The Phonological System of Chilean Spanish

Back Vowels: a, o, u +(+ w) Front vowels: e, i (+ j)

Phoneme Allophone Description Example Notes

/p/ [p] voiceless bilabial stop pato

[pat̪ o]

/t̪ / [t̪ ] voiceless dental stop tiempo

[ t̪ iempo]

[t] voiceless alveolar stop *tráeme *Only in orthographic

*trapiqué combinations “t+r”
(emphasis).

/k/ [k] voiceless velar stop cosa, casa, When a back vowel follows.
cuñado

[c] voiceless palatal stop kilo, Iquique When a front vowel follows.

/b/ [b] voiced bilabial stop un beso, un always after a nasal sound.
vaso

[β] voiced bilabial fricative ese beso, always Intervocalic.

oveja, abeja

/d̪/ [d̪] voiced dental stop donde, andén always after a nasal sound.

[ð] voiced dental fricative adiós, para Intervocalic.

Darío

/g/ [g] voiced velar stop un gato after a nasal sound & when
a back vowel follows.

voiced velar fricative tu gato, una Intervocalic & when a back

[ ɤ] gota, agosto vowel follows.

[ɟ ] voiced palatal stop un guiso, after a nasal sound & when

a front vowel follows.

[ ʝ] voiced palatal fricative ese guiso, la Intervocalic & when a front

guerra vowel follows.

/f/ [f] voiceless labiodental familia, afán,

fricative calaf

/s/ [s] voiceless alveolar sol, cielo, Always intervocalic & in

fricative zapato, caso initial position.

[h] voiceless glottal mosca, In final position sometimes

 fricative estudio, los or when a consonant follows
otros and a vowel precedes.

/tʃ/ [tʃ] voiceless chicha

palatoalveolar affricate

[∫] voiceless cheque

palatoalveolar fricative

[t ̚ tʃ ] voiceless chino *The three allophones do

palatoalveolar- not co-occur in the speech
reinforced affricate of the same chilean speaker.

voiced palatoalveolar llegar, yo

approximant fricative

[dʒ] voiced palatoalveolar ya, llama

affricate

[j] voiced palatal Llolleo, baya *These three allophones are

semi-vowel in free variation in Chilean
Spanish.

/x/ [x] voiceless velar fricative José, Javier, when a back vowel follows.
Julio

[ç] voiceless palatal Ximena, when a front vowel follows.

fricative gente

/m/ [m] voiced bilabial nasal mano Always in initial &

intervocalic position

[n] voiced alveolar nasal álbum Not intervocalic position or

initial position
Only, occasionally in final
position

/n/ [n] voiced alveolar nasal nariz, no Always in initial position,

between vowels, always in
absolute final position.

[m] voiced bilabial nasal en Marzo, un When a bilabial sound

brazo follows. Also sometimes in
final position (bien)

[n̪] voiced dental nasal en tiempo, When a dental sound

antes follows.

[ŋ] voiced velar nasal ángulo, en When a velar sound follows.

 caso de, sin
Juan

voiced palatalized velar ¿en qué?, When a palatal sound

[ ] nasal angelmo follows.

[ɱ] voiced labiodental sin foto, en fin When a labiodental sound

nasal follows.

/ɲ/ [ ɲ] voiced palatal nasal en Ñuñoa In initial position &

intervocalic position. Never
in final position.

/l/ [l] voiced alveolar lateral él es, alas

[ l̪ ] voiced dental lateral alto, Aldo When a dental sound

follows.

/r/ [r] voiced alveolar roll rata, arroz, It occurs in initial position
(rolled r) or trill perro and in intervocalic position.
Never in final position.

voiced alveolar
[ ] approximant or
frictionless continuant

voiceless (devoiced)
[ ] alveolar approximant

/ɾ/ [ɾ] voiced alveolar flap Never in initial position. It

(“flapped r”) occurs intervocalically
spelled with one <r>. Also in
final position.

voiceless (devoiced)
[ ] alveolar approximant

l voiced alveolar lateral Carlos, perla When a voiced alveolar

lateral sound ( /l/ ) follows.

n voiced alveolar nasal carne, When a voiced alveolar

corniza, nasal sound ( /n/ )follows.
horno, adorno

r voiced alveolar roll tener razón When a voiced alveolar roll

sound ( /r/ ) follows.