Allophonic Variation in Romance Languages: Categorical and Gradient Processes

The distinction between categorical phonological alternations and gradual phonetic processes is an important one in the study of sound systems. However, the correct classification of specific phenomena as belonging to phonology or to phonetics is often difficult. In recent years some researchers have argued that many processes traditionally understood as phonological alternations actually belong to the realm of gradient phonetics. Here I focus on consonant lenition phenomena in Spanish and other Romance languages and examine the potential arguments for their traditional analysis as alternations between phonological categories.