Abstract
It is well known that a low F3 is the most salient acoustic feature of American English /r/, and that the degree of F3 lowering is correlated with the degree to which /r/ is perceptually acceptable to native listeners as a “good” vs. “misarticulated” /r/. Identifying the point at which F3 lowering produces a “good” /r/ would be helpful in remediation of /r/-production difficulties in children and second language learners. Such a measure would require normalization across speakers. Hagiwara (1995) observed that F3 for /r/ in competent adult speakers was at or below 80% of the average vowel frequencies for a given speaker. In this study, we investigate whether children’s productions start to sound “good” when they lower F3 to the 80% demarcation level or below. Words with /r/ and vowel targets from 20 children with a history of /r/ misarticulation were extracted from acoustic records of speech therapy sessions. Three experienced clinicians judged correctness of /r/ productions. Measured F3’s at the midpoint of /r/ and a range of vowels were compared for these productions. Preliminary findings suggest that the 80% level is a viable demarcation point for good vs. misarticulated articulation of /r/.
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