Chakir Zeroual

Syllabification in Moroccan Arabic : evidence from patterns of temporal stability in articulation

Competing proposals on the syllabification of initial consonants in Moroccan Arabic are evaluated using a combination of experimental and modelling techniques. The proposed model interprets an input syllable structure as a set of articulatory landmarks coordinated in time. This enables the simulation of temporal patterns associated with the input syllable structure under different noise conditions. Patterns of stability between landmarks simulated by the model are matched to patterns in data collected with Electromagnetic Articulometry experiments. The results implicate a heterosyllabic parse of initial clusters so that strings like /sbu/ comprise two syllables, [s.bu]. Beyond this specific result for Moroccan Arabic, the model reveals the range of validity of certain stability-based indexes of syllable structure and generates predictions that allow evaluation of a syllabic parse even when stability-based heuristics break down. Overall, the paper provides support for the broad hypothesis that syllable structure is reflected in patterns of temporal stability and contributes analytical tools to evaluate competing theories on the basis of these patterns.

Dynamic invariance in the phonetic expression of syllable structure : a case study of Moroccan Arabic consonant clusters*

We asked whether invariant phonetic indices for syllable structure can be identified in a language where word-initial consonant clusters, regardless of their sonority profile, are claimed to be parsed heterosyllabically. Four speakers of Moroccan Arabic were recorded, using Electromagnetic Articulography. Pursuing previous work, we employed temporal diagnostics for syllable structure, consisting of static correspondences between any given phonological organisation and its presumed phonetic indices. We show that such correspondences offer only a partial understanding of the relation between syllabic organisation and continuous indices of that organisation. We analyse the failure of the diagnostics and put forth a new approach in which different phonological organisations prescribe different ways in which phonetic indices change as phonetic parameters are scaled. The main finding is that invariance is found in these patterns of change, rather than in static correspondences between phonological constructs and fixed values for their phonetic indices.

The contribution of supraglottic laryngeal adjustments to voice: phonetic evidence from Arabic.

In this study, we provide nasendoscopic observations illustrating phonetic contrasts in Arabic that require supraglottic laryngeal adjustments, and demonstrate how the laryngeal constrictor mechanism contributes to phonetic descriptions of phonation. Arabic has two pharyngeal consonants (voiceless and voiced). We show, among others, that these two consonants possess auditory features of whisperiness and creaky voice, respectively, and are always produced with supraglottic constriction similar but more marked than during whispery or creaky [i]. However, during modal [i], the epilaryngeal space is wide open. We outline a revised model of laryngeal constriction where ‘voice’ is controlled to a large degree by supraglottic as well as glottic mechanisms. Some hypotheses are also proposed concerning the possible muscular synergies that induce these supraglottic gestures.

EMA, endoscopic, ultrasound and acoustic study of two secondary articulations in Moroccan Arabic: Labial-velarisation vs. emphasis

Based on three physiological experiments (electromagnetic articulography, endoscopy and ultrasound) carried out separately with two speakers, but with one subject in common, we demonstrate that the back articulation of the Moroccan Arabic emphatic stop consonants can be considered as pharyngealised, i.e. produced with a constriction in the oro-pharyngeal cavity. The emphatics /t d/1 are not velarised, and /d/ has a slight degree of labialisation. MA geminate labials, generally considered as ‘labialised’, are clearly velarised in accord with phonological analyses by Heath (1987) and Elmedlaoui (1995), and not emphatic or pharyngealised as was predicted by Mitchell (1993). These labials are labial-velarised consonants since they are also slightly more labialised compared to their singleton cognates. We confirm that the labialisation observed in word initial clusters /#C1C2/, where /C1/ or /C2/ is a velar or uvular consonant, is associated with /C1/ even when this latter is coronal. Labialised dorsals (velars and uvulars: /kw, ɡw, qw, χw, ʁw/) are not only labialised, but also more retracted than their non-labialised counterparts.