Effect of stress, harmonic status, and lexical status on Hungarian vowel-to-vowel coarticulation

Abstract

The present study examines vowel-to-vowel coarticulation in Hungarian with particular emphasis on the effects of word stress and lexical status (real words versus nonce words) on the direction and degree of vowel coarticulation. Previous investigations indicate that lexical stress exerts a powerful influence on vowel coarticulation. Specifically, stressed vowels are thought to resist coarticulation (see, e.g., Beddor et al., 2002; Majors, 2006). It is not clear, however, whether this effect is universal across languages, nor if it can be suppressed by the presence of more influential factors. In addition, it is not known whether vowel-to-vowel coarticulation always affects real and nonce words in a similar fashion, though some previous research indicates that speakers differ in their coarticulatory handling of nonce words (Scarborough, 2012). Finally, previous research suggests that the presence of vowel harmony in a language may place restrictions on the direction of vowel-to-vowel coarticulation (Beddor and Yavuz, 1995). Hungarian has a vowel harmony system that includes several neutral vowels, which do not participate in harmony. This study reports the results of an acoustic analysis of coarticulation in stressed and unstressed vowels (both neutral and harmonizing) in real and nonce words produced by native speakers of Hungarian.The present study examines vowel-to-vowel coarticulation in Hungarian with particular emphasis on the effects of word stress and lexical status (real words versus nonce words) on the direction and degree of vowel coarticulation. Previous investigations indicate that lexical stress exerts a powerful influence on vowel coarticulation. Specifically, stressed vowels are thought to resist coarticulation (see, e.g., Beddor et al., 2002; Majors, 2006). It is not clear, however, whether this effect is universal across languages, nor if it can be suppressed by the presence of more influential factors. In addition, it is not known whether vowel-to-vowel coarticulation always affects real and nonce words in a similar fashion, though some previous research indicates that speakers differ in their coarticulatory handling of nonce words (Scarborough, 2012). Finally, previous research suggests that the presence of vowel harmony in a language may place restrictions on the direction of vowel-to-vowel coarticulation (Beddor...