Language standardization processes and hegemonic mechanisms are responsible for establishing the linguistic “norm” taught in schools and recognized by educated and trustworthy individuals. Through these processes and mechanisms, specific phonetic characteristics (otherwise natural to the phonetic inventory of particular languages) are identified as “non-prestigious” elements removed from the standard. Taking a sociolinguistic approach, this chapter offers a comparative review of selected phonetic characteristics, such as gheada, seseo, yeísmo, and so forth, present in Galician, Portuguese, and/or Spanish in order to shed light on the role played by institutions and/or the linguistic market in the (de-)construction of language identities.