The Liquids
Liquid is a generic label to classify two English approximant consonants: the retroflex and the lateral sound. Both consonant phonemes are somehow present in the Spanish variation spoken in Costa Rica, but the retroflex sound is not a common allophone for /r/ in other Spanish dialects.
How are the liquids produced? The lateral sound, which is pretty much the same one in English and in Spanish is produced by placing the tip of the tongue in the alveolar ridge and allowing the airstream flow by the sides of the tongue. On the other hand, the retroflex implies that the tongue gets a bit curled backwards to allow the flow of air go out over the tongue.
| Sound | English | Spanish |
| /l/ | Voiced Alveolar Lateral | Voiced Alveolar Lateral |
| /r/ | Voiced Alveolar Retroflex | Voiced Alveolar Retroflex (In Costa Rican Spanish only) |
Although we find the retroflex sound in Costa Rican Spanish, it doesn’t mean that it is used all the time. The retroflex phoneme is indeed present in this Spanish variation but in very specific phonemic environments containing a vowel before the –r- and an /n/ after the “r.”
| Costa Rican Spanish | carne |
| viernes | |
| tierno | |
| infierno |
Even though the retroflex is an allophonic difference for the flat /r/ in Spanish, Costa Rican speakers develop a lot of accent if the retroflex sound is not produced properly. Let’s keep in mind that in the Costa Rican Spanish dialect there are 4 types of r-sounds.
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