Consonanti occlusive sorde aspirate (VOT) in area siciliana. Prime evidenze

The fundamental historical features of Sicilian consonantism are well known. However, studies on the allophonic variation of some of these consonants and their distribution within our island are much less frequent. With regard to voiceless plosives, it is well known that these are realised with positive VOT in some southern dialects (especially in the Salento peninsula and Calabria) and in the corresponding regional Italian. However, there is no reference whatsoever in the literature to the presence of voiced occlusives articulated with positive VOT even in various dialects and varieties of Italian spoken in central Sicily. Here, we simply aim to highlight the presence of this consonantal phenomenon by analysing the voiceless plosives produced – in different phonetic and prosodic contexts, in dialectal and Italian words – by two young people from Canicattì (AG), leaving aside for another time the investigations that would allow us to trace the Sicilian isogloss relating to this phonetic feature and analyse its possible diastratic and, above all, historical implications.