Temporal organization of frication in fricativized vowels

Abstract

Fr icative vowels are vocoids that exhibit a clear formant structure as well as fricative noise produced by a labiodental or (post)alveolar constriction (Connell 2007). A pical vowels, similar vocoids found in many Chinese languages, have known (post)alveolar constrictions, but it has been debated whether or not these actually generate substantial fricative noise (cf. Lee-Kim 2014). In order to better understand the relationship between these two segment types, acoustic data was obtained for the fricativized vowels in two Chinese languages (Standard Mandarin and Suzhou Wu) as well as Kom, a Grassfields Bantu language spoken in Cameroon. Analysis of fricativized vowel spectra and timecourses suggests two predominant types, one with steady-state fricative noise of a relatively low intensity, and a second that is more internally dynamic, exhibiting high-intensity frication toward the beginning of the vowel and lower-intensity frication towards the end. Standard Mandarin’s apical vowels are shown to be broadl...