Los límites de lo vocálico y lo continuo en la fonología del español
The Limits of Vocalic and Continuant Features in the Spanish Phonological System

Summary/Abstract: It is all too common in phonology to describe certain inherent features in basically phonetic terms, not recognising, in principle, the relative functioning of every phonological feature. The observation in Spanish of apparently vocalic properties in allophones of the consonant phoneme /ʝ/, or that of the peculiar phonetic nature of the weak variants of the functionally non-continuous phonemes /b/, /d/ and /g/, requires reconsidering – on the basis of the aforementioned relative functioning – of the limits of features such as vocalic and continuant in the structure of the Spanish phonological system. The aim of this article is to verify the truly minimal character, in phonetic terms, that a functional boundary can offer, to reflect once again on the limitations of the vocabulary, with a phonetic base, that is commonly used in phonology, and to carry out a very brief critical review of some well-known interpretative proposals (in particular, that of the most recent academic grammar).

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