Consonant Cluster Simplification Research Articles

Quantifying and Characterizing Phonetic Reduction in Italian Natural Speech

The main purpose of this study is to test a method for the analysis of phonetic variation in natural speech. The method takes into account the continuous nature of the speech flow and allows for the investigation of the systematic variation phenomena that occur in the speech net of the cross-word coarticulation phenomena that are expected in connected speech. We will describe some of the most frequent phonetic variation patterns that may be observed in the speech chain seen as a sequence of syllables, in relation to internal syllabic structure and lexical stress. The present study concerns speech data from the Italian section of the NOCANDO corpus. The data consist of about 1000 syllables extracted from monological speech from different speakers. In two different analysis layers, we attempted to align the “phonological” expected form and observed realisation. The results of this attempt led to the definition of syllabic deletion, substitution, or insertion when the alignment fails. The proposed method provides insight into the phonetic variation processes that can systematically occur in natural speech with relation to specific linguistic structures; in particular, unstressed syllables are most likely to undergo variation phenomena, and systematic differences concern the syllabic position of the segmental change, in that the presence of lexical stress prevents vowel deletion or centralization, but allows for onset changes (such as consonant cluster simplification or lenition).

A Study on the Tendency of Consonant Cluster Simplification in the Stem and the Phonological Mechanism

A Study on the Tendency of Consonant Cluster Simplification in the Stem and the Phonological Mechanism

The Pre-Toda Verb A Reconstruction

Toda is a Dravidian language that is well known for its aberrant phonology, namely due to ubiquitous vowel dropping, simplification of consonant clusters, and phonemic diversification. Although efforts have succeeded to some extent in mapping these phonemes to those of related languages, the origins and implications of Toda morphology have not yet been explored in detail. This work aims to reconstruct key aspects of the Pre-Toda verb in order to provide a dataset to be faithfully used in comparative Dravidian linguistics. Here, the formation of the secondary stem and the nonpast suffixes are demonstrated to show more affinity towards Old Kannada rather than Old Tamil. At the same time, the tenseless and dubitative conjugations, along with personal terminations, are found to retain archaic Dravidian suffixes.

An Articulatory Study on Consonant Cluster Simplification in L1 Korean and L2 English

An Articulatory Study on Consonant Cluster Simplification in L1 Korean and L2 English

Pre-Proto-Yukaghir Consonant Clusters

Abstract This paper analyses a number of morphophonological alternations in the Yukaghir languages with the aim of the internal reconstruction of pre-Proto-Yukaghir. The main focus is on the simplification of complex consonant clusters arising on morphological boundaries between consonant-final root allomorphs and derivational suffixes. The paper also contains a new reconstruction of Proto-Yukaghir and pre-Proto- Yukaghir consonantism.

국어의 변(邊)자음

Traditionally, consonants are classified in terms of place and manner of articulation. In this article, it is claimed that a third parameter called mode of articulation is needed in some languages. In Korean the two modes are the mode of occlusive articulation and the mode of centrifugality. The two modes are in a tangential relationship, the latter mode deriving from the former mode. Thus, as the central region in the oral tract is clogged, articulation is pushed toward the peripheral regions, that is, labial and velar areas. In places of articulation then, Korean consonants are divided into two classes: central and peripheral. In this paper, several phonological phenomena showing the preference of the peripheral articulation are presented. (1) In progressive assimilation, central consonants assimilate to peripheral consonants, but not vice versa (e.g., 준비→줌비, but 삼도→*산도). (2) In umlaut, the intervening consonant must be a peripheral one (e.g., 어미→에미, but 언니→*엔니). (3) epenthetic consonants in hiatus and additive consonants in texting are usually peripheral consonants (e.g., 소아지→송아지, 하네요→하네욤, 아닌데→아닌뎁. (4) In consonant cluster simplification, of two coda consonants, it is usually the peripheral consonant that survives and the central consonant that deletes (e.g., 없다→업다, *엇다, but 젊다→점다, *절다). (5) In Chinese characters whose coda is ㄹ, the following central consonant is tensified, but not if it is a peripheral consonant (e.g., 일도(一度)→[일또] [ilt'o]; 일장(一章) [일짱] [ilʧ‘aŋ], *[ilʤaŋ], but 일과(日課)[ilgwa], *[ilk'wa]; 일분(一分) [ilbun], *[ilp'un]. Why this is the case is not yet known.

Variation in stem-final consonant clusters in Korean nominal inflection

This study investigates how Korean stem-final consonant clusters /ps/, /ks/, /lp/, /lk/, /ls/, and /lm/ exhibit variation, when a vowel-initial inflectional suffix is attached to noun stems. It is well-established that the Korean stem-final consonant clusters are either fully faithfully preserved (i.e. conservative), or simplified by deleting one of the two consonantal elements C1 and C2 (i.e. innovative). However, there has been no study about dominant patterns across clusters: which consonant cluster is more prone to preservation or simplification when inflected. When it comes to simplification, it has also been unclear which of C1 or C2 undergoes deletion, and why. Results of a production experiment show that there is a stark dichotomy between the clusters that share the same [±sonorant] feature (/ps/, /ks/, /lm/) and those that do not (/lp/, /lk/, /ls/): the former preferred conservative forms, whereas the latter favored innovative forms. Innovative forms in particular are accounted for in relation to consonant cluster simplification in isolation forms of nouns, following Kenstowicz’s (1996) Base-Identity effect. While the nature of the consonant cluster turned out to be a significant factor for variation in inflected forms, other factors (inflectional suffixes, speakers’ regional dialects, and gender) did not. This study is significant, in that it sheds light on a blind spot in the discussions of variation in stem-final consonant clusters in Korean and provides a comprehensive analysis that connects consonant cluster simplification in isolation forms with conservative/innovative forms in inflected forms. 

The Evolution of Assessment in English Pronunciation: The Case of Hong Kong (1978-2018)

ABSTRACT This study tracked the development of Hong Kong’s assessment practices for English pronunciation over the past four decades, with reference to the nativeness and intelligibility principles in L2 pronunciation research and pedagogy. Specifically, it evaluated changes in assessors’ comments on candidates’ English pronunciation performance in school-exit public examinations between 1978 and 2018. Qualitative and quantitative content analyses were conducted on the examination report for each year to identify themes related to candidates’ pronunciation ‘problems’, including ‘word-based’ features (word pronunciation, word stress, segmentals), ‘discourse-based’ features (suprasegmentals) and ‘delivery’ (clarity, fluency, loudness, naturalness, pacing). In the examination reports, candidates’ problems with word-based features (particularly word pronunciation) received the most attention across the decades. Most of the comments in later reports were aligned with the intelligibility principle, particularly at the segmental level (e.g., missing consonants, simplification of consonant clusters, word pronunciation). These assessment practices were potentially influenced by the teaching methods recommended in the different ELT curricula over time (i.e., from an oral-structural to a communicative/task-based language teaching approach), and also by the assessors’ judgements. The paper concludes by proposing a research agenda for the promotion of an evidence-based approach that can inform future assessment practices.

A study on the Orthography and Phonological Phenomenon and Bibliography of 󰡔Bulseoldaebo Bumoeunjunggyeong-Eonhae󰡕 stored in Mireuk Temple

이 논문은 부산 미륵사에 소장되어 있는 『佛說大報父母恩重經』(언해)의 서지 사항과 표기 및 음운 현상의 특징을 밝히는 데 목적이 있다. 미륵사 소장본 『불설대보부모은중경』은 한문과 언해로 쓰여 있는 작자 미상의 1권 1책의 불경 언해본이다. 대구 동화사에서 개간한 것을(桐華寺版, 1609) 이후에 인쇄한 것으로 파악되며, 훼손된 면을 보수한 후에 필사한 흔적이 있다. 보수한 부분을 제외한 면의 보존 상태는 대구 팔공산 동화사판에 비해 전반적으로 양호하여 글자와 변상도의 내용을 파악하기에 용이하다. 표기를 살펴보면 이른바 8종성이 지켜졌고, 음절말 ‘ㄷ’, ‘ㅅ’의 표기가 구분되어 사용되었으며, ‘ㆁ’과 ‘ㅇ’은 음절말에서 보이다가 보완하면서 ‘ㅇ’으로 합류되었다. 각자병서 가운데 ‘ㅆ’이 사용되었고, ㅅ계·ㅂ계 합용병서가 정연하게 사용되었다. 음운 현상으로는 비음화, ‘ㄱ’탈락, ‘ㅿ’의 소실과 잔류, 그리고 ‘ㅿ’과 ‘ㅅ’과의 공존, 비어두에서 ‘ㆍ’의 소실 등이 확인된다. 이 밖에도 16세기 중엽 이후부터 17세기 초의 경상도 지역어의 특징을 살펴볼 수 있다는 점에서 국어사적 의의가 크다. 최근 부산시 문화재로 등록된 이후 지금까지 학술적으로 다루어진 적이 없기에 이번 연구를 통해 미륵사 소장본의 가치를 재고할 수 있는 기회가 마련되기를 바란다.The purpose of this paper is to explain to The purpose of this paper is to investigate the bibliography and orthography and phonological phenomenon of 『佛說大報父母恩重經』, which is housed in Mireuk Temple in Busan. The 『Bulseoldaebobumo eunjung-gyeong』 stored in Mireuk Temple is written in Chinese characters and Korean. and it s an unknown author, a Buddhist scripture of one volume and one book. The book printed it of Donghwasa which had been first published in Daegu in 1609. and The damaged parts of the the book were repaired, and then which was written with ink again. As for the features of orthography, the ‘Paljongseong’(八終聲) is used, The use of ‘ㅅ’ and ‘ㄷ’ were distinguished in the Syllable-Finals. ‘ㆁ’ and ‘ㅇ’ were seen at the end of a syllable and joined as ‘ㅇ’, repairing it. Among the Double Consonantal Letters(各自並書字), ‘ㅆ’ was used only. The ㅅ-initial Onset Clusters and ‘ㅂ’-initial Onset Clusters were used in an orderly. As a characteristic of phonological phenomena, there are a Nasal Assimilation, ‘ㄱ’[k] deletion, ‘ㅿ’[z] loss and ‘ㅅ’ using, ‘ㆍ’ loss in non word-initial and Simplification of Consonant Clusters(ㄼ). This literature material is of great significance in Korean language history in that it offers a look at the characteristics of Gyeongsang-do s local language from the mid-16th century to the early 17th century. Since the book has recently been registered as a cultural asset of Busan City and has never been studied so far, I hope this study will provide an opportunity to reconsider the printed woodbloc stored in Mireuk Temple.

Reconsidering the variable context

Final consonant cluster simplification, or what variationists have traditionally labelled (t, d)-deletion, remains one of the most well studied variables in the analysis of English (e.g. Labov, 2001: 13). In this body of work, (t, d)-deletion refers to the process whereby /t/ or /d/ can be omitted in word final Ct or Cd coda clusters (e.g. last, mind). However, despite the attention paid to this feature of connected speech, very little (if any) focus has been dedicated to the complementary distribution of the coronal stops /t/ and /d/ in monomorphemic final clusters, as well as other phonological influences, such as the effect of intonational boundaries (IBs) on deletion patterns. This has led to a consistent practice of analysing (t, d) as a single linguistic variable, instead of considering the value of their separation, based on both sound linguistic reasoning and empirical evidence. After a brief review of current literature on multivariate analyses of (t, d)-deletion, this paper presents a socio-phonologically oriented research design that has been used to gather data from a peripheral southeastern variety of English. We martial these data to illustrate how (t) and (d) can be modelled as distinct dependent variables that are sensitive to particular factor groups: we focus in particular on the role of IBs in the deletion process.

영어 어말 설단폐쇄음의 탈락 양상: 고빈도 단어를 중심으로

Word frequency exerts a strong influence on coronal stop deletion. In general, high frequency words undergo word-final coronal stop deletion at a higher rate than low frequency words. This deletion process is undergone in consonant cluster simplification for economy of articulation. This study aims to investigate aspects of English word-final coronal stop deletion across a word boundary in high frequency words. Data were extracted from the Buckeye Corpus of Spontaneous American English Speech depending on morphological, phonological, phonetic and sociolinguistic variations. The results showed that different phonological environments favored one type of coronal stop variations such as [t], flapping, glottaling and deletion. Deletion was most prevalent for coronal stops in C/t,d/#C environment while coronal stops frequently underwent flapping in V/t,d/#V environment. In C/t,d/#C environment adjacent identical features were prohibited (Obligatory Contour Principle). More specifically, when the preceding consonants were more similar to coronal stops, the rate of coronal stop deletion was higher. The following consonants also influenced the coronal stop deletion. The rate of deletion was higher before sonorants than before obstruents. Therefore, actual education of coronal stop deletion should be done depending on various environments and factors.

Phonetic Peculiarities of the French Language of Cameroon

Phonetic peculiarities of the territorial variant of the French language in Cameroon have been considered in the article. Audio- and video recordings of French-speaking Cameroonians have been used for the study. Significant divergences between the phonetic systems of the French language of the former metropolis and its Cameroonian version have been detected in the systems of vowels and consonants as well as on the prosodic level. The analysis proves that local Cameroonian languages being L1 of the speakers interfere with the French language of Cameroon as articulation habits of mother tongues are transferred into their speech in the French language. In the vowel system we have detected the following phonological phenomena: substitution of French sounds by the L1 ones, denasalization, diphthongization of vowels, change of sound length and use of epenthesis. In the consonant system such phenomena as substitution, devoicing, voicing, palatalization, sound opposition attenuation and consonant cluster simplification have been detected. Alterations are also observed on the prosodic level where L1 interference manifests in the form of excess tone marking transferred into French which is characteristic of most indigenous African languages. Four groups of accents spoken in Cameroon are also singled out and their main characteristics are described in the article.

Intelligibility in Chinese English Spoken in Central China

Abstract It is widely accepted nowadays that intelligibility is the essential goal for most learners of English, and it is not necessary for them to mimic all aspects of native-speaker English in order to achieve a high level of intelligibility. However, the features that are needed in order to make oneself easily understood by listeners from elsewhere remain controversial. The current research focuses on thirteen five-minute recordings of conversations between young speakers of English in central China and an interviewer from Britain, in order to determine which features of their speech gave rise to misunderstandings. It was found that, in the 18 tokens of misunderstanding identified, 4 resulted from lexical semantics (22%), 3 from Chinese place names (17%), 3 from grammar (17%) , and 11 from pronunciation (61%) (with some tokens cross-classified). The most common phonological factors giving rise to loss of intelligibility were omission of syllables and simplification of word-initial consonant clusters.

Phonological acquisition in children with early-treated congenital hypothyroidism: association with clinical and laboratory parameters.

To evaluate the phonological characteristics of children with congenital hypothyroidism (CH). Observational, analytical, cross-sectional, ambispective study including prepubertal children with CH (n=100; study group, SG) and controls without CH ( n=100; control group, CG). Assessments included a speech language pathology interview, the phonological evaluation of the ABFW Child Language Test, medical data, and neuropsychological tests in the first three years of life. On treatment onset of the SG, the median chronological age of the participants was 18.0 days and 48.4% had total T4 <2.5 µg/dL (31.75 nmol/L). At the age of 7 years, children in the SG had higher rates of consonant cluster simplification and lower rates of complete phonological system compared to those in the CG. On analysis of combined age groups (4+5 and 6+7 years), the CG had a higher frequency of complete acquisition versus the SG. On multivariate analysis, thyroid agenesis, abnormal scores on the Clinical Linguistic and Auditory Milestone Scale and developmental quotient tests were associated with the occurrence of phonological disorders. Children with CH present delay in phonological acquisition, despite early diagnosis and adequate treatment, especially between the ages of 6-7 years. The etiology of CH and the results of neuropsychological tests in the first years of life seem to be related to this delay.

Morphologically Conditioned Phonological Asymmetries in Kyungsang Korean

This paper deals with two types of morphologically conditioned noun-verb asymmetries in Kyungsang Korean. In Kyungsang Korean, before a consonant-initial suffix, opacity between post-obstruent tensing and consonant cluster simplification occurs in verbal inflection, but not in nominal inflection. Before a vowel-initial suffix, optional overapplication of consonant cluster simplification applies for nominal inflection but not for verbal inflection. This paper analyzes the morphologically conditioned phonological asymmetries in Kyungsang Korean based on Optimality Theory with Candidate Chains (McCarthy 2007), which can explain opacity as well as the different behaviors depending on the part-of-speech by regulating the order of processes in a constraint. Alternative analyses based on Stratal OT (Kiparsky 2000) and base-derivative correspondence (Benua 1997) are also discussed.

A Perception-based Syntagmatic Account of Consonant Cluster Simplification in Korean

A Perception-based Syntagmatic Account of Consonant Cluster Simplification in Korean

Word-final consonant epenthesis in Northeastern Nigerian English

L2 speakers of Nigerian English in parts of northeastern Nigeria occasionally insert an alveolar coronal stop [t] or fricative [s] following another alveolar coronal pre-pausally and phrase-internally. The article discusses this typologically unusual phenomenon for the Nigerian English of speakers whose L1 is the Adamawa language Bena (ISO 639-3: yun). I also consider comparable cases of word-final consonant epenthesis in several other varieties of English, both the so-called New Englishes and Inner Circle varieties, and provide an account of the details of epenthesis with respect to which they differ. At first sight, hypercorrection of the tendency for word-final consonant cluster simplification in Bena English may seem an obvious explanation. However, I argue that hypercorrection alone falls short of explaining the observed pattern. In addition, we need to call on phonetic properties of Bena L1 such as pre-pausal glottalisation and lengthening of consonants to be able to account for both the actuation of the hypercorrection and the phonologisation of the epenthesis. Although the availability of a clear phonetic explanation makes this sound pattern conceivable as a natural rule, its typological rarity in non-contact lects highlights the positive bias induced by hypercorrection as a necessary part of the mix in creating the conditions for a reanalysis.

An Aspect of Consonant Cluster Simplification in English

The goal of this study was twofold: 1) to observe an aspect of consonant deletion in coda clusters of English and 2) provide an alternative analysis of consonant deletion. It is argued that a segment occurring between consonants is subject to deletion if it has a potential of being weakened or glottalized in a syllable coda. Unlike claims by some of previous studies, this study asserts that a word final /t/ or /d/ preceded by (a) consonant(s) does not undergo deletion unless it is followed by a consonant-initial suffix or a word. This type of argument boils down to segments with [-cont, -son] feature specifications as possible deletion targets in coda clusters. If two segments with peripheral and coronal places of articulation are surrounded by other consonants, the least marked coronal place of articulation is selected as the target deletion. This type of coda simplification can enhance syllable-wellformedness in two aspects: making a simpler coda and maximizing an onset cluster if Ons-Con is satisfied. At the end of this study, some implications for phonology were suggested.

Stratal OT and Underspecification: Evidence from Tundra Nenets

Tundra Nenets exhibits many consonantal alternations, such as cluster simplification, place loss, lenition, and a variety of NC-effects, which combine transparent and opaque interactions within the same phrasal domain of application. To reconcile the Tundra Nenets data within Stratal OT, we assume abstract autosegmental representations, relying on underspecification and hierarchical organization of features. The analysis incorporates the proposal of McCarthy (2008) that consonant cluster simplification starts with place loss. Apparent opaque deletion mappings are reanalyzed as coalescence within the correspondence theory (McCarthy and Prince 1995; 1999). The analysis unifies Tundra Nenets consonant cluster alternations and assumes only one surface glottal stop.

Suffix Reclassification and Consonant Cluster Simplification of English

The aim of this paper is to reclassify English suffixes into two groups in order to explain the phenomenon of English consonant alternation more adequately. English suffixes are divided into two classes depending on their phonological behavior both in stress shift and segmental alternation. Class 1 suffixes were claimed to induce both stress shift and segmental alternation, whereas Class 2 suffixes were believed to play no role in both areas. However, this traditional classification encounters a serious challenge due to Affix Ordering Paradox and incompatibility of stress shift with segmental alternation. One of the solutions Kim (2015) proposes is to separate the issue of stress shift from that of segmental alternation. Kim (2015) takes a tonal and metrical approach to the stress in derived words without reliance on the traditional suffix classification. Leaving the stress issue to this approach, we are still required to explain the remaining issues, i.e., Affix Ordering Paradox and segmental alternation. To resolve these remaining issues, this paper aims to reclassify suffixes into two types depending solely upon their behavior in consonant alternation. This new approach never evokes Ordering Paradox, and explains segmental alternation by way of two Output-to-Output Constraints more appropriately.