Sociolinguistics of yeismo in Madrid Dynamics of variation and change

This paper examines the dynamics of linguistic change in Madrid (Spain), exploring the ways in which values related to the dialect-standard dichotomy help explain them. The analysis focuses on the delateralization of the palatal lateral approximant /lambda/ and the development of yeismo (merger). Three concentric levels of dissemination of the innovation can be distinguished in Madrid: 1) the city center, where yeismo seems to be stable and shows no variation; 2) the cities on the outskirts of the metropolitan area, which show variable yeismo; and 3) the towns of the region, where there is the highest variability. This analysis broadens the scope of the research to Vallecas, a neighborhood to the southeast of Madrid, where immigrants from rural Spain settled throughout the 20th century, to demonstrate the geographic and social sequence of change: rural towns in the region > peripheral urban communities > districts on the outskirts of Madrid > center of Madrid.