Lateral Consonants Research Articles

Xitsonga segmental phonology

AbstractXitsonga, a southern Bantu language (S53) spoken in South Africa, possesses rich phonological patterns that have been underreported in the literature. This paper aims to provide an overview of the phonology of Xitsonga with a focus on segmental phonology, building up on existing literature. The consonants of Xitsonga show a four‐way laryngeal system with phonation contrast in sonorants and several lateral consonants. These consonants display alternations of post‐nasal hardening, affrication, and lateral‐nasal alternation. Vowel raising and vowel coalescence are also examined. Data with variation from previous studies have been updated to reflect the status of lexical items in contemporary Xitsonga.

Production and Perception Evidence of a Merger: [l] and [n] in Fuzhou Min.

The current study investigated the merger-in-progress between word-initial nasal and lateral consonants in Fuzhou Min, examining the linguistic and social factors that modulate the merger. First, the acoustic cues to the l-n distinction were examined in Fuzhou Min. Acoustic analyses suggested a collapse of phonemic contrast between prescriptive L and N (phonemes in the unmerged system), with none of the six acoustic cues showing any difference across L and N. Linear discriminant analysis did identify acoustically distinct [l] and [n] tokens, although the mapping onto the phonetic space of prescriptive L and N substantially overlapped. Speakers of all ages and both genders tended to produce [l], and low vowels correlated with more [n]-like classification. In perception, AX discrimination data showed Fuzhou Min listeners confused both prescriptive L and N and acoustic [l] and [n]. Greater sensitivity to the acoustic differences occurred in the context of low vowels and a nasal coda, supported by the acoustics of the stimuli, and younger listeners were more sensitive to the difference between [l] and [n] than older listeners. In two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) identification, Fuzhou Min listeners also identified the merged form as L more frequently than N, with more L responses elicited in the context of low vowels and in the absence of nasal codas. Overall, although Fuzhou Min speakers produced some acoustically distinct [l] and [n] tokens in the context of a sound merger, these productions did not map onto prescriptive L and N. In addition, younger listeners were more sensitive to the acoustic distinction than older listeners, suggesting an emerging acoustic contrast possibly arising due to contact with Mandarin.

Consonantalized Nasal and Lateral Vowel /ə/ Versus Nasal and Lateral Syllabic Consonants

The present paper aims, firstly, to investigate the phonological change that takes place to the unstressed vowel in the closed syllable CVC without onset + /ə/ + (lateral/nasal consonant). In this regard, I will explain the distinctive feature of /ə/, /l/ and /n/ as actual phonemes, and describe their distinctive feature in phonological patterns expressed by the syllable structure rule CVC, regardless of onset. In other words, the research focus will be on the rhyme of the CVC, where V stands for /ə/ and C stands either for /l/ or /n/. Secondly, I will demonstrate the cause of the phonological change that occurs in the rhyme of the syllable. Thirdly, I intend to establish which phoneme has power over the other phoneme in the rhyme of syllable CVC (/ə/+/l/or /n/). Fourthly, I will construct a proper definition for the rhyme of the syllable involving the phonological change occurring to the unstressed vowel in this rhyme. The most important results are: firstly, /ə/ is assimilated (consonantalized) by lateral and nasalized features within the rhyme context (-/ə/ +/n/ or -/ə/+/l/), secondly, there is no evidence for the elision of /ə/ in the same phonological context. The term consonantalization is proposed as a result of similarities between /ə/, /n/ and //ə/ and /l/ in the rhyme of syllable CVC (/ə/+/l/or /n/).

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.

Acquiring allophonic structure and phonetic detail in a bilingual community: The production of laterals by Sylheti-English bilingual children

Aims and objectives:In this study, we consider the acquisition of allophonic contrast and phonetic detail in lateral consonants by second-generation Sylheti-English bilingual children in London, UK.Design/methodology/approach:Acoustic analysis was conducted on productions of /l/ by Sylheti bilingual children, Sylheti monolingual adults and English monolingual children.Data and analysis:Tokens of /l/ were elicited across initial, medial and final word positions from 14 bilingual Sylheti-English children, 10 monolingual English children, and 4 monolingual Sylheti adults. Acoustic measurements of F2–F1 were analysed using Bayesian linear mixed-effects modelling.Findings and conclusions:Our results show that bilingual children produce monolingual-like positional patterns in Sylheti, with very clear laterals in all positions. In contrast, bilinguals produce monolingual-like positional allophony in English, but they differ in phonetic detail, with bilinguals producing much clearer laterals than monolingual children across all positions.Originality:This study is the first to examine the development of allophonic contrast and phonetic detail in both of a bilingual’s languages in a contact scenario. This provides new insights into how contact varieties adopt aspects of structure and detail from each language. We also report valuable data from Sylheti-English bilinguals, who are an understudied community.Significance/limitations:Our study highlights the value of considering structural and detailed aspects of cross-linguistic sound systems, whereby one aspect may show monolingual-like patterns and another aspect may show distinctive patterns. We propose that the results in this study represent the development of a new sound system out of language contact, with second-generation bilingual children producing a hybrid system that combines influences from both heritage and host languages.

The acoustics of three-way lateral and nasal palatalisation contrasts in Scottish Gaelic.

This paper presents an acoustic description of laterals and nasals in an endangered minority language, Scottish Gaelic (known as "Gaelic"). Gaelic sonorants are reported to take part in a typologically unusual three-way palatalisation contrast. Here, the acoustic evidence for this contrast is considered, comparing lateral and nasal consonants in both word-initial and word-final position. Previous acoustic work has considered lateral consonants, but nasals are much less well-described. An acoustic analysis of twelve Gaelic-dominant speakers resident in a traditionally Gaelic-speaking community is reported. Sonorant quality is quantified via measurements of F2-F1 and F3-F2 and observation of the whole spectrum. Additionally, we quantify extensive devoicing in word-final laterals that has not been previously reported. Mixed-effects regression modelling suggests robust three-way acoustic differences in lateral consonants in all relevant vowel contexts. Nasal consonants, however, display lesser evidence of the three-way contrast in formant values and across the spectrum. Potential reasons for lesser evidence of contrast in the nasal system are discussed, including the nature of nasal acoustics, evidence from historical changes, and comparison to other Goidelic dialects. In doing so, contributions are made to accounts of the acoustics of the Celtic languages, and to typologies of contrastive palatalisation in the world's languages.

An articulatory study of the alveolar versus retroflex contrast in pre- and post-stress position in Arrernte

This study presents articulometry and palatography data for Arrernte, a language of Central Australia. It examines the contrast between the apical consonants – alveolar versus retroflex – according to lexical stress. Stop, nasal and lateral consonants are treated separately. Results show that the most prototypical retroflex articulation – where the tongue tip is retracted for post-alveolar closure and eventually released at a more anterior location – occurs after a stressed vowel. By contrast, a prototypical alveolar articulation – with closure and release at the same (anterior) region along the palate – is more likely to occur before a stressed vowel. In addition, it is shown that the contrast between alveolars and retroflexes varies by manner of articulation, being clearest for the nasal manner. It is suggested that the low jaw position which is an inherent property of nasal articulations facilitates retraction of the tongue tip for retroflexion, and that nasalization of adjacent vowels may motivate an exaggeration of the alveolar-retroflex contrast. For laterals, however, the alveolar~retroflex contrast is not so clear, and it is suggested that the articulatory requirements for lateral airflow may compromise full retraction of the tongue tip. Typological implications of these results are discussed, as is the possibility that CV versus VC (i.e. alveolar versus retroflex) cues to place of articulation are best encoded within a stressed vowel.

Nasal consonants block /o/ fronting in white and Lumbee speakers from Robeson County, North Carolina

This study examines /o/ fronting in white and Lumbee speakers in a tri-ethnic contact situation in Robeson County, North Carolina. Previously, Thomas (1989) observed that following nasal consonants may be blocking /o/ fronting in Wilmington, North Carolina. The present study examines this hypothesis in more depth in nearby Robeson County. Nine speakers were selected from the Sociolinguistic Archive and Analysis Project (Kendall, 2010). Nucleus and glide measurements were taken for each speaker's /o/ tokens, pre-lateral /o/ tokens, and pre-nasal /o/ tokens. Values were then Lobanov-normalized. Acoustic analysis of individuals speakers' vowel spaces suggests that when /o/ fronts, pre-nasal /o/ remains back along with pre-lateral /o/. While white speakers' pre-nasal /o/ patterns closely with their pre-lateral /o/, Lumbee speakers' pre-nasal /o/ tends to glide in a different direction in what could be considered a three-way allophonic split in the /o/ vowel class. The results of this study indicate that both following lateral consonants and following nasal consonants block /o/ fronting, though the phonological mechanism underlying pre-nasal /o/ backing is in need of further investigation.

Acoustic analysis of nasal and lateral consonants: The merger in Eastern Min

The contrast between word-initial [n] and [l] is disappearing in many Chinese languages, including Eastern Min. Before investigating the status of the merger, we need to identify the acoustic cues that distinguish [n] from [l]. In English and Mandarin, languages with the [n] and [l] contrast, we examined: (1) Duration: consonant duration and consonant-vowel transition duration; (2) Formant frequencies: F1, F2 and F3 at the midpoint of the consonant; (3) Formant intensities: I1, I2, and I3 at the midpoint of the consonant; and (4) Relative amplitude (the amplitude difference between the consonant and the following vowel). Preliminary results show that [n] is significantly longer than [l] in Mandarin and English but not in Eastern Min. F2 of [n] is higher than F2 of [l] in English and Mandarin, whereas the direction is reversed in Eastern Min. Finally, the difference in relative amplitude between [n] and [l] is greater in English and Mandarin than in Eastern Min. Together, these results suggest a merger in progress in Eastern Min . Moreover, older Eastern Min speakers showed the merger to a greater degree than younger speakers, presumably because the older speakers use Mandarin less frequently.

Manner and place differences in Kannada coronal consonants: Articulatory and acoustic results.

This study investigated articulatory differences in the realization of Kannada coronal consonants of the same place but different manner of articulation. This was done by examining tongue positions and acoustic formant transitions for dentals and retroflexes of three manners of articulation: stops, nasals, and laterals. Ultrasound imaging data collected from ten speakers of the language revealed that the tongue body/root was more forward for the nasal manner of articulation compared to stop and lateral consonants of the same place of articulation. The dental nasal and lateral were also produced with a higher front part of the tongue compared to the dental stop. As a result, the place contrast was greater in magnitude for the stops (being the prototypical dental vs retroflex) than for the nasals and laterals (being apparently alveolar vs retroflex). Acoustic formant transition differences were found to reflect some of the articulatory differences, while also providing evidence for the more dynamic articulation of nasal and lateral retroflexes. Overall, the results of the study shed light on factors underlying manner requirements (aerodynamic or physiological) and how the factors interact with principles of gestural economy/symmetry, providing an empirical baseline for further cross-language investigations and articulation-to-acoustics modeling.

A aquisição das consoantes laterais do português europeu por aprendentes chineses

The present study examined the production of European Portuguese (EP) lateral consonants by 14 Chinese learners, through a picture naming task eliciting the target segments in all possible syllable and word-level positions. Our results illustrate that /l/ is stable in singletons (100% target-like) due to the positive transfer from Mandarin Chinese. However, it is very often vocalized in codas (only 16.7% target-like production, [ɫ]), which might be attributed to a phonetically based tendency (Graham, 2017; Johnson & Britain, 2007). The high accuracy (97% target-like) of /l/ in onset clusters, an absent structure in the L1, can be the result of the heterosyllabic nature of EP obstruent-liquid sequences (Veloso, 2006) or of the association of two segments to a single skeletal position, which was also argued as an intermediate stage in EP L1 acquisition (Freitas, 2003). /ʎ/ is still in acquisition (52.4% target-like), and is often produced as an L1 category [lj], due to acoustic and articulatory similarity.

Indexing tongue profile narrowing for English lateral consonants using 3D volumetric MR imaging

Production of lateral consonants in many languages involves separate but coordinated tongue tip and tongue rear actions—raising of the tongue tip and retraction of the tongue body. Given these gestures and the presence of lateral airflow, it has been speculated that horizontal (i.e., side-to-side) narrowing of the tongue may occur during production of these laterals, either as a passive result of the anterior-posterior lingual stretching or as an actively controlled movement. This study uses 3D volumetric MR scans of speakers producing a variety of sustained English sounds to examine horizontal tongue width as a function of consonant laterality/centrality and as a function of vowel height in front vowel contexts. Multiplanar reconstruction of volumetric data for each token and subject permitted imaging of the static postures on the axial plane. We determine a protocol for identifying a specific oblique axial slice in terms of mid-sagittal anatomical landmarks that allows for a stable and informative index of horizontal tongue width. This index demonstrates utility for identifying and quantifying tongue profile narrowing specific to English lateral consonants. [Work supported by NIH.]

Extension of the single-matrix formulation of the vocal tract: Consideration of bilateral channels and connection of self-oscillating models of the vocal folds with a glottal chink

The paper presents extensions of the single-matrix formulation (Mokhtari et al., 2008, Speech Comm. 50(3) 179 – 190) that enable self-oscillation models of vocal folds, including glottal chink, to be connected to the vocal tract. They also integrate the case of a local division of the main air path into two lateral channels, as it may occur during the production of lateral consonants. Provided extensions are detailed by a reformulation of the acoustic conditions at the glottis, and at the upstream and downstream connections of bilateral channels. The simulation framework is validated through numerical simulations. The introduction of an antiresonance in the transfer function due to the presence of asymmetric bilateral channels is confirmed by the simulations. The frequency of the antiresonance agrees with the theoretical predictions. Simulations of static vowels reveal that the behavior of the vocal folds is qualitatively similar whether they are connected to the single-matrix formulation or to the classic reflection-type line analog model. Finally, the acoustic effect of the glottal chink on the production of vowels is highlighted by the simulations: the shortening of the vibrating part of the vocal folds lowers the amplitude of the glottal flow, and therefore lowers the global acoustic level radiated at the lips. It also introduces an offset in the glottal flow waveform.

An acoustic study of multiple lateral consonants in three Central Australian languages.

This study presents dental, alveolar, retroflex, and palatal lateral /̪ll ɭ ʎ/ data from three Central Australian languages: Arrernte, Pitjantjatjara, and Warlpiri. Formant results show that the laminal laterals (dental /̪l/ and palatal /ʎ/) have a relatively low F1, presumably due to a high jaw position for these sounds, as well as higher F4. In addition, the palatal /ʎ/ has very high F2. There is relatively little difference in F3 between the four lateral places of articulation. However, the retroflex /ɭ/ appears to have slightly lower F3 and F4 in comparison to the other lateral sounds. Importantly, spectral moment analyses suggest that centre of gravity and standard deviation (first and second spectral moments) are sufficient to characterize the four places of articulation. The retroflex has a concentration of energy at slightly lower frequencies than the alveolar, while the palatal has a concentration of energy at higher frequencies. The dental is characterized by a more even spread of energy. These various results are discussed in light of different acoustic models of lateral production, and the possibility of spectral cues to place of articulation across manners of articulation is considered.

Electropalatographic Parameter Analysis of Single Consonant of Xiahe Tibetan Dialects

Targeting at Xiahe Tibetan dialects and with 16 single consonants followed by vowel /a/ as the recording texts, the article analyzes the electropalatographic parameters such as AC, PC, VC, Ant, Pos, CA, CP, CC. The findings are as follows: 1. Plosives show more tongue-palate contact in front part of palate, with strong anteriority and centered tendency: 2. Fricatives show less contact than affricates of the same speech organ; 3. Lateral alveolar consonants have more tongue-palate contact, with strong anteriority and centrality, and weak posterity. 4. Nasals have bigger values in terms of all parameters. 5. The trill has more tongue-palate contact, with stronger posterity and centrality.

Phonetic vs. phonological influences on French listeners' perception of American English approximants

The perception of American English (AE) approximant contrasts, /r/-/l/ in particular but also /w/-/r/ and /w/-/j/, has been extensively compared between AE speakers and speakers of Japanese or other languages lacking an /r/-/l/ contrast. The difficulty such listeners encounter with the AE /r/-/l/ contrast, especially those who have had little exposure to spoken English, has most often been explained by reference to the abstract functional contrasts of their native phonological systems, which lack distinctions between rhotic (/r/) and lateral (/l/) consonants. According to that reasoning, speakers of languages who do possess an /r/-/l/ distinction, such as French, should encounter little or no perceptual difficulty with AE /r/-/l/. However, French and AE /r/s differ markedly in their articulatory-phonetic characteristics, which suggests the possibility that French listeners might have some difficulty categorizing AE /r/. The present study therefore examined identification and discrimination of the AE continua /r/-/l/, /w/-/r/, and /w/-/j/ by French participants. As anticipated on the basis of the phonetic differences between the /r/s of the two languages, the French listeners had some perceptual difficulties with AE /r/, which they tended to assimilate as /w/-like. We conclude that the detailed articulatory-phonetic properties of the native versus non-native consonant categories, rather than solely the abstract phonological contrasts of the two languages, account for this perceptual pattern.

Modeling and synthesis of the lateral consonant /l/

The lateral consonant in English is generally produced with a backed tongue body, a midline closure of the tongue blade at the alveolar ridge, and a path around one or both of the lateral edges of the tongue blade. In prevocalic lateral consonants, the release of the closure causes a discontinuity in the spectral characteristics of the sound. Past attempts to synthesize syllable-initial lateral consonants using formant changes alone to represent the discontinuity have not been entirely satisfactory. Data from prior research has shown rapid changes in not only the formant frequencies but also in the glottal source amplitude and spectrum and in the amplitudes of the formant peaks at the consonant release. Further measurements have been made on additional utterances, guided by models of lateral production. Based on these data, new synthesis attempts have incorporated changes in source amplitudes, formant bandwidths, and the location of a pole-zero pair. Including these additional parameters improves the naturalness of the synthesized lateral-vowel syllables in initial perception tests. Results of listening tests indicating the relative importance of the various factors to the naturalness of the synthesized syllables will be reported. [Work supported in part by a LeBel Fellowship and by NIH Grant No. DC00075.]

Phonetics of Intervocalic Consonant Perception: Retrospect and Prospect

This article reviews the production characteristics and perceptual cues of intervocalic consonants as a background for acoustic studies of consonant perception in fluent speech. Data show that in conversation intervocalic consonants occur much more commonly than consonants in initial or final position; all phonetic features are strongly represented. Production characteristics of intervocalic consonants are seen to depend on the tempo and rhythmic conditions of the syllables of which they are components. At a moderate tempo, consonants in syllable-final position combine with the onset consonant of the following syllable. This affects durational characteristics and may be explained by higher energy efficiency of CV units in production. Phonological phenomena are related to the shifts in syllable position and the temporal compensations of intervocalic consonant production. Studies of consonant perception in fluent context have dealt with tempo of utterance, position in word, and rhythmic pattern, as well as phonemic context. Major phenomena are effects of coarticulation, invariance in consonant perception, and cue interaction and masking. Much evidence suggests a dominance of the perceptual cues in the CV portion of VCCV and VCV sequences. We suggest that exploration of perception variables that affect consonants in fluent context would be expedited by reorienting experimental procedures to employ listener adjustment of stimuli, instead of the traditional phoneme identification and discrimination procedures with large sets of constant stimuli. Most of the relevant literature deals with stop consonants. Lateral, rhotic, and nasal consonants also deserve intensive study because of their very frequent occurrence. Theoretical issues of phoneme perceptual invariance and motor vs. auditory theory of perception are discussed in relation to proposed experiments which vary syllable tempo and stress pattern.

Cross‐sectional tongue shapes and palatal contours during sibilant and lateral consonants

This presentation will examine the relationship between tongue shape and palatal contour during the production of /s/ , /∫/, and /l/. A combination of electropalatoraphy (EPG) and ultrasound (US) was used to compare tongue‐palate contact patterns with their related cross‐sectional tongue shapes. The phonemes /s/, /∫/, and /l/ are interesting to study because they are physiologically demanding. They necessitate distinct posterior tongue shapes to channel the air anteriorly (sibilants) or laterally (/l/). In addition, these phonemes exhibit specific palatal contact patterns that result in their unique acoustic waveforms. Another effect of tongue‐palate contact, which is usually overlooked, is the resultant bracing of the tongue. With the anterior tongue braced against the alveolar ridge, the posterior tongue is able to deform into a variety of cross‐sectional shapes (concave for /s/, convex for /l/).

Some aspects of the auditory analysis of lateral consonants

From its consistent presence in sweep‐frequency measurements and in natural speech data, the spectral antiformant in the 2700‐Hz region might be thought to be a candidate perceptual feature involved in distinguishing laterals from vowels. However, in isolated synthetic steady‐state stimuli, the presence versus absence of an antiformant is barely detectable. This finding can be interepreted (consistent with other experiments using fricatives) as indicating that the auditory filter “smoothes over” the spectral notch. The width of the notch was exaggerated experimentally, as a probe for the width of the auditory filter in speech. A value in excess of 1 bark, and consistent with the assumption of a 3‐ to 3.5‐bark‐wide filter, was found. This property of auditory analysis seems to underlie a rather large range of speech effects. A second question which arises is whether the antiformant might be detected by temporal auditory mechanisms, such as enhanced onset/offset of discharge in the appropriate channel. But, when stimuli with and without the antiformant were embedded in an intervocalic context, hardly any evidence of perceptual enhancement was found: Differences were again barely detectable. Instead, apparently, the contrast lateral versus vowel relies on grosser auditory characteristics such as transition duration, steady‐state duration, and the amplitude envelope.