Velar Nasal Research Articles

Consonantal decomposition in interlanguage mapping*

AbstractThis paper analyzes segmental decomposition processes in interlanguage mapping, showing that the major place property is the most important factor among all phonological properties to be preserved. For instance, the duality of the Japanese fricative /ɸ/ triggers segmental decomposition both in Japanese loan adaptation of the English /f/ and in Korean adaptation of the Japanese fricative. Moreover, the targets of decomposition may include affricates, fricatives, and even a velar nasal. Furthermore, allophonic variation in the source language may show up in the recipient language as variations, even in transcription. Finally, I discuss the role of VOT which contributes to the interlanguage mapping.

Phonetic aspects of strongly-accented Czech speakers of English

This paper contributes to the study of Czech-accented English by examining multiple pronunciation features, both segmental and prosodic, typically associated with or previously studied in Czech English. We analyzed ten female speakers who had been evaluated as having a strong accent in their English, using auditory and acoustic approaches. In the segmental domain, most of the analyzed speakers used Czech equivalents of the English open vowels /a ɒ/ and tended to pronounce a velar plosive after a velar nasal. In the domain of connected speech, linking was very rare in our speakers, and their pitch range tended to be very flat. The results underscore the fact that the label “strong Czech accent” may, in different speakers, refer to different constellations of pronunciation features.

A Comparative Study on the Approaches of ŋ-distribution and its Analyses

The purpose of doing this study is to identify the velar nasal distribution and to explain the phonological phenomena relating to the sequence ng either in words or suffixation from different angles which are based on a harmonic approach. For this, first we consider rule-based analyses such as boundaries (Wolfram and Johnson 1981), a sonority restriction (Roca and Johnson 1999), and lexical levels (Borowsky 1986). However, those showed some limitations of explanation as to the interrelation of g deletion and syllabification closely related to the sequence ng. As an alternative, we examined the constraints-based analyses depending on some constraints such as Max (More-Salient C) >> No Complex Coda >> Max (Less-Salient C) (Lee 1997) or parochial constraint (long([+tense])) and analogical constraint (OO(long, song; ɔ) & OO(long, song; ŋ)), etc. (Green 2001). But those explanations were complicated due to a lack of conciseness as well as either biased towards the deletion of the final consonants or the contexts of vowels occurring before the velar nasal. Therefore, in a harmonic approach, we could explain the issues (g deletion and syllabification of g) relating to the sequence ng more concisely through foot structures in level constructions than through the other analytical methods mentioned.

A contrastive place of articulation between palatals and velars: An ultrasound study of Malayalam palatal-velar nasals

Malayalam (Dravidian) has been described as having seven contrastive nasal places of articulation: labial, dental, alveolar, retroflex, palatal, velar, and a “seventh nasal,” sometimes called palatal-velar /ŋj/ (Asher & Kumari 1997; Namboodiripad & Garellek 2017). Nasal inventories of this size are cross-linguistically rare, and the palatal-velar nasal has only been proposed in a handful of languages worldwide (e.g., Irish, Yanyuwa, and Awngi). Indeed, its status in Malayalam could be deemed peripheral; it is infrequent and occurs in limited phonological contexts. Namboodiripad & Garellek (2017) claim that, though several consonants undergo palatalization in Malayalam, this palatal-velar nasal is dynamically stable and not post-palatalized. Although it is distinct in format transitions from the non-palatalized velar nasal, the articulatory basis for the distinction between this palatal-velar nasal and a velar-glide cluster is not clear. The present study uses ultrasound imaging to determine if this seventh nasal is in fact dynamically stable. Ultrasound data were collected from one native speaker of Malayalam; the placement and timing of lingual contact with the palate were examined. Discussion will focus on how the palatal-velar differs in terms of place and timing of articulations from both palatal and velar nasals, as well as from other palatalized consonants.Malayalam (Dravidian) has been described as having seven contrastive nasal places of articulation: labial, dental, alveolar, retroflex, palatal, velar, and a “seventh nasal,” sometimes called palatal-velar /ŋj/ (Asher & Kumari 1997; Namboodiripad & Garellek 2017). Nasal inventories of this size are cross-linguistically rare, and the palatal-velar nasal has only been proposed in a handful of languages worldwide (e.g., Irish, Yanyuwa, and Awngi). Indeed, its status in Malayalam could be deemed peripheral; it is infrequent and occurs in limited phonological contexts. Namboodiripad & Garellek (2017) claim that, though several consonants undergo palatalization in Malayalam, this palatal-velar nasal is dynamically stable and not post-palatalized. Although it is distinct in format transitions from the non-palatalized velar nasal, the articulatory basis for the distinction between this palatal-velar nasal and a velar-glide cluster is not clear. The present study uses ultrasound imaging to determine if this sevent...

An Investigation of The Velar Nasal in Badini Kurdish Dialect

The velar nasal, also called "Engma" or "Angma", can be found in the phonologicalinventories of many languages across the world. Kurdish researchers vary in their opinions as to whether this sound is listed among the inventory of Kurdish language phonemes or not. Some researchers have tackled this case in Sorani Kurdish but research in Badini is scarce in this area. In this paper we aim to investigate the velar nasal /N/ in Badini Kurdish, which is a very controversial topic. The paperaims to answer the question as to whether it can be considered as a phoneme or it is just an allophonic realization of the alveolar nasal /n/ when followed by the voiced velar stop/g/. This is done through providing examples that have the combination of (n+g) which have a possible occurrence of the velar nasal. These examples are first analyzed articulatory in terms of some phonological processes such as assimilation, morpheme affixation, and syllabification. They are then analyzed acoustically by contrasting the pairs and searching for nasal bands using Praat. After analyzing both articulatory and acoustic data, it was concluded that the velar nasal can be found in Badini Kurdish but only as an allophone of the alveolar nasal which is the result of certain phonological rules such as assimilation and co-articulation. They are in free variation and couldn’t change the meaning. So, we can’t consider it as a distinct phoneme in this dialect.

An Investigation of The Velar Nasal in Badini Kurdish Dialect

The velar nasal, also called "Engma" or "Angma", can be found in the phonologicalinventories of many languages across the world. Kurdish researchers vary in their opinions as to whether this sound is listed among the inventory of Kurdish language phonemes or not. Some researchers have tackled this case in Sorani Kurdish but research in Badini is scarce in this area. In this paper we aim to investigate the velar nasal /N/ in Badini Kurdish, which is a very controversial topic. The paperaims to answer the question as to whether it can be considered as a phoneme or it is just an allophonic realization of the alveolar nasal /n/ when followed by the voiced velar stop/g/. This is done through providing examples that have the combination of (n+g) which have a possible occurrence of the velar nasal. These examples are first analyzed articulatory in terms of some phonological processes such as assimilation, morpheme affixation, and syllabification. They are then analyzed acoustically by contrasting the pairs and searching for nasal bands using Praat. After analyzing both articulatory and acoustic data, it was concluded that the velar nasal can be found in Badini Kurdish but only as an allophone of the alveolar nasal which is the result of certain phonological rules such as assimilation and co-articulation. They are in free variation and couldn’t change the meaning. So, we can’t consider it as a distinct phoneme in this dialect.

A Aquisição Fonológica Variável da Nasal Velar por Aprendizes de Inglês-L2: Análise pela Teoria da Otimidade Estocástica

This article presents a formal analysis of the Interlanguage of Brazilian learners (gaúchos) of English regarding the acquisition of the velar nasal in syllabic coda. The analysis is associated with the learning algorithm of the Stochastic Optimality Theory, the GLA (Gradual Learning Algorithm) (BOERSMA and HAYES, 2001), which views acquisition as a hierarchical ranking of linguistic constraints, in which variation is represented by the overlapping of the selection points of the constraints in a continuous scale. The status of the variation in the L1 (first language, Portuguese) and in the L2 (second language, English) is distinct, it is due to phonetic conditioning in the first language and phonological conditioning in the second language. The starting point of the L2 acquisition is the L1 ranking, whose configuration is M(arkedness)>>F(aithfulness). In the modelling proposed, a constraint AGREE (M), which demands sharing of manner of articulation in the sequence vN_#, has a similar ranking value to a constraint IDENT (F), which requires identity concerning nasal manner of articulation in the input and in the output. The modelling confirms the potential of the algorithm concerning the formalization of variable L2 systems. Acquiring the velar nasal is to promote Faithfulness towards the input, through the gradual adjustement of contraints.

The Proto—Malayo-Polynesian Multiplicative Ligature *ŋa: A Reply to Reid

In seeking a plausible morphological source for the "intrusive velar nasal" of Palauan, Reid has argued that the multiplicative ligature *ŋa posited by Blust is invalid, and that the shape of this morpheme in Proto—Malayo-Polynesian vowel-final numerals from '20' to '90' was *=m, from earlier *na. However, evidence extending from the northern Philippines to eastern Polynesia supports *ŋa, and shows that Reid has confused two distinct morphemes, the attributive ligature *na, and the multiplicative ligature *ŋa. His further attempts to account for the nonetymological velar nasal of Palauan from an independent ligature *ŋ that ultimately reflects *na are unconvincing because they appeal to ad hoc sound changes, because they are largely a prioristic statements of possibility rather than controlled efforts to track evidence in a single language, and because Palauan has a regular reflex of *na in the form of the ligature əl , which closely matches the functions of Tagalog na and the similar attributive ligature in other Philippine-type languages.

The effect of segmental makeup on Mandarin word and tone recognition

The present study adopts the gating paradigm to investigate the effect of onset sonorancy, and coda on Mandarin spoken word and tone recognition. Eight tonal quadruplets (all monosyllabic) with different initial segment (obstruent or sonorant), coda composition (no coda, alveolar nasal, or velar nasal) were used as the stimuli. The gates were formed by a 40-ms increment from the beginning of each word. Twenty native listeners from Taiwan were asked to listen to each stimulus, click the corresponding tone number using a mouse, write down the word and then give their confidence rating on the answer. The Isolation point (IP) based on correct word identification (both segment and tone) and the tone isolation point (TIP) were analyzed. The results indicated that tone recognition can be done before the offset of the stimuli. Tone 1 has an earlier IP than Tone 4, followed by Tones 3 and then Tone 2. Sonorant-initial words have a significant earlier IP than obstruent-initial ones. Words without coda have an earlier IP than alveolar nasal, followed by velar nasals. The processing time course for tone and segment and the effect of tonal features on word processing will be discussed.

음향음성학 파라미터를 사용한 비음 위치 검출

논문은 지식기반의 음성인식 시스템에서 비음 위치를 검출하기 위한 음향음성학적 파라미터를 제시하였다. 음향음성학적 파라미터는 앞선 연구자들의 연구내용을 토대로 비강을 통해 음성이 발성될 때 나타나는 특징을 기반으로 하여 선별하였다. 선별된 파라미터들은 대역별 에너지 비율, 대역별 에너지의 차이, 포먼트 그리고 포먼트의 차이로써, 비음 위치에 따라 변화하는 조음기관의 영향을 잘 나타내 주었다. 이러한 음향음성학 파라미터를 이용하여 비음을 순비음(/m/), 치경비음(/n/), 그리고 연구개비음(/ng/)으로 나누는 실험을 진행하였고, TIMIT 데이터베이스로 실험하였을 때 57.5%의 검출률을 얻을 수 있었다. This paper describes acoustic phonetic parameters for detecting nasal place in a knowledge-based speech recognition system. Initial acoustic phonetic parameters are selected by studying nasal production mechanisms which are radiation of the sound through the nasal cavity. Nasals are produced with differing articulatory configuration which can be classified by measuring acoustic phonetic parameters such as band energy ratio, band energy differences, formants and formant differences. These acoustic phonetic parameters were tested in a classification experiment among labial nasal, alveolar nasal and velar nasal. An overall classification rate of 57.5% is obtained using the proposed acoustic phonetic parameters on the TIMIT database.

Origins of Palauan Intrusive Velar Nasals

Recent detailed study of the historical phonology of Palauan reveals a non-etymological velar nasal at the beginning of inherited vowel-initial words, while synchronic studies of the language report final velar nasals in loans from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Blust argues that the initial velar nasal is not due to regular sound change, and also contests a potential morphological origin for the accreted segment. Reid examines Philippine evidence, and suggests that the source of the Palauan initial velar nasal is the linker *ŋa, though little evidence internal to Palauan is discussed. Here we demonstrate that, on the basis of internal evidence, a morphological source for both initial and final velar nasals is evident in Palauan, though internal and comparative evidence points to an ancient formative *ŋa 'emphatic' with distinct distribution and semantics from the well-studied Austronesian linker.

On the non-phonemic status of the velar nasal /ŋ/ in Jivaroan

The modern Jivaroan languages and the reconstructed proto language have all been assigned a velar nasal phoneme /ŋ/ by previous analysts. In this paper I argue that such an analysis is incorrect, and propose that the velar nasals in surface forms come from two sources. The first is assimilation of an underlying unspecified syllable-final nasal archiphoneme /N/ to a following velar stop /k/. The second concerns a group of velar nasals that surface only in Aguaruna and arise as a syllable-final allophone of the phoneme /h/. I also propose to reconstruct a rhotic phoneme for the proto language rather than a velar nasal, and show that it has merged with /h/ in Aguaruna. Historical, comparative and documentary evidence is adduced to support these hypotheses.

On the non-phonemic status of the velar nasal /ŋ/ in Jivaroan

ABSTRACT The modern Jivaroan languages and the reconstructed proto language have all been assigned a velar nasal phoneme /ŋ/ by previous analysts. In this paper I argue that such an analysis is incorrect, and propose that the velar nasals in surface forms come from two sources. The first is assimilation of an underlying unspecified syllable-final nasal archiphoneme /N/ to a following velar stop /k/. The second concerns a group of velar nasals that surface only in Aguaruna and arise as a syllable-final allophone of the phoneme /h/. I also propose to reconstruct a rhotic phoneme for the proto language rather than a velar nasal, and show that it has merged with /h/ in Aguaruna. Historical, comparative and documentary evidence is adduced to support these hypotheses. KEYWORDS: Jivaroan; phonology; reconstruction. RESUMENEstudiosos anteriores consideraron el fonema nasal velar /ŋ/ como parte tanto de las lenguas jíbaras actuales como de la proto lengua reconstruida. En este artículo, argumento que esos análisis están incorrectos; propongo, por el contrario, que la nasal velar en la estructura superficial tiene dos orígenes. El primero se relaciona con la asimilación del arquifonema nasal no especificado en final de sílaba a la consonante oclusiva velar /k/. El segundo se relaciona con un grupo de consonantes nasales velares que se manifiestan solamente en la lengua aguaruna, concretizándose como alófono, en sílaba final, del fonema /h/. También propongo reconstruir un fonema rótico para la proto lengua y no una nasal velar. Muestro, asimismo, que el rótico se fusionó con /h/ en aguaruna. Recurro a evidencias de tipo histórico, comparativo y documental para corroborar estas hipótesis. PALABRAS-CLAVE: Jíbaro; Fonología; Reconstrucción.

The underlying velar nasal /ŋ/ in English: A dialect-based Optimality-theoretic study

The underlying velar nasal /ŋ/ in English: A dialect-based Optimality-theoretic study

The Acoustic and Visual Phonetic Basis of Place of Articulation in Excrescent Nasals

One common historical development in languages with distinctively nasalized vowels is the excrescence of coda velar nasals in place of nasalized vowels. For example, the dialect of French spoken in the southwestern part of France (Midi French) is characterized by words ending in the velar nasal where Parisian French has nasalized vowels and no final nasal consonant. More generally, there is a cross-linguistic tendency for the unmarked place of articulation for coda nasals, and perhaps also for stops, to be velar. In four experiments, we explored why the cross-linguistically unmarked place for the excrescent nasal is velar. The experiments test Ohala's (1975) acoustic explanation: that velar nasals, having no oral antiformants, are acoustically more similar to nasalized vowels than are bilabial or alveolar nasals. The experiments also tested an explanation based on the visual phonetics of nasalized vowels and velar nasals: velar nasals, having no visible consonant articulation, are visually more similar to nasalized vowels than are bilabial or alveolar nasals. American English listeners gave place of articulation judgments for audio-only and audio-visual tokens ending in nasal consonants ornasalized vowels. In the first and second experiments, we embedded recorded tokens of CVN (N = /m/, /n/, or /ng/) words in masking noise and presented them in audio-only and audio-visual trials. We also synthesized placeless nasals by repeating pitch periods from the nasalized vowel to replace the finalconsonant in CVm with nasalized vowel (henceforth V~). These stimuli provide a direct test of Ohala's acoustic explanation of coda velarity in nasals. The third and fourth experiments extended these results with tokens in which the last portion of CVN (N = /m/, /n/, or /ng/) and CV~ syllables were obscured with masking noise. These experiments were designed to force listeners to assume the existence of a final consonant and to rely primarily on visual cues in a more direct test of the visual similarity of nasalized vowels and velar nasals. Taken together, the results of these four experiments suggest that excrescent coda nasals tend to be velar because nasalized vowels are both acoustically and visually similar to velarnasals.

Has Barack Obama Changed his Language in Later Life? A Case Study of -ing/-in Variation and the MOUTH Vowel

This paper aims to explore whether individual speakers can change their language at the phonological level across their lifespan, especially after the critical period, by conducting a longitudinal study on U.S. President Barack Obama at three time points in his middle years: 1995 (age 34), 2008 (age 47), and 2014 (age 53). The two phonological variants -ing/-in and the /aw/ vowel were investigated. Our data were collected from three formal TV interviews with Barack Obama, available on YouTube. We transcribed the first 14– 17 minutes of each interview as our research samples. A quantitative analysis was conducted on word-final -ing/-in and the F1 and F2 of /aw/ by employing Multivariate Analysis and a Fisher’s Exact Test. As Obama identifies with being an African American, he is expected to use the alveolar variant at a higher rate than the velar nasal. However, according to our results for -ing/-in , Obama shows almost no change in our data. This could be accounted for by his occupations, including that of lecturer and president, requiring the use of the standard language as well as by the stability of the variables -ing/-in themselves. However, in contrast to previous findings that -ing tends to be favoured in nouns, while -in is preferred in verbs (Wagner 2012b), our research showed no such preference, possibly because of the relatively formal speech style. As for Obama’s /aw/ vowel, the data reveal a dramatic change in both lowering and fronting from age 34 to 47, while no difference is found between the ages of 47 and 53. Geographical relocation and social mobility could account for this linguistic change. To conclude, these patterns indicate the possibilities of individuals changing their language across their lifespan; and several motivating factors, such as geographical and social class mobility, style of speech, and accommodation, tend to affect the courses of the change.

Vocalic context as a condition for nasal coda emergence: aerodynamic evidence

Nasal coda emergence (NCE) (sometimes referred to as ‘restoration’) is the process by which a nasal vowel develops an excrescent nasal coda which may or may not have been present in an earlier form of the spoken language. NCE is operative in the Carioca (Rio de Janeiro) dialect of Brazilian Portuguese (CBP), an Ibero-Romance language with five phonemically nasal vowels. The output of NCE (in this language) is usually a velar nasal. It has been suggested that the process may be a function of tongue position (Hajek 1991: 262). To test the null hypothesis that NCE does not correlate with vowel height or anteriority, aerodynamic (nasal and oral flow) signals were obtained from three speakers of CBP. The speakers uttered words ending in nasal vowels while wearing a circumferentially-vented pneumotach split-flow air mask. For comparative purposes, parallel data were gathered from a Hindi and a French speaker as well. The maximum nasal percentage of total flow and the maximum real nasal flow (in ml/s) were measured for each token, averaged across vowels and, in the case of CBP, across speakers. For CBP, the null hypothesis is rejected, lending support to the alternative: vowel height and posteriority indeed condition the emergence of NCE. This suggests a role for the lowered velum and/or raised tongue body in the development of coda obstruents on nasal vowels.

Perceptual salience and acoustic distance: Evidence from Tagalog nasal-place contrasts

The acoustics and perception of three Tagalog (Austronesian) nasal-onset places of articulation ([ma], [na], and [nga]) are investigated. In experiment 1, native speakers of Tagalog (n=13) were presented with the [ma]-[nga] and [na]-[nga] contrasts (as recorded by a native speaker of Tagalog) in an AX task. As expected, listeners performed according to Tagalog phonology, with successful discrimination of both contrasts (>90% correct). Listener performance on the [na]-[nga] contrast, however, was significantly lower than performance on [ma]-[na]. In a second experiment, designed to assess the perceptual salience of the [na]-[nga] contrast relative to the [ma]-[na] contrast, native-Tagalog listeners were tested (in an AX task) with the contrasts in signal-dependent (though uncorrelated) noise. Findings are discussed in light of acoustic measurements of multiple repetitions of [ma], [na] and [nga] as produced by three speakers of Tagalog. These acoustic results show that, in F2×F3 space (measured at the NV juncture), [na] is more similar to [nga] than it is to [ma]. In addition, the acoustic and perceptual findings will be interpreted relative to recent findings in the development of nasal-place perception in infancy. [ng=velar nasal.]

Vocalic Context as a Condition for Nasal Coda Emergence: Aerodynamic Evidence

UC Berkeley Phonology Lab Annual Report (2005) Vocalic context as a condition for nasal coda emergence: aerodynamic evidence Ryan K. Shosted University of California, Berkeley Abstract Nasal coda emergence (NCE) (sometimes referred to as “restoration”) is the process by which a nasal vowel develops an excrescent nasal coda which may or may not have been present in an earlier form of the spoken language. NCE is operative in the Carioca (Rio de Janeiro) dialect of Brazilian Portuguese (CBP), an Ibero-Romance language with five phonemically nasal vowels. The output of NCE (in this language) is usually a velar nasal. It has been suggested that the process may be a function of tongue position (Hajek 1991: 262). To test the null hypothesis that NCE does not correlate with vowel height or anteriority, aerodynamic (nasal and oral flow) signals were obtained from three speakers of CBP. The speakers uttered words ending in nasal vowels while wearing a circumferentially-vented pneumotach split-flow air mask. For comparative purposes, parallel data were gathered from a Hindi and a French speaker as well. The maximum nasal percentage of total flow and the maximum real nasal flow (in ml/s) were measured for each token, averaged across vowels and, in the case of CBP, across speakers. For CBP, the null hypothesis is rejected, lending support to the alternative: vowel height and anteriority indeed condition the emergence of NCE. This suggests a role for the lowered velum and/or raised tongue body in the development of coda obstruents on nasal vowels. 1 Introduction Romance philologists note the existence of a process that reverses the diachronic deletion of nasal coda consonants through emergence (sometimes called “restoration”) of a nasal consonant after a nasal vowel (see Sampson 1999: 146, 150-151, 207, 260 for cross-linguistic examples, particularly in Galician and northern Italian). Sampson (1999: 260) remarks that the emergent coda is generally “of variable duration and degree of occlusion.” It may also have a variable place of articulation, sometimes based on the quality of the preceding vowel. Furthermore, it has been suspected for over a century that a mysterious segment lurks at the edge of Brazilian Portuguese word-final nasal vowels (Nobiling 1903). This has provoked debate concerning the phonological status of nasal vowels in the language (Reed and Leite 1947; Morais-Barbosa 1961; Lipski 1975; Cagliari 1977; Mattoso Câmara 1977; Parkinson 1983). Nobiling (1903) was one of the first to posit an underlying nasal consonant in this position. He noted that it resembled a velar nasal consonant “without complete oral closure” (as cited in Lipski 1975: 72). The present study emphasizes the aerodynamics of nasal coda emergence (NCE) in Carioca Brazilian Portuguese (CBP) and concludes with suppositions about the articulatory conditions affecting its development. It is likely that the character of the oral occlusion in CBP is typically velar, though the issue has not been resolved, nor is it settled here (cf. Reed and Leite (1947) for a discussion of palatal and velar nasals in contrasting vocalic environments). Hajek (1991) introduces an explanation for NCE called “nasalized glide hardening.” He notes that dorsal raising in the articulation of a nasalized glide “facilitates contact between the raised tongue body and the lowered velum, resulting in the closure of the oral cavity” (1991: 262). Thus, he proposes a correlation between tongue height and NCE. Along these lines, it is reasonable to suggest that increased posteriority of a vowel—bringing the tongue body into closer proximity with the lowering velum—may also correlate with NCE. By analyzing aerodynamic data, this study aims to determine what, if any, correlation exists between NCE and vocalic context. NCE is an aerodynamic event characterized by the observation of a nasal stop consonant in an environment where, for present purposes, only a nasal vowel is expected. A nasal stop consonant is characterized aerodynamically by the simultaneous presence of positive nasal flow and zero oral flow. Thus, aerodynamic data is perhaps the most useful means of certifying the occurrence of NCE among individual speakers.

Nasalization, neutralization, and merger in English front vowels

Before a velar nasal, a tense/lax contrast in the front vowels is generally considered to be conflated to only the set of lax vowels in American English. However, Ladefoged (2001, A Course in Phonetics) states that many younger Americans pronounce ‘‘sing’’ with a vowel closer to that in ‘‘beat’’ rather than to that in ‘‘bit.’’ This paper examines front vowels produced by nine young Californians before the velar nasal to document whether or not the vowel, in fact, raises. Two outcomes are possible: (1) a front and raised vowel intermediate between its tense and lax counterparts (which we call neutralization) or (2) a lax vowel (which we call merger). Further, the pattern for both high- and midfront vowels is examined. The results demonstrate a consistent pattern of neutralization (i.e., an intermediate vowel) for both the high- and mid-vowels, the latter a previously unattested environment for this pattern of raising before velar nasals.