same sound exists in English and many other languages. In certain dialects the words begin not with the voiceless alveopalatal affricate but rather with the voiceless alveopalatal fricative. The same sound exists in English and is used in words such as shell, ship and shoulder. 

However, in Canarian Spanish the words are pronounced with the palatal plosive. It is a consonant with a more retracted pronunciation than that of the alveopalatal affricate. It also has a different manner of articulation because it is not the combination of a plosive and fricative but a plosive only.

In Canarian Spanish, the alveopalatal affricate is not used. It is replaced with the alveopalatal plosive. Although the Spanish of the Canary Islands differs from that of Spain in many ways, the use of the voiceless palatal plosive is unique because it does not occur in other varieties of Spanish.