Equatoguinean Spanish

Equatoguinean Spanish refers to the Spanish of Equatorial Guinea. It is the only African country in which Spanish is an official language. The phonology of Equatoguinean Spanish is distinct.

The distinction between casa (house) and caza (hunting) is maintained. The word casa has a voiceless alveolar fricative, and the word caza (hunting) has a voiceless interdental fricative. It is a distinction that occurs in Castilian Spanish but not in Latin American.

In words such as nada (nothing) and todo (everything), the intervocalic consonant is not an interdental fricative. It is an alveolar flap or plosive. The process of spirantization does not occur.

The distinction between the alveolar flap of caro (expensive) and carro (car) is neutralized. In Ecuatoguinean Spanish both words are pronounced with an alveolar trill.

The alveolar fricative /s/ is pronounced in all positions. Unlike in many varieties of Spanish, the /s/ in words such as fresco (fresh) and dos (two) is never glottalized or deleted.

The Spanish of Equatorial Guinea maintains the distinction of the interdental fricative and alveolar fricative of Castilian Spanish. However, unlike in standard Spanish, the distinction between the alveolar flap and alveolar trill is neutralized, and the voiced alveolar plosive does not become a fricative intervocalically.