How Do You Say Madrid? Final /d/ Variation and the Indexicality of Madrilenian Localness

Abstract This paper explores the hypothesis that devoicing and deletion of /-d/ can index Madrilenian localness in part because of how these variants are experienced when they happen in the city’s name. Drawing on the notions of enregisterment and metapragmatic stereotypes, this study examines how sociolinguistic variation and linguistic ideology contribute to this indexicality. The data set consists of readings, sociolinguistic interviews, and metalinguistic talk produced by 35 participants from multiple neighborhoods in Madrid. Quantitative analyses examine how /-d/ allophony in the word Madrid patterns with speakers’ characteristics and speech style. A qualitative analysis explores the explicit form-meaning links that emerge in participants’ evaluative comments about various ways of saying Madrid, as well as the underlying ideologies these associations reveal. Results show correlations in usage and recurrent discursive patterns that support the study’s hypothesis. When the word Madrid is used and talked about, the social deixis of /-d/ allophony interacts with the place deictic function of the word to conjure up certain indexicalities that can be exploited to construct locally meaningful personae. By exploring the interaction between phonetic variation and the pragmatic practice of place naming, this study expands our understanding of the development of social meaning, specifically localness.