ACOUSTIC DESCRIPTION OF THE REALIZATION OF /ts/ IN COSCACH AUDIO RECORDINGS OF SPEAKERS FROM ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE

Abstract

The voiceless postalveolar affricate /ts/ is among the most socially marked sounds in Chilean Spanish. Its more occlusive and anterior allophones, linked to prestige, are preferred by speakers from higher social strata, especially women; in contrast, more fricative and posterior variants, also more stigmatized, are common in lower strata. While this sociolectal pattern has been described in central and southern Chile, it remains undocumented in the north. This study offers an acoustic description of /ts/ realizations in a sample of young male and female speakers from Antofagasta, representing both high and low strata. The analysis focuses on the center of gravity and kurtosis of the fricative portion, as well as the duration of occlusion and frication. Results indicate that high-stratum speakers tend to produce more prestigious variants, whereas low-stratum speakers favor more stigmatized forms. These patterns align with findings from other regions, suggesting a possible diffusion of these trends into northern Chile.