Fortis Consonants Research Articles

Unifying Initial Geminates and Fortis Consonants via Laryngeal Specification: Three case studies from Dunan, Pattani Malay, and Salentino

Initial Geminates (IGs) are often assumed to differ from singletons mainly in duration, while fundamental frequency (f0) and intensity are described as secondary, variable cues. Accordingly, IGs are phonologically represented with a [+long] feature or by associating the consonant to two timing units. On the other hand, more recent work on IGs has suggested that the boundary between IGs and fortis stops is tenuous. To further support this claim, we present converging evidence from 3 understudied languages, Dunan (Japonic), Pattani Malay (PM, Austronesian), and Salentino (Indo-European), suggesting that IGs may also be reliably cued by intensity, possibly as a byproduct of longer closure duration, and f0 throughout the following vowel. Reliance on these acoustic cues is strongly reminiscent of fortis stops in, e.g., Korean. Accordingly, we propose that languages prototypically described as having IG contrasts should be phonologically represented with a distinct laryngeal specification that takes into account the constellation of acoustic cues at play.

양측 인공와우이식 아동의 성대진동시작시간 특성

This study aimed to investigate the voice onset time (VOT) of plosives in the VCV syllables by the place of articulation and phonation type spoken by children with bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) in comparison with children with typical hearing (TH). In all, 15 children with bilateral CIs and 15 children with TH participated in this study, aged between 5 to 10 years. All children produced 9 VCV syllables and their VOT were analyzed by the Praat software. There was no significant difference in mean VOT between children with bilateral CIs and children with TH. However, there was a significant difference in mean VOT by the place of articulation, such that the VOT for velars were longer than those for bilabials and alveolars. Additionally, there was a significant difference in mean VOT by the phonation type, such that the VOT of aspirated consonants were longer than those of lenis and fortis consonants. The results of this study suggest that children with bilateral CIs can distinguish the acoustic properties of plosive consonants and control the speech timing between the structures of the larynx and the oral cavity at a similar level as children with TH.

Alternation of Lenis and Fortis Consonants in Ẹ̀dó and Ésàn as Indicators of a Dynamic Sound Change in Ẹdo

Ẹdo and Esan belong to the group of genetically related languages referred to as the Ẹdoid group of languages, which in turn belongs, along with other Nigerian languages such as Yoruba, Igbo, Nupe, Idoma, and Izọn, to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo language family. The similarities between the speech forms of Ẹdo and Esan compared to the other Ẹdoid languages are evidenced in the high number of cognate sets based on a lexical statistical analysis. This naturally implies that the behaviour of sound segments in any of the two languages could serve as indicators of any evolutionary trend in any of the two languages. It is observed that the phonetically weak consonants [ɱ, n, ɹ] in Ẹdo lexical items alternate with their corresponding strong counterparts [m and l] in similar lexical items in Esan. The relative stability of the strong forms in contemporary Esan language seems to give credence to the claim of a dynamic sound change observable in contemporary Ẹdo language where the proto bilabial stops /b/, and /m/; the alveolar lateral stop, /l/, evolved into the relatively weak bilabial oral and labiodental nasal approximants, [β] and [ɱ] respectively, and the alveolar lateral approximant [ɹ], which is currently being outrightly deleted in any position of the words in which it occurs, thus following the evolution pattern /l/ > [ɹ] > [ø]. The over bearing influence of the English language and the Nigerian pidgin, the two languages that have taken over practically all Ẹdo homes, and the non-teaching of the language in the Ẹdo State educational system have been identified as catalysts to the endangerment of the Ẹdo language that may go into extinction in the very near future if drastic measures aimed at reversing the trend are not urgently and diligently applied.

Development of voice onset time in an ongoing phonetic differentiation in Austrian German plosives: Reversing a near-merger

AbstractSound change in the form of plosive mergers has been reported for a variety of languages and is the result of a reduction of phonetic distance between two (or more) sounds. The present study is concerned with the opposite development of phonetic differentiation in plosives (akin to a phonetic split), a less commonly reported phenomenon that is taking place in Austrian German at the moment. A previously small (or null) phonetic distinction between fortis and lenis plosives – a presumed near-merger – is gradually developing into a clear phonetic contrast in younger speakers. In the present study, voice onset time of word-initial plosives was measured in two generations of Austrian speakers (born in the middle and at the end of the 20th century), yielding an ongoing phonetic differentiation where the voice onset time of lenis consonants is shortened while, at the same time, that of fortis consonants is lengthened. These results present an insight into the recent diachronic development of Austrian German and the changes in plosive production that are currently taking place.

Fortis/lenis, glides and vowels in Quiaviní Zapotec

Glides in San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec (Otomanguean) are underlyingly moraic and behave as other fortis consonants. Further, this Zapotec variety presents a clear case of [–consonantal] high vowels and [+consonantal] glides, exhibiting different patterns of behavior. This requires us to consider vowels and glides as separate entities in the underlying representation, rather than establishing a distinction between them based on differences in moraicity.

Phonotactic information in the temporal organization of Standard Austrian German and the Viennese dialect

The current contribution analyses quantifying prosodic aspects in two Middle Bavarian varieties, Standard Austrian German and the Viennese dialect. State of the art phonological accounts of the Middle Bavarian dialects assume a mutual interaction between vowel and consonant length: long vowels are followed by lenis consonants, short vowels are followed by fortis consonants, further vowel + consonant sequences are proscribed in the Middle Bavarian dialects. In this analysis, this assumption was tested by incorporating the allegedly disallowed sequences long vowel + fortis consonant. Results show that this sequence is not integrated into the presumed Middle Bavarian temporal patterns, but have to be dealt with separately. These results shed a new light on the Middle Bavarian quantity relationships which are discussed within two possible theoretical frameworks, one assuming a two-way opposition in consonants, the other a three-way opposition. Generally, the necessary integration of a third category brings about a revision of the Middle Bavarian quantity relations which is more easily reconcilable with the complex phonotactic structures observable in the Middle Bavarian varieties than the previously assumed pattern of a mutual interaction between vowel and consonant length.

Overgeneralization in the processing of complex forms in Valley Zapotec child language

Models of language learning and processing differ in their level of emphasis on the storage of individual meaningful units versus combinations of meaningful units. While there is evidence for the storage of larger stretches of speech, a separate issue is how much such stored forms contribute to processing, as compared to morphologically simpler forms. We examine the acquisition of one aspect of the phonology of Valley Zapotec: complementarity of segmental length based on subsegmental features: vowels before fortis consonants are short (VCː), and vowels before lenis consonants are long (VːC). This complementarity is found for fortis consonants in morphologically simple forms with final stress (simple nouns, verbs with full subject noun), but not in morphologically complex forms with a final unstressed syllable (diminutive nouns, verbs with pronominal subject clitic). During one period of development, Zapotec-learning children overgeneralize the complementarity from morphologically simple to morphologically complex forms (with u-shaped learning likely). The child’s processing of complex forms in language production is based more on simple forms than on the complex forms themselves. We identify five possible explanations of these results. Insofar as combinations of morphemes are stored at this young age, they are relatively ineffective at influencing processing during language production.

Non-glottalization in Korean Fortis Consonants

It is claimed that the three types of obstruent consonants in Korean (fortis/lenis/aspirated) are currently undergoing a diachronic change in articulation in that the differences in the voice onset time (VOT, in association with the degree of aspiration) is becoming not completely contrastive while the contrasts in pitch height (fundamental frequency) surface as a more reliable perceptual cue. Controversy still exists whether this change brings in concomitant modifications in other articulatory dimensions, especially the presence of glottalization, commonly used to manifest the notion of articulatory fortisness in the literature. The aim of this study is to examine whether the presence/ absence of glottalization holds in the contrast of fortis/ lenis consonants in the contemporary Korean language, by directly observing the glottal states via a trans-nasal fiberscope (laryngoscope). Our results elicited from Seoul subjects in younger generation of 30s show that the glottal constriction states of Korean fortis consonants exhibit no observable glottalization, in terms of the Six Valves of Throat Framework for sub-glottal reinforcements. Keywords: Laryngoscope; Korean language; Glottalization; Fortis consonants Resume On a propose que les trois types des consonnes obstruante du coreen (fortis/lenis/aspirees) sont en cours de changement diachronique de leur articulation. Les differences de delai de voisement (ou VOT), marquant differents degres d’aspiration ne sont plus completement contrastives, tandis que les differences de hauteur melodique (F0) sont devenues des indices plus fiables en perception. Les opinions divergent sur la question de savoir si ce changement entraine des modifications concominantes sur d’autres dimensions articulatoires, notamment la glottalisation, souvent consideree dans la litterature comme correlat de l’articulation “fortis”. Notre etude vise a examiner si la presence/absence de glottalisation est maintenue dans le contraste fortis/lenis des occlusives du coreen contemporain, a l’aide de l’observation directe de la glotte par fibroscopie nasale (laryngoscopie). Nos resultats obtenus avec des locuteurs de Seoul âges d’une trentaine d’annees ne montrent pour la constriction glottale des consonnes fortis aucun des signes de glottalisation proposes dans le cadre des “Six Valves of Throat for sub-glottal reinforcements” [six valves de gorge pour le renforcement sub-glottique] de Edmondson & Esling. Mots cles: Laryngoscopie; Langue coreenne; Glottalisation; Consonnes fortis

Priorities in English Pronunciation Teaching in EFL Classrooms

Abstract: This paper reports the priorities in English pronunciation teaching in Indonesian EFL classrooms focusing on the English varieties, components of pronunciation, and techniques for pronunciation teaching. The results indicated that (1) international English was valued as a more appropriate variety for Indonesian learners, (2) and that while depending on a limited range of rather traditional techniques of pronunciation instruction, Indonesian EFL teachers valued segmental features more than suprasegmental features. Key words: international English, pronunciation priorities, techniques for pronunciation teaching In the two last decades there have been significant changes in the worldwide political, social, and commercial developments. These changes have partially influenced the status and roles of English which consequently need to be re-examined (Jenkins, 2000; McKay, 2002). The fact that English is regarded as the world's principal international language results in the increment of inter-speaker interaction: between native speakers and non-native speakers (NS-NNS) and between non-native speakers (NNS-NNS) (Jenkins, 2000; Walker, 2001). The pedagogical implication of this situation is that there is a need to revise the goals of teaching English for ESL/EFL learners. In pronunciation teaching, the goal is neither to help learners to attain native-like accents nor to promote comfortable to native speakers, but to ensure mutual among non-native speakers of English (Jenkins, 2000; McKay, 2002). Therefore, in designing a pronunciation teaching model we should try to identify those phonological and phonetic features that will affect mutual for EIL (English as an International Language) listeners and subsequently to revise pedagogic measures to facilitate the accurate production of these features by EIL speakers. In the context of English language education in Indonesia, however, pronunciation has not received enough attention. As a result, there is no systematic clear guideline of pronunciation teaching although English is one of the important compulsory subjects at secondary schools. Many Indonesian teachers of English do not know what aspects of English pronunciation to teach and how to teach them. They are fundamentally not sure which English variety they should introduce to students in their classrooms because several English varieties (e.g., American English, British English, and Australian English) exist throughout Indonesia. Numerous applied linguists assert that pronunciation teaching basically includes both segmental and suprasegmental features although they have set up the priorities differently. In the case of comfortable intelligibility, for example, pronunciation teaching covers the nature of speech sound (consonants and vowels), stress, rhythm, intonation, and connected speech (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin, 1996; Dalton & Seidlhofer, 1994; Cruttenden, 2001; Jenner, 1989). Unlike these researchers, Jenkins (2000) pays more attention to interaction between nonnative speakers of English by formulating Lingua Franca Core (LFC)-which is crucial to intelligible pronunciation in EIL context-on the basis of her empirical research. Jenkins argues that the core features of pronunciation should be (1) consonant inventory with the provisos such as some substitutions of /θ/ and /ð/ and rhotic 'r'; (2) additional phonetic requirements such as aspiration of word-initial voiceless stops /p/, /t/, and /k/, and shortening of vowel sounds before fortis consonants and maintaining the length before lenis consonants; (3) consonants clusters with consideration of omission and addition; (4) vowel sounds; and (5) production and placement of nuclear stress. Jenkins is also concerned with certain holistic factors involved in the production of sounds because problems in all these articulatory areas have the potential to lead to pronunciation errors at both segmental and suprasegmental levels, and thus to affect intelligibility (p. …

Korean stops and affricates: Acoustic and perceptual characteristics of the following vowel

Despite numerous studies on lax, aspirated, and fortis stops in Korean, few have reported on the role of the following vowel in consonant perception. This paper examines the degree to which vowels convey the phonation characteristics of the preceding obstruents, with a hypothesis: Native speakers utilize vowel’s quality in perceiving the preceding obstruents. This study includes (1) acoustic analyses of VOT, F0, intensity build-up, and vowel length and (2) the perception test, where subjects were instructed to indentify CV syllables using stimuli with consonant portions completely removed. The acoustic analyses indicate that the acoustic characteristics associated with vowels pattern systematically with preceding obstruents (e.g., systematic difference in vowel length). In the perception test, subjects correctly identified the missing consonant 78% of the time, supporting the hypothesis. The probability was higher for the fortis than for the aspirated obstruents: Obstruents with longer VOTs spread less acoustic information into the following vowels, suggesting that the nature of VOT is possibly ‘‘voiceless vowelness.’’ Most wrongly identified aspirated obstruents were misperceived as fortis ones, confirming that the aspirated and the fortis consonants share some acoustic features (e.g., higher F0, rapid intensity buildup). The overall results indicate that following vowels play a pivotal role in consonant perception.

Acoustic correlates of the fortis/lenis contrast in Swiss German plosives

Features of articulatory tension in plosives, such as increased closure duration, have not been shown to be perceptually salient in the time following the plosion (with the exception of increased F0) but are thought to influence perception by their appearance in the closure phase preceding plosion [K. Kohler, Phonetica 36, 332–343 (1979)]. Kohler [Phonetica 41, 150–174 (1984)] has claimed that the two plosive classes in Swiss German cannot contrast initially (where closure features are not audible), as neither voicing nor aspiration supports the contrast. This paper reports preliminary acoustic data (spectrograms) obtained from the natural production of Swiss German plosives by a native speaker. The data indicate that sonarants following fortis consonants exhibit increased high formant clarity and intensity in relation to the first spectral peak. Kohler and W. A. van Dommelen [J. Phon. 15, 365–381 (1987)] show a similar acoustic feature to be associated with global ‘‘tense voice’’ manner in the vowels surrounding intervocalic plosives. It is thus suggested that the observed acoustic feature is one of tension associated with the production of fortis plosives in Swiss German, and that this is available to maintain the fortis/lenis contrast initial position.

The Origin of Canadian Raising in Ontario

One of the best known and most controversial features of Canadian English is the vocalic feature labeled by Chambers (1973) as “Canadian Raising”, which affects the /aI/ of right and the /aU/ of lout. This feature represents a situation in which the onset of the diphthong is closer to the target of the glide before fortis consonants than before lenis consonants: for instance, ride may have [aε] and right [3I], and loud may have [ao] but lout [ʌU]. Many of the previous studies of the feature, beginning with its original description by Martin Joos (1942), who raises the question of whether the second syllable of typewriter has the raised or non-raised variant, have involved the syllabification rules that determine when the onset is raised and when it is not. Chambers (1973) demonstrates that writer normally has the raised variant and shows that the relative stress on particular syllables can prevent raising from taking place in some cases where the diphthong occurs before a voiceless consonant. Vance (1987), Paradis (1980), and Chambers (1989) also deal with this latter problem, reformulating it in terms of linear (Vance) or Kahnian (Paradis, Chambers) theories of syllable formation.

Temporal characteristics of fortis stops and affricates in Tyap and Jju

The phonetic correlates of the phonological contrast between prevocalic fortis consonants and lenis ones in Tyap and Jju include temporal differences. Minimal pairs of words differing in the fortisness of the initial stop or affricate were produced by two speakers of each of the two languages and were analyzed spectrographically. For both languages, the results showed closure durations to be quite similar for fortis and lenis counterparts, but the durations of the following aspiration or fricative noise were significantly longer for the fortis consonant than for its lenis counterpart.

The fortis-lenis distinction in stops

It has been claimed that French voiced and unvoiced stops could also characterized as lenis and fortis consonants. Some authors even suggest that the force of articulation might be the most relevant factor for distinguishing (and phonologically specifying) stop cognates. Using electropalatography, we investigated the consequences of the voicing and devoicing assimilations upon the surface of the linguo-palatal contact area for French consonants. Our data indicates that (1) force of articulation and voicing are not necessarily redundant features: (2) force of articulation may be assimilated too; (3) the direction of the coarticulatory movement is an important parameter with regard to changes in the intrinsic force of articulation.