This matched-guise study investigates not only the perceptions of Spanish-accented English, but also of Lexically Specific Phonology Switches (LSPS) on loanwords of Spanish origin (e.g., taco) within a larger, English-phonology utterance. Listeners rated guises, along with control guises with English phonology throughout, for character traits and also answered open-ended questions about the appearance and activities of the guise speakers. The results show that both the LSPS guise and the fully Spanish-accented guise were rated as more easygoing and masculine than the English phonology guise. Additionally, the open-ended questions reveal a differentially racialized picture for the guises, suggesting that having access to and command of both Spanish and English phonologies may not be as stigmatized as Spanish-accented English; however, this does not preclude those who do perform a Spanish LSPS in American English from being the object of racial and cultural profiling.

The text of this article is only available as a PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.