Articulation and Sociolinguistic Distribution of Coda /s/ in Granada Spanish. A Real- and Apparent-time Study

This paper presents the data resulting from research on the articulation of the coda /s/ in Granada, Spain, conducted between 2020 and 2023. Linguistically, this region is considered an innovative zone of Spanish. However, in recent years several linguistic changes have shown tendencies towards convergence between the Granada variety and the central peninsular modality. According to the latest study on the pronunciation of /s/ in the coda position, in Granada, /s/ may surface as aspiration, be omitted, or be assimilated to the following consonant. The aim of this research was therefore to assess the current state of this phenomenon. The results indicate that elision of the coda /s/ is the predominant realization across all social groups in Granada, although certain linguistic and extralinguistic variables influence its articulation. In addition to this apparent-time study, this research includes a real-time comparison by examining the evolution of the pronunciation of /s/ in Granada between 2009 and 2023.