- published: 27 Jun 2011
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Yeísmo (Spanish pronunciation: [ʝeˈizmo]) is a distinctive feature of many dialects of the Spanish language, which consists of the loss of the traditional palatal lateral approximant phoneme /ʎ/ (written ⟨ll⟩) and its merger into the phoneme /ʝ/ (written ⟨y⟩), usually realized as a palatal fricative or affricate. In other words, ⟨ll⟩ and ⟨y⟩ represent the same sound /ʝ/. The term yeísmo comes from the Spanish name of the letter ⟨y⟩ (ye). The opposite term lleísmo (pronounced: [ʎeˈizmo]), which is attested sparingly in some fewer subvarieties, refers to the merger of /ʝ/ (spelled "y") into /ʎ/ (spelled "ll").
Most dialects currently realize the merged phoneme as a voiced palatal fricative [ʝ], which becomes an affricate or a plosive (either a voiced postalveolar affricate [dʒ] as in English gin or a voiced palatal affricate [ɟ͡ʝ]) or a voiced palatal stop when it occurs after a pause (as at the beginning of a sentence) or after a nasal (as in the words cónyuge and conllevar). In other dialects, such as Rioplatense, it may be realized as a postalveolar ([ʒ] or [ʃ])
I finally feel at ease, i'm on an eastern breeze
It blows me into shore
Come back to kiss my dear, come back to face my fears
It can't be worse than war
Unless you say that you gave your heart away (gave your heart away)
Unless you say that i shouldn't have returned (shouldn't have returned)
And in that case... i'll go
Every night i see a shooting star and wonder if it's landing where you are
If you can see it then you can't be far
And if that's the way you do it, that's the way you find your love
Now the air is cold and thin, i'm on my second wind
It blows me to your door
Lean into the bell and press
You're in a brand new dress i've never seen before
But then you say that you gave your heart away (i gave my heart away)
And then you say that i shouldn't have returned (you shouldn't have returned)
So i turn my face... and go
Every time i take a look around, i find myself looking out
To a place that looks a lot more round
I find myself feeling down
Every night i see a shooting star and wonder if it's landing where you are
If you can see it then you can't be far