Chilean /s/ aspiration and deletion as an example of phonological opacity

Abstract

This article examines the so-called s-aspiration as well as s-deletion in Chilean Spanish. It analyses these phonological processes as segment weakening in interaction with resyllabification across word boundaries, and then moves on to the presentation of Chilean opacity in various theoretical frameworks prevailing throughout the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century. This article demonstrates that a combination of concepts introduced by lexical phonologists and markedness governing the optimality framework is the correct path to follow in the analysis of Chilean opacity effects, with derivation playing a crucial role in their reanalysis within the framework of Derivational Optimality Theory.