Spanish Dialects: The Mexican "RSH" (R-Assibilation)
Join as a channel member to access exclusive lessons:
https://www.youtube.com/spanishinput/...
And then watch these members-only lessons to learn how to pronounce the Spanish /ɾ/:
1. Introduction to the Spanish sound [ɾ]:
• The Spanish consonant [ɾ], as in "hora"
2. How to check if you're pronouncing [ɾ] correctly:
• The Spanish alveolar tap
3. The Spanish [ɾ] in tricky contexts:
• The Spanish consonant [ɾ] in other contexts
4. The super tricky [tɾ] group:
• The Spanish Consonant groups [ɡɾ] and [tɾ]
Many movies and TV shows are dubbed in Mexico. The accent is supposed to be "neutral", but in reality these dubs often feature assibilation. Assibilation is a dialectal feature in which the phonemes /ɾ/ and /r/ are accompanied or replaced by sibilant sounds. The three most common context for assibilation are:
1. The /tɾ/ group, as in "cuatro". This type of assibilation is a key feature of informal Chilean Spanish, but it can also be found in the Andean region and in Mexico.
2. The vibrant /r/ phoneme, as in "carro". This type of assibilation if the #1 feature of the Andean Ecuadorian dialects, but it can also be found in Mexico.
3. The percussive /ɾ/ phoneme in final position, as in "Mi amor". This type of assibilation is common in Mexico, even in supposedly "professional" movie dubs.
Funny enough, I can't seem to find assibilation in Mexican dubs from the 80s; only in newer dubs. So the quality of Mexican movie dubs seems to be going down. If you listen to the episode "Springfield, Mexico" of the Radio Ambulante podcast you'll confirm that this is indeed the case. Cost is nowadays more important than quality in the dubbing industry.
In some countries assibilation is linked to rural and/or Andean accents. In some places it can even be stigmatized. Therefore, a truly professional voice actor would never use it, and there's no reason at all why a foreigner learning Spanish should try to imitate it.