Chanracterization of the epenthetic vowel between the clusters formed by stops/fricatives + flap in Spanish

The tendency for the consonant vowel (CV) structure of syllables is considered a linguistic universal. Languages opt for different forms to dissolve consonant clusters through deletion or insertion of segments. In the case of Spanish, dialectological data and cases of learnability indicate that the epenthesis of elements is preferred over deletion in order to break apart consonant clusters. Malmberg (1965) and Quilis (1993) posit that the epenthetic element is inserted into consonant clusters composed of stop + flap. On the other hand, Massone (1988) argues that the flap segment in those clusters presents a vocalic component followed by an occlusion. This paper presents experimental evidence for the occurrence of an epenthetic vowel in consonant clusters formed by stop and liquid. Furthermore, it presents a characterization of this epenthetic vowel in terms of its duration and quality with respect to the nucleus of the syllable in which the epenthetic vowel is inserted.