The laryngeal properties of Slovak three-consonant clusters

Abstract

In this paper, we study the phonetic properties of three-consonant clusters (CC#C) in Slovak. More precisely, we will investigate the laryngeal properties of the velar–alveolar stop clusters /kt/ and /ɡd/, and the alveolar fricative– stop clusters /st/ and /zd/ in word-final position when followed by a voiced or a voiceless obstruent, or a sonorant consonant. This topic is of interest for two reasons: (i) there are not many studies dealing with the laryngeal characteristics of three-consonant clusters, and (ii) the study of consonant clusters can shed further light on the issue whether or not regressive voicing assimilation (RVA) in general, including pre-sonorant voicing, is a neutralizing process in Slovak. We will seek to answer the following research questions: (i) Is voicing assimilation in Slovak (with obstruent and sonorant consonants as triggers) neutralizing or incomplete? (ii) Does pre-sonorant voicing in Slovak differ from pre-obstruent voicing? (iii) Is the word-final devoicing of obstruent clusters a completely neutralizing process in Slovak, or is it an example of incomplete laryngeal neutralization