Sound Correspondence Between Spanish and Catalan

Catalan is a Romance language with word-final obstruent devoicing. In Catalan, the city Madrid is pronounced with a word-final [t]. A number of Spanish words with a d have a t in Catalan. Here is a list:

ciudad ciutat (city)

comunidad comunitat (community)

edad edat (age)

felicidad felicitat (happiness)

libertad llibertat (liberty)

salud salut (health)

sed set (thirst)

unidad unitat (unity)

universidad universitat (university)

verdad veritat (truth)

The final consonant of the Spanish words is the voiced interdental fricative [ð]. However, the final consonant of the Catalan words is the voiceless dental/alveolar plosive [t]. The contrast does not occur only word-finally. It can also occur word-medially, i.e., ciudad/ciutat, verdad/veritat. The [ð] of Spanish is often [t] in Catalan.