The effect of syllabification and gemination on F2 onsets in Swedish

Abstract

The quest to explain the continuousness of speech on the physical level has been dominated by the co‐production theory [Hman, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 41 (1966)]. According to this view, the production of a VCV sequence involves a diphthongal movement from V1‐to‐V2, with a superimposed consonantal gesture. However, data from recent studies are at variance with this position—Modaressi [Ph.D. dissertation, UT Austin, 2002], Perkell [Coarticulation Strategies Speech Commun. 5, 47–68 (1986)]. These studies document a trough‐phenomena, which suggests a discontinuity in muscular activity during the production of the consonant. This paper provides additional acoustic evidence in support of sequential programming of consonant‐vowel events as advocated by Joos [Acoustic Phonetics Lang. 24 (1948)]. It examines symmetrical VCV sequences in Swedish natural speech with syllable boundaries and duration of consonant gemination altered to produce different types of temporal interval between V1 and V2; i.e., V♯CV, VCC♯V, VC♯CV, VCC♯CV. F2 of V1mid, V1offset, V2onset, and V2mid were measured. Locus equations were plotted for all VC contacts. Statistical analysis of these data show: (1) de‐activation of tongue movement at the CV boundary, (2) a reduction of the influence of V1 on V2 as a function of increasing consonant duration, and (3) a weak degree of CV coarticulation.