Segmental duration and rhythm in Spanish

The study of some temporal aspects of Argentine Spanish is undertaken in order to provide experimental evidence about the nature of Spanish rhythm, which has been considered syllable-timed. The duration of vowels, consonants and syllables under different conditions of stress and position, and inter-stress intervals was measured. Results show that segment duration varies according to several factors, contrary to the assumption that Spanish syllables are similar in duration. Inter-stress intervals are found to cluster around an average value and some modifications of segment duraction are observed in order to achieve more regular intervals. The analysis of all these data together with a consideration of the phonetic nature of stress, leads to the conclusion that Spanish rhythm has a tendency to stress alternation.