Between-word processes in children with speech difficulties: insights from a usage-based approach to phonology

There are some children with speech and/or language difficulties who are significantly more difficult to understand in connected speech than in single words. The study reported here explores the between-word behaviours of three such children, aged 11;8, 12;2 and 12;10. It focuses on whether these patterns could be accounted for by lenition, as suggested by a usage-based approach to phonology. The children carried out a repetition task, with sentences containing environments that can trigger assimilation and elision. Speech elicited was examined using a combination of perceptual and electropalatographic (EPG) analysis. All of the children produced instances of word boundary behaviours reported in adult speech, as well as some which are considered to be atypical. It is argued that all of these phenomena can be viewed as lenition, and that a usage-based approach to phonology has potential for providing a valuable framework for the description of between-word processes in disordered speech

On the phonetic implementation of syllabic consonants and vowel-less syllables in Tashlhiyt

This paper presents an acoustic and electropalatographic study of how vowel-less syllables and their constituents are phonetically implemented in Tashlhiyt Berber. Three issues are addressed. First, we determine whether the acoustic and articulatory make-up of a consonant changes as a function of its position within a syllable (C-nucleus vs. C-onset vs. C-coda). Second, we consider the patterns of articulatory coordination between consonants as a function of their position within and across the syllable. Third, we test whether nuclei consonants are produced as sequences of schwa vowels + consonants. While some differences are observed in linguopalatal articulation, position in a syllable is not found to affect the acoustic and articulatory duration of a consonant in Tashlhiyt. Interestingly, syllable organization appears to be reflected in the specifications of the coordination between consonants. Consonants in nucleus position are more stable in their coordination with flanking consonants and are less overlapped by a following consonant. In addition, our results suggest that the occurrence of a schwa-like element before a consonant depends on the laryngeal specifications of the consonants in the sequence rather than on its syllabic status.This paper presents an acoustic and electropalatographic study of how vowel-less syllables and their constituents are phonetically implemented in Tashlhiyt Berber. Three issues are addressed. First, we determine whether the acoustic and articulatory make-up of a consonant changes as a function of its position within a syllable (C-nucleus vs. C-onset vs. C-coda). Second, we consider the patterns of articulatory coordination between consonants as a function of their position within and across the syllable. Third, we test whether nuclei consonants are produced as sequences of schwa vowels + consonants. While some differences are observed in linguopalatal articulation, position in a syllable is not found to affect the acoustic and articulatory duration of a consonant in Tashlhiyt. Interestingly, syllable organization appears to be reflected in the specifications of the coordination between consonants. Consonants in nucleus position are more stable in their coordination with flanking consonants and are less overlapped by a following consonant. In addition, our results suggest that the occurrence of a schwa-like element before a consonant depends on the laryngeal specifications of the consonants in the sequence rather than on its syllabic status.Este artículo presenta un estudio acústico y electropalatográfico sobre cómo se implemententan en Bereber Tashlhyt las sílabas sin vocales y sus constituyentes. Para ello se abordan tres cuestiones. En primer lugar determinamos si la composición acústica y articulatoria de una consonante cambia como una función de su posición en la sílaba (C-núcleo vs. C-ataqu, vs. C-coda). En segundo lugar, consideramos los patrones de la coordinación articulatoria entre consonantes como una función de su posición en y a través de la sílaba. Y en tercer lugar, examinamos si los núcleos de las sílabas son producidos como secuencia de vocal schwa + consonantes. Si bien se han observado algunas diferencias en la articulación linguopalatal, por otra parte no se ha encontrado que la posición en una sílaba afecte a la duración articulatoria y acústica de las consonantes en Tashlhyt. Curiosamente, la organización de la sílaba parece estar reflejada en las especificaciones de la coordinación entre consonantes. Las consonantes en la posición de núcleo son más estables en su coordinación con las consonantes de sus flancos y están menos solapadas por la consonante siguiente. En adición, nuestros resultados sugieren que la aparición de elementos tipo schwa antes de una consonante depende de las especificaciones laríngeas de las consonantes en la secuencia más que de su estatus silábico

An acoustic analysis of labialization of coronal nasal consonants in American English

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-54).A challenge for speech recognition models is to account for the variation between natural connected speech forms and the canonical forms of the lexicon. This study focuses on one particular sound change common in conversational speech, in which word-final coronal nasal consonants undergo place assimilation toward following word-initial labial consonants. Formant frequency measurements were taken from words ending with coronal nasal consonants in potentially assimilating sentence contexts, and identical words ending in labial nasal consonants, across vowel contexts. The frequency of the second formant at vowel offset and during nasal closure was found to be sufficient to discriminate between underlying forms. There was evidence that even strongly-assimilated coronal segments differ on the basis of these cues from their pure labial counterparts. It is hypothesized that listeners can use these acoustic cues to uncover the intended place of articulation of assimilated segments, without recourse to phonological inference or sentence context.by Elisabeth A. Hon.S.M

Articulation of the Japanese Moraic Nasal: Place of Articulation, Assimilation, and L2 Transfer

The moraic nasal /N/ in Japanese has been transcribed in multiple ways, but very few studies have examined its articulation. The nature of its assimilation has often been described in phonology, but again, very few articulatory investigations have been conducted. Also, while a first language (L1) effect on second language (L2) production has been discussed for some phonemes, there is no good research on the effect of Japanese /N/ on L2 English syllable-final nasals. This dissertation investigates the articulation of the moraic nasal /N/ in Japanese using an ultrasound articulatory imaging technique to assess 1) its place of articulation, 2) patterns of place assimilation to the following segment, and 3) the effect of L1 /N/ on L2 English syllable-final nasal production. Eight native speakers of Japanese participated. Their productions of Japanese words and English words were analyzed acoustically and articulatorily. The results showed that the place of articulation for utterance-final /N/ following the vowel /a/ varied across native speakers of Japanese from alveolar to uvular, which is compatible with previous descriptions of /N/ in intervocalic position. Patterns of place assimilation of the moraic nasal to a following segment were not always categorical, and a gesture for the target of the moraic nasal, while varying among individuals, sometimes remained depending on the phonological environments. This suggests that the assimilation takes place not only at the phonological level but also at the phonetic level, even if the assimilation is considered to be obligatory. An effect of L1 /N/ on the production of word-final nasals in L2 English was observed, although the degree of the effect varied across speakers. In conclusion, these findings enhance our understanding of the articulatory characteristics of the moraic nasal /N/ in Japanese, providing a firmer basis for phonological and phonetic arguments. The findings should also encourage further investigation and discussion of the phonological and phonetic behavior of /N/

Repetition avoidance in human language

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 208-225).Repetition is avoided in countless human languages and at a variety of grammatical levels. In this dissertation I ask what it is that makes repetition so bad. I propose that at least three distinct biases against repetition exist. First, repetition of articulatory gestures is relatively difficult. This difficulty results in phonetic variation that may lead to categorical phonological avoidance. I call this set of claims the Biomechanical Repetition Avoidance Hypothesis (BRAH), and support it with evidence from cross-linguistic patterns in repetition avoidance phenomena, articulatory data from music performance, and a series of phonetic experiments that document the proposed types of phonetic variation. Based on these data, I give an evolutionary account for antigemination in particular. The second anti-repetition bias is a perceptual deficit causing speakers not to perceive one of a sequence of repeated items, of any conceptual category. This bias is already well-documented, as are the grammatical effects (primarily haplology). I provide here the evidence of gradient variation in production bridging the two, from avoidance of homophone sequences in English corpora. The third factor is a principle disallowing the repetition of syntactic features in certain configurations within a phase domain. I document categorical effects of it in Semitic syntax of possession and relativization. These elicit repair strategies superficially similar to those of phonology (specifically, deletion and epenthesis/insertion). Repetition effects, then, are traceable to a variety of independent, functional biases. This argues against a unitary, innate constraint against repetition. Rather, multiple anti-repetition biases result in particular avoidance patterns, with their intersection producing additional asymmetries. Possible categorical repairs are further constrained by the nature of the formal grammatical system.by Mary Ann Walter.Ph.D

An instrumental phonetic investigation of timing relations in two-stop consonant clusters in Tripolitanian Libyan Arabic

This study uses acoustic, electropalatographic and laryngographic data to investigate articulatory timing and the timing of voicing of single stops and two-stop consonant clusters in Tripolitanian Libyan Arabic. The theoretical framework which has been adopted in this investigation is based on Articulatory Phonology. An acoustic approach is also employed in this study to measure the duration of segments and overlap in clusters. Another objective of this research is to determine whether syllable position, place of articulation, including articulation sequence, the morphological structure, gender of the speaker and articulation rate will have an influence on the gestural coordination and the timing of voicing of Tripolitanian Libyan Arabic stops. Fourteen native speakers of Tripolitanian Libyan Arabic produced fifty-eight mostly monosyllabic words that contain seven syllable-initial single stops, seven syllable-final single stops, twenty-seven syllable-initial two-stop clusters and seventeen syllable-final two-stop clusters in normal, fast and slow articulation rate. One speaker was recorded using Electropalatography and Laryngography. Measurements include duration of the hold phase of the stops, the duration of overlap/delay between two adjacent consonantal closures, the timing and duration of the voicing during the hold phase and the duration of VOT. Statistical results show significant influence of syllable position, place of articulation, gender and speaking rate on the gestural coordination of two-stop clusters. In syllable-initial position, the pattern of coordination is characterised by an overlap between the two consonantal closures or by a short delay as a result of the release of the first stop. In syllable-final position, the pattern of coordination of two consonantal gestures is marked by a less cohesive coordination leading to the existence of an epenthetic vowel. These patterns of coordination varied as a function of place of articulation, gender of the speaker and the rate of articulation. Clusters with lingual stops are less overlapped compared to clusters containing bilabial stops. Male speakers produced longer hold phase durations and longer inter-consonantal intervals in comparison with female speakers. While in faster articulation rates the two consonantal gestures were reduced in duration and exhibited more gestural overlap, slow articulation rate resulted in the opposite outcome. Results of the influences of articulation sequence and morphological structure of the cluster were less evident. Finally, the duration of voice onset time and the timing and duration of voicing during the hold phase varied as a function of syllable position, place of articulation and articulation rate, with more voicing in syllable-final single stops than syllable-initial and an increase in voicing by the increase in articulation rate, and the opposite pattern is evident in slow articulation rate. The duration of VOT becomes longer as the place of articulation moves back and shorter when the articulation rate is increased. In slow speaking rate, VOT is longer