A kinematic investigation of coarticulation resistance in Modern Greek

Abstract

In order to examine the coarticulation resistance hypothesis (CRH) this study investigated patterns of CV and C1C2V overlap in consonant clusters and matching singletons in Greek, including five places of articulation in C2V position (bilabials, labiodentals, interdentals, alveolars, and velars). Stimuli were recorded from three talkers producing eight repetitions of each item, embedded in a carrier phrase. Kinematic and acoustic data were acquired with an electromagnetic articulography (EMA) system. Temporal measures were obtained by determining timing lags for both singletons and clusters, while spatial measures were found by calculating the Euclidean Distance (ED) of the tongue back sensor from the C2V velocity peak to that of the following vowel, for both singletons and clusters. Logarithmic ED ratios for each stimulus triplet (e.g., “ba”-“la”-“bla”) were then computed to test whether C2V allows C1V to exert coarticulatory influence on the vowel. Preliminary findings from both the temporal and spatial analyses suggest pronounced differences in complex versus simple syllable organization as a function of C2V place of articulation. The extent to which these results support the CRH will be further discussed. In order to examine the coarticulation resistance hypothesis (CRH) this study investigated patterns of CV and C1C2V overlap in consonant clusters and matching singletons in Greek, including five places of articulation in C2V position (bilabials, labiodentals, interdentals, alveolars, and velars). Stimuli were recorded from three talkers producing eight repetitions of each item, embedded in a carrier phrase. Kinematic and acoustic data were acquired with an electromagnetic articulography (EMA) system. Temporal measures were obtained by determining timing lags for both singletons and clusters, while spatial measures were found by calculating the Euclidean Distance (ED) of the tongue back sensor from the C2V velocity peak to that of the following vowel, for both singletons and clusters. Logarithmic ED ratios for each stimulus triplet (e.g., “ba”-“la”-“bla”) were then computed to test whether C2V allows C1V to exert coarticulatory influence on the vowel. Preliminary findings from both the temporal and spatial...