Researcher Analyzes Andorran Catalan's Merging Mid-Vowels in Young Speakers

Sílvia Rovira, a predoctoral researcher at the University of Barcelona, is conducting the first acoustic analysis of Andorran Catalan's vowel system. Her doctoral thesis investigates whether younger speakers are merging the open and closed mid vowels in stressed positions, such as those separating "peix" (fish) from "pis" (flat).

Preliminary results indicate that newer generations' mid vowels are no longer contrastive, with the merged form acoustically resembling the closed variant—though ongoing analysis will confirm if it fully aligns or remains intermediate. The study, now in its fieldwork phase, targets native Andorrans aged 14 to 70 born in the country or arriving in early childhood. Rovira stresses that phonetic features must be acquired by age eight for native proficiency, ensuring data reflect authentic local traits free from external influences.

She divides participants into four age groups, having largely covered adolescents but seeking more from Canillo and Encamp, particularly those aged 30 to 45. Fieldwork continues at AR+I facilities in Andorra la Vella through St. John's Day, with additional sessions in September, aiming for at least 70 interviews.

Rovira attributes the shift to internal evolution driven by linguistic economy—closed vowels require less articulatory effort—rather than Spanish contact. Early signs appear in Manel Riera's 1992 dialect study of informants born between 1890 and 1930, predating Spanish's rise. Older speakers show partial mergers with less distinction, especially in northern parishes bordering areas like French Cerdanya where contrasts were already weak, suggesting a linguistic continuum.

The research examines age, gender, and attitudes toward Catalan, Spanish, and French. Adolescents typically lead changes, diverging from family speech toward peer innovations as identity markers. This fits broader dedialectalisation in northwestern Catalan dialects, with Andorra leading in loss of unique vocabulary and verbal/nominal morphology among younger speakers, as noted in Rabassa's 1994 study and Perea's 2023 findings.

Native speakers now approach minority status, with Spanish serving as the default intergroup lingua franca. Andorran Catalan's vitality hinges on younger generations' habits, Rovira notes. Upon completion, results will feature in her dissertation and academic journals, providing the first instrumental data beyond prior descriptive accounts.

An El Periòdic editorial called the work vital for monitoring language evolution in Andorra's changing demographic context, advocating informed awareness over concern.