Velarization degree and coarticulatory resistance for /I/ in Catalan and German

Abstract

This paper compares formant values and patterns of linguopalatalcontact for [I] in the sequences [iIi] and [ala] in both Catalan and German, in order to determine whether differences in consonantal velarization between the two languages influence the degree of vowel-to-consonant coarticulation. Significant F 2 and F 2- F, differences for [I] in the sequence [ili]indicate that the consonant is velarized in Catalan and non-velarized in German; F 2 data for male speakers show a 1500Hz threshold between the two consonantal varieties. This language-dependent significant difference was not found to hold for the dorsopalatal contact as measured by electropalatography; there is, however, a clear trend for dorsal contact at the palatal zone for German [I] to exceed that for Catalan [I]. Moreover, F 2 values suggest that the consonant may be less non-velarized in German than in other languages (Italian, Spanish, French). The degree of coarticulation was not inversely related to the degree of velarization in the case analyzed in this paper, i.e., coarticulatory effects from [i] vs. [a] on [I] were not significantly different in German vs. Catalan. Velarized [I] in Catalan is highly resistant to coarticulatory effects from [i] since the two phonetic segments are produced with antagonistic tongue dorsum gestures, i.e., tongue dorsum lowering and retraction, and tongue dorsum raising and fronting. While being non-velarized, German [I] appears to be highly resistant to coarticulatory effects from [i] vs. [a]: F, values for [I] in both vowel environments are less extreme in German than in other languages showing a non-velarized variety of the consonant. These findings suggest that the tongue dorsum for German [I] attains some target position, and are in support of the notion that the velarization/non-velarization distinction proceeds in a scalar, noncategorical fashion.