The realization of Spanish /b d ɡ/ by Czech LX speakers.

The pronunciation of the Spanish phonemes /b d ɡ/ is challenging for L2 learners, but most studies have relied on native speakers of English. This study examines the pronunciation of stop and approximant variants of Spanish /b d ɡ/ in two groups of Czech learners, 9 more and 9 less experienced users of Spanish, and compares it with the Spanish pronunciation norm as well as a group of 9 native speakers of Spanish. In total, 3280 items were coded as stop or approximant; alveolar productions of Spanish dental /d/ and labiodental productions of spelled <v> were also noted. Logistic regression was used to predict the likelihood of a correct realization, and exploratory analyses were used for finer articulation place distinctions. The Spanish dental /d/ was revealed as most difficult for the Czech learners. A clear effect of spelling was shown for <v>. Interesting cases of connected speech processes were also documented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]