Maria Dolors Pallarès

A model of lingual coarticulation based on articulatory constraints

The magnitude and temporal extent of consonantal and vocalic coarticulation are reported for VCV sequences with two vowels (/i/, /a/) and seven consonants (/p/, /n/, dark /l/, /s/, /∫/, /ɲ/,/k/). Different degrees of articulatory constraint, or DAC values, are assigned to the consonants and vowels based on knowledge of their articulatory properties, in particular, the degree of involvement of the tongue dorsum in closure or constriction formation. Mean results on dorsopalatal contact and F2 frequency for five speakers of the Catalan language are presented. Predictions based on the DAC value for consonants and vowels account satisfactorily for the C-to-V effects (e.g., those for /ɲa/ are more prominent that those for /pi/); moreover, vowel-dependent effects tend to be negatively correlated with the DAC value for the consonant (e.g., they are more prominent when the intervocalic consonant is /p/ than when it is dark /l/). V-to-C effects are also conditioned by the tongue-dorsum position for the consonantal ...

Coarticulation, assimilation and blending in Catalan consonant clusters

Abstract Electropalatographic data on C-to-C coarticulatory effects were analyzed for consonant clusters composed of an extensive set of Catalan consonants, i.e., dentals (t), alveolars (n, dark l, s, trilledr ), alveolopalatals (∫, ⋌ n), palatals (j) and velars (k). Regarding tongue dorsum coarticulation, results show that consonantal effects in CC clusters are more prominent than vocalic effects in VCV sequences which is attributed to differences in articulatory control between consonants and vowels. Moreover, tongue dorsum lowering for the alveolar fricative and for the alveolar trill appears to be more coarticulation resistant than tongue dorsum raising and fronting for alveolopalatals. Data at the place of articulation show some interesting trends: on the one hand, sequences made of dentals (t), and fronter alveolars and alveolopalatals (i.e., n, l, ⋌, n) yield articulatory blending; on the other hand, any of these consonants may assimilate to those alveolar and alveolopalatal consonants which exhibit a more retracted place of articulation (s, r, ∫), but not vice versa. These findings are in agreement with the “degree of articulatory constraint” (DAC) model which relates coarticulatory and assimilatory effects to the degree of articulatory constraint involved in consonantal production, and predicts that fricatives and trills should be highly constrained both at the tongue front and at the tongue dorsum. Data on the relative strength of the anticipatory and carry-over effects reported in this paper are also to a large extent in agreement with predictions of the DAC model.

Velarization degree and coarticulatory resistance for /I/ in Catalan and German

Abstract This paper compares formant values and patterns of linguopalatalcontact for [I] in the sequences [iIi] and [ala] in both Catalan and German, in order to determine whether differences in consonantal velarization between the two languages influence the degree of vowel-to-consonant coarticulation. Significant F 2 and F 2 - F, differences for [I] in the sequence [ili]indicate that the consonant is velarized in Catalan and non-velarized in German; F 2 data for male speakers show a 1500Hz threshold between the two consonantal varieties. This language-dependent significant difference was not found to hold for the dorsopalatal contact as measured by electropalatography; there is, however, a clear trend for dorsal contact at the palatal zone for German [I] to exceed that for Catalan [I]. Moreover, F 2 values suggest that the consonant may be less non-velarized in German than in other languages (Italian, Spanish, French). The degree of coarticulation was not inversely related to the degree of velarization in the case analyzed in this paper, i.e., coarticulatory effects from [i] vs . [a] on [I] were not significantly different in German vs . Catalan. Velarized [I] in Catalan is highly resistant to coarticulatory effects from [i] since the two phonetic segments are produced with antagonistic tongue dorsum gestures, i.e., tongue dorsum lowering and retraction, and tongue dorsum raising and fronting. While being non-velarized, German [I] appears to be highly resistant to coarticulatory effects from [i] vs. [a]: F, values for [I] in both vowel environments are less extreme in German than in other languages showing a non-velarized variety of the consonant. These findings suggest that the tongue dorsum for German [I] attains some target position, and are in support of the notion that the velarization/non-velarization distinction proceeds in a scalar, noncategorical fashion.

An Electropalatographic Study of Alveolar and Palatal Consonants in Catalan and Italian

Electropalatographic data for Catalan and Italian reported in this paper reveal the existence of two categories of palatal consonants, namely, alveolopalatals ([n], [λ]) and palatals proper ([j]). All these consonants are produced with a single place of articulation and thus are not good candidates for complex segments involving a tongue front articulator and a tongue dorsum articulator. A higher degree of coupling between the primary articulator and other tongue regions for alveolopalatals and palatals than for alveolar [n] accounts for a reduced sensitivity to coarticulatory effects for the former vs. the latter. Alveolarpalatal correlations reported in this study support the notion of relative independence between different tongue articulators for non-dorsal vs. dorsal consonants. Differences in articulation and coarticulation were found for Italian vs. Catalan. In comparison with their Catalan counterparts, Italian shows the following properties: Consonants are more anterior, [n] allows less coarticulation at the alveolar zone (in line with the laminal nature of the consonant), and long alveolopalatals exhibit more contact and less coarticulation at the front palatal zone.

An Electropalatographic and Acoustic Study of Temporal Coarticulation for Catalan Dark/l/ and German Clear/l/

Electropalatographic and F2 frequency data in /VlV/ sequences reveal more prominent C-to-V effects for Catalan dark /l/ than for German clear /l/, more so in the /i/ context than in the /a/ context, which is in agreement with the existence of high lingual requirements on the formation of two constriction places for dark /l/. German clear /l/ exerts a similar amount of F2 displacement on both vowels which may be indicative of the tongue dorsum being directed towards a target position; this is also suggested by dorsopalatal contact and formant frequency data showing less vowel-dependent variability than clear /l/ in other languages though more so than Catalan dark /l/. Salient anticipatory requirements for the implementation of /l/ in the two languages block V1-dependent carryover effects to a large extent which results in more prominent vocalic anticipation than vocalic carryover. This directionality trend in vocalic coarticulation is more obvious for Catalan dark /l/ than for German clear /l/ (in agreement with the former consonantal variety requiring more anticipation than the latter) and opposes German /l/ to clear /l/ in other languages (i.e., the less constrained /l/ variety of Spanish may favor vocalic carryover over vocalic anticipation in VCV sequences).

Co-articulatory variability and articulatory-acoustic correlations for consonants

This paper is an investigation of articulatory-acoustic correlations differing in degree of articulatory constraint. Data on F2 and on dorsopalatal contact (electropalatographic, EPG) were collected for the sequences /iCi/ and /aC./ with seven Catalan consonants differing in place and manner of articulation (velarised /l/, /n/, /n/, /s/, /f/, /l/, /p/). These consonants are characterised by different degrees of tongue dorsum constraint depending on their production requirements (dorsals > non-dorsals, fricatives > non-fricatives, etc.). The results showed an inverse relationship between vowel-dependent coarticulation and the degree of consonant-dependent articulatory constraint. F2 and dorsopalatal contact size were found to be positively correlated across consonants and speakers, and across consonants for each individual speaker. Correlation values were much lower for each consonant across speakers. These findings are discussed in the light of the acoustic theory of speech production and possible clinical applications are suggested.