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The inventory of Basque sibilants has a different distribution from the one found in Spanish. Whereas Basque holds three sibilant phonemes in its system, represented by . The contact between both languages and the reinterpretation of the Spanish sibilant phoneme in the Basque phonological system has led to a process of neutralization in Basque. However, in widespread Basque dialects as the one from Donostialdea and Bidasoa, where articulatory differences between sibilant phonemes have remained intact throughout the time, there is a lack of consensus on the perception of the Spanish sibilant, as endorsed by Spanish and Latin loanwords which have taken either or
Acoustically, it describes Basque and Spanish sibilant phonemes in terms of frequency, formants, intensity, centre of gravity and duration. Perceptually, it provides experimental evidence that native Basque speakers are aware of articulatory differences, as assessed by perception tests. Considering the above, the data for the study has been carried out by way of acoustic-spectrographic measurement and statistical analysis. The features traditionally suggested as distinguishing between Basque sibilants are reviewed and the phonetic context that favours the reinterpretation of the Spanish fricative sibilant in the Basque phonological system is brought into light.
