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Perceptual pressures on lenition.

¹University of California, Santa Cruz, USA. abby.kaplan@utah.edu

Language and Speech

|November 11, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Phonological lenition, traditionally explained by reduced articulation, may instead be driven by perception. Experiments show spirantization is less perceptually salient than devoicing, offering a new explanation for lenition patterns.

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Area of Science:

Phonetics and Phonology
Linguistic Perception
Speech Science

Background:

Lenition, a phonological process, is often attributed to articulatory effort reduction.
This articulatory motivation lacks direct empirical evidence and faces theoretical challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of perceptual factors in lenition, specifically intervocalic spirantization of voiced stops.
To test the hypothesis that perceptual salience influences lenition patterns.

Main Methods:

Experiment 1: Assessed the perceptual salience of spirantization versus devoicing of intervocalic voiced stops.
Experiment 2: Examined how place of articulation (labial vs. dorsal) affects the perceptual difference between stops and spirants.

Main Results:

Spirantization was found to be less perceptually salient than devoicing.
The perceptual difference between stops and spirants varied by place of articulation, being greater for labials than dorsals.

Conclusions:

Perceptual salience offers an alternative explanation for lenition, suggesting languages avoid highly salient changes like devoicing.
While perception explains some lenition patterns, it does not fully account for the attested typological distribution, particularly concerning place of articulation.