Analysis of Glide Consonants

Abstract

Utterances of three talkers in which the glide consonants /w/ and /j/ occurred were processed by analysis-by-synthesis methods utilizing a digital computer. The frequencies of the three lowest formants were measured approximately every 30 msec and the so-called “target” positions and temporal characteristics of the consonants and vowels were described. The data on the temporal characteristics of the formant frequencies indicate the extent to which the articulation of the glide consonant is influenced by the adjacent vowel. As a by-product of the study, data on formant bandwidths, glottal spectra, and other spectral irregularities were examined, and indicated that the spectra of the glide consonants differ from those of vowels in several respects. Implications of the findings for acoustical and articulatory theories of speech production are discussed briefly. [Work supported in part by the U. S. Army Signal Corps, the U. S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the U. S. Office of Naval Research; in part by the National Science Foundation (grant G-16526), the National Institutes of Health, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (grants MH104737-03 and NB-04332-01), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grant NsG-496); and in part by the U. S. Air Force (ESD) under contract AF19(628)3325.]