What is yeismo?

Yeísmo is a phenomenon present in many dialects of Spanish in which the sounds represented by the letters "ll" and "y" are pronounced the same. In traditional Spanish, the "ll" sound is a palatal lateral approximant (similar to the "lli" sound in the English word "million"), while the "y" sound is a palatal approximant (similar to the "yi" sound in the English word "yield").

In dialects with yeísmo, both of these sounds are merged into a single sound, usually a palatal fricative, which is similar to the "y" sound in the English word "yes." This phenomenon is particularly common in Latin America, the Canary Islands, and parts of Spain, such as Andalusia.

Yeísmo can cause confusion in words that are distinguished by the pronunciation of "ll" and "y" in traditional Spanish. For example, words like "pollo" (chicken) and "yo" (I) would be pronounced the same in dialects with yeísmo.

Overall, yeísmo is a common feature of many Spanish dialects and is accepted as a normal variation in pronunciation.