Coronal Places Of Articulation Research Articles

Conspiring simplification strategies of [Obstruent+Liquid] clusters in a case study of child Greek: emergence of the marked

ABSTRACT This paper addresses the idiosyncratic cluster simplification patterns observed in a child with disordered phonological development, who is acquiring Greek. The child has mastered word-internal and word-final codas and clusters of reversed sonority. However, the child does not realise the target well-formed tautosyllabic [Obstruent+Liquid] clusters with rising sonority. The child’s system requires a single onset with maximum sonority dispersion between the onset and the syllable nucleus. As a result, cluster simplification occurs, via reduction to the less sonorous Obstruent – the most prevalent reduction pattern cross-linguistically. However, at the same time, the grammar requires faithful realisation of the target segment number. This requirement is fulfiled through two distinct conspiring metathesis patterns, distributed complementarily, resulting in the realisation of marked structures. The patterns depend on the position of the cluster within the target word. In word internal position, a compensatory metathesis of the Liquid takes place in the preceding syllable coda. In word initial position, the Manner of Articulation of the metathesised Liquid is delinked, while its Coronal Place of Articulation is faithfully preserved, and is realised by default as a Coronal Sibilant [s]. The latter Sibilant is attached as an appendix to the syllable node at the word left-edge. We argue that, in the grammar of this child, there is a-synchronisation between the development of the prosodic word layer and the development of syllable layer. Specifically, a-synchronisation is evident in the development of the (branching) onset syllabic subconstituent.

Trans-vocalic coronal consonant coarticulation in Central Arrernte: An electro-palatographic study

This study examines trans-vocalic CVC coarticulation of the coronal (dental, alveolar, retroflex and (alveo-)palatal) stop, nasal and lateral consonants of Arrernte, an Aboriginal language of Central Australia, using electro-palatographic (EPG) recordings of continuous speech. Coronal consonants are known to be more coarticulatorily resistant than peripheral consonants such as bilabials and velars, and this study teases out the coarticulatory differences between these four coronal places of articulation. Results confirm findings from previous studies that laminal consonants (dental and alveo-palatal) are broadly more coarticulatorily aggressive than apical consonants (alveolars and retroflexes), with the alveolars the least resistant to coarticulation. Dental consonants exert fronting effects on both preceding and following consonants, a result consistent with previous acoustic results for these sounds. Similarly, alveo-palatal consonants show both anticipatory and carryover effects, though their exact coarticulatory effect depends on the affected consonant place and manner. The retroflex consonants exert strong fronting effects on the following consonant, and it is suggested that this is due to the anterior release of retroflexes following ballistic forward movement during closure. There is also some evidence of a retraction effect of retroflexes on preceding consonants. Despite this evidence of coarticulatory aggression, retroflexes are particularly affected by preceding and following palatals: in these cases, the retroflex articulation becomes more forward, and dorsal contact for the retroflex is increased. In sum, by examining speech in an understudied language, we learn that there are still greater complexities in the co-ordination of consonants produced using the tongue tip and blade.

An ultrasound and formant study of manner contrasts at four coronal places of articulation.

This study examines consonant manner of articulation at four coronal places of articulation, using ultrasound and formant analyses of the Australian language Arrernte. Stop, nasal, and lateral articulations are examined at the dental, alveolar, retroflex, and alveo-palatal places of articulation: /t̪ n̪ l̪ / vs /t n l/ vs /ʈɳɭ/ vs /c ɲ ʎ/. Ultrasound data clearly show a more retracted tongue root for the lateral, and a more advanced tongue root for the nasal, as compared to the stop. However, the magnitude of the differences is much greater for the stop∼lateral contrast than for the stop∼nasal contrast. Acoustic results show clear effects on F1 in the adjacent vowels, in particular the preceding vowel, with F1 lower adjacent to nasals and higher adjacent to laterals, as compared to stops. Correlations between the articulatory and acoustic data are particularly strong for this formant. However, the retroflex place of articulation shows effects according to manner for higher formants as well, suggesting that a better understanding of retroflex acoustics for different manners of articulation is required. The study also suggests that articulatory symmetry and gestural economy are affected by the size of the phonemic inventory.

Apport de cellules souches mésenchymateuses à l’association biomatériau phosphocalcique–moelle osseuse pour la reconstruction osseuse en territoire irradié

This paper presents the results of an acoustic study of fricatives from four places of articulation produced by 31 native speakers of Romanian, as well as those of a perceptual study using the stimuli from the acoustic experiment, allowing for a direct comparison between acoustic properties and perception. It was found that there are greater acoustic differences between plain and palatalized labials and dorsals as compared to coronals. The acoustic results were paralleled by the perceptual findings. This pattern departs from cross-linguistic generalizations made with respect to the properties of secondary palatalization. A likely source of the differences is the fact that previous studies of secondary palatalization typically involved stops which tend to exhibit various enhancement phenomena at the coronal place of articulation. Since the enhancement generally involves additional frication, this is not a useful strategy for fricatives at the coronal, or any other place of articulation. These findings form the basis of a discussion highlighting the differences between enhanced and non-enhanced secondary palatalization.

Jaw movement and coronal stop spectra in Central Arrernte

This paper presents jaw movement data from two female speakers of Central Arrernte, focusing on the four coronal places of articulation (dental, alveolar, retroflex and alveo-palatal) across stop, nasal and lateral manners of articulation. It also presents spectral burst data for the stop consonants. Results suggest that when there is a clear spectral peak for the release burst, as is the case primarily for the alveo-palatal, but also for the alveolar and retroflex, the jaw remains high at stop release; but when the spectral burst has a relatively diffuse spectrum, as is the case for the dental, the jaw begins to lower before stop release in anticipation of the following vowel. In addition, there is evidence that the highest jaw target for the alveo-palatal is timed not for the release of the stop closure, but for the frication portion which follows. These results are interpreted as lending support for the view that the lower teeth play a role in stop burst release, similar to their role in sibilant fricative production. Finally, with regard to the retroflex consonants, there is evidence that the continuous upwards jaw movement during acoustic closure is associated with a low jaw position for the initial posterior placement of the tongue tip, followed by a final high jaw position at the anterior release of the tongue tip closure. These results support the view that both biomechanical and acoustic considerations play a role in speech planning and coarticulation.

Neuronal spoken word recognition: The time course of processing variation in the speech signal

Recent neurobiological studies revealed evidence for lexical representations that are not specified for the coronal place of articulation (PLACE; Friedrich, Eulitz, & Lahiri, 2006; Friedrich, Lahiri, & Eulitz, 2008). Here we tested when these types of underspecified representations influence neuronal speech recognition. In a unimodal auditory–auditory word fragment priming experiment target words either had initial coronal PLACE (e.g., tiger) or had initial noncoronal PLACE (e.g., pony). Prime-target pairs were either identical (e.g., ti-tiger, po-pony), differed in initial PLACE (e.g., pi-tiger, to-pony), or were unrelated. Event-related Potentials for identical and related targets started to differ from unrelated targets at 100 ms, indicating early perceptual processing. Different effects for coronal vs. noncoronal variation were observed starting at 200 ms. Results are related to recent neurocognitive research on compensation for assimilation of PLACE (e.g., rainbow realised as *raimbow). A time line of processing PLACE variation at multiple stages is proposed and parallel processing of specified and underspecified representations at the lexical level is discussed.

Palatalization in Romanian—Acoustic properties and perception

This paper presents the results of an acoustic study of fricatives from four places of articulation produced by 31 native speakers of Romanian, as well as those of a perceptual study using the stimuli from the acoustic experiment, allowing for a direct comparison between acoustic properties and perception. It was found that there are greater acoustic differences between plain and palatalized labials and dorsals as compared to coronals. The acoustic results were paralleled by the perceptual findings. This pattern departs from cross-linguistic generalizations made with respect to the properties of secondary palatalization. A likely source of the differences is the fact that previous studies of secondary palatalization typically involved stops which tend to exhibit various enhancement phenomena at the coronal place of articulation. Since the enhancement generally involves additional frication, this is not a useful strategy for fricatives at the coronal, or any other place of articulation. These findings form the basis of a discussion highlighting the differences between enhanced and non-enhanced secondary palatalization.

A preliminary study of jaw movement in Arrernte consonant production

This study presents jaw movement data from Central Arrernte, an Australian Aboriginal language with six places of articulation in the stop series, including four coronal places of articulation. The focus of the study is on jaw consonant targets, and on the opening and closing movements of the jaw. As a point of comparison, data are also presented for English, a language with three places of articulation in the stop series. In line with previous results for English, jaw position in Arrernte is lowest for the velar /k/. The apico-post-alveolar (retroflex) /ʈ/, which is not found in English, has a jaw position almost as low as /k/. By contrast, the lamino-alveo-palatal /c/, which is also not found in English, has the highest jaw position. The remaining coronal consonants in Arrernte, /t/ (apico-alveolar and lamino-dental, respectively), show intermediate jaw positions, with differences between speakers. In terms of the kinematic measures examined (namely, variability in distance, duration and velocity of opening and closing movements), results show no consistent differences between English and Arrernte jaw movement.

The phonology of coronals By T. Alan Hall (review)

236 LANGUAGE, VOLUME 76, NUMBER 1 (2000) comparison, the author raises and answers the questions why the former follows the definite article and why it appears in the plural neuter form. On a broader scale, he emphasizes the importance of artificial, written languages that can evolve for diachronic studies. This collection is very useful, offering insights into modern investigations of Greek phonology, morphology , and syntax. Nearly every paper deals with a different framework in the given field, thus enriching the reader with different theories and background assumptions yet offering a variety of linguistic phenomena , plenty of data, and stimulating theoretical analyses. [Kleanthes K. Grohmann, University of Maryland.] The phonology of coronals. By T. Alan Hall. (Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science 149.) Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins , 1997. Pp. x, 176. Hall discusses how the various places of articulation deemed 'coronal' are distinguished from one another in feature terms. There are four main chapters. Ch. 1 (The feature [coronal]') offers a phonetic definition of [coronal] that excludes palatals. Ch. 2 ('Feature specifications for coronals') discusses featural distinctions among the various coronal places of articulation . Ch. 3 ('Coronal consonant inventories') discusses why languages use only certain subsets of the places distinguished in Ch. 2. Ch. 4 ('Rhotics') discusses r-type sounds. In an appendix ("The features and their definitions') H surveys the whole phonological feature inventory. H draws on an impressive variety of languages, and his reference list contains over 500 items. His discussion, however, is at best somewhat pedestrian, and at worst illogical. His account of palatals and palatalization illustrates his strengths and weaknesses nicely. Are palatals coronal or not? H shows that the facts cited in favor involve almost exclusively stops, not fricatives. He also cites evidence that 'palatal' stops (IPA [c, j, Ji]) are articulated further forward than palatal fricatives ([ç, ¡]). He therefore argues that [c, j,Ji] should be reclassified as alveolopalatal and suggests that ' "true" palatal noncontinuants are unattested sounds' (14-15). Nevertheless, palatal noncontinuants do need to be recognized, at least in featural terms because the palatalized velar stops [kJ, g>] differ from the palatalized velar fricatives [xJ, vJ] only in respect of [± continuant], and the latter are said to be featurally identical to the 'true' palatals [ç, j] (70-71, 76). H insists that there should be a single 'palatalization feature' (77) and proceeds to inquire what that feature is. His answer is [ — back], which is shared (he says) by all and only front vowels, palatoalveolars, alveolopalatals, palatals, and palatalized segments (83). But [ — back] means 'fronted tongue body', where 'tongue body' includes 'both the predorsal and laminai regions'. Does not this imply that any plain laminai [t] has to be regarded as 'palatalized' too? How then does H distinguish between [t] and [tJ]? H's answer involves his implicational universal 'If [ — anterior, +distributed], then [ — back]', which states that 'alveolopalatals are inherently palatalized' (51-52). On page 98 he claims that this universal entails that [ + anterior] coronals, such as [t], are not [-back], in contrast to [c], But there is a logical error here. H would be right only if the implication were reversed: 'If [ — back], then [ — anterior, + distributed ]'. This formulation cannot be what H wants, however, because it renders [ ± back] inapplicable to dorsals. H compounds the confusion by adding in a footnote that dentals and alveolare can after all be [ — back] (or [ +back]), in which case they are palatalized (or velarized). The feature [±back] thus emerges with three values: [ +back] for [tv], [0 back] for [t], and [ — back] for [tJ]. At the root ofthis trouble is H's notion of 'inherent palatalization'. What is needed is some way of distinguishing primary from secondary articulation, an issue that H never addresses . Phonologists interested in coronals should find this book useful for its thoroughness but will need to approach H's analyses with caution. [Andrew Carstairs -McCarthy, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.] Atomism and binding. Ed. by Hans Bennis, Pierre Pica, and Johan Rooryck . (Linguistic variations 1.) Dordrecht : Foris Publications, 1997. Pp. xx, 412. This collection of papers deals with explorations in the 'distribution and interpretation of definite descriptions , pronouns and reflexives' (i, italics omitted ), i.e. the syntax and semantics ofbinding. Bennis, Pica, and...

Acoustic parameters for place of articulation in nasals and stops

A metric that identified labial and coronal place of articulation in English nasal consonants with over 80% accuracy had been developed by correlating distinctive patterns of rapid energy change at the nasal release with each place of articulation [K. M. Kurowski and S. E. Blumstein, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 81, 1917–1927 (1987); K. M. Kurowski, unpublished dissertation, Brown Univ. (1990)]. This study attempted to address two questions. (1) Could the same metric be successfully applied across manner to classify place of articulation in homorganic voiced stops? (2) In the event that the metric failed here, to what extent did the burst onset alter the patterns of rapid energy change predicted by the metric? The same three speakers used in the nasal study (1990) produced CV syllables, consisting of [b,d] followed by [i,e,a,o,u]. The results showed that the classification scores across speakers for the voiced stops (labial = 64%; coronal = 83%) were lower than those for nasals (labial = 79%; coronal = 87%). Still, the general patterning of the results was the same across manner: Labial scores remained lower than those of the coronals due to the intractable problem of classifying labials in the environment of [i]. Two reanalyses using different window sizes demonstrated that the aperiodicity of the initial portion of the burst inflated some targeted areas of energy change, adversely affecting the performance of the metric. Various approaches to the question of how to reconcile formal aspects of the present metric with the added complexity introduced by the voiced stops are discussed in the light of their ramifications for the theory of acoustic invariance. [Work supported by NIH]