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Articulatory reduction and coarticulation in Catalan three-consonant sequences
Daniel Recasens1, Meritxell Mira1
1Departament de Filologia Catalana, Facutat de Lletres, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra 08193, Barcelona, Spain.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|January 26, 2015
Summary
Velar stops (/k/) in Catalan are often reduced or deleted in consonant clusters, especially after /s/ and before oral stops. However, they are more prominent next to fricatives like /s/ and /z/.
Area of Science:
- Phonetics
- Linguistics
- Speech Science
Background:
- Consonant cluster reduction is a common phenomenon in spoken languages.
- The velar stop /k/ is known to be susceptible to reduction and deletion.
- Catalan phonology presents complex consonant sequences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the articulatory and acoustic realization of the velar stop /k/ in Catalan /Ck#C/ sequences.
- To test the hypothesis that /k/ reduction is influenced by articulatory and aerodynamic demands of adjacent consonants.
- To identify conditions favoring velar stop reduction versus prominence.
Main Methods:
- Electropalatography (EPG) was used to record tongue-palate contact.
- Acoustic analysis captured speech signal properties.
- Data were collected for Catalan /Ck#C/ sequences with specific preceding and following consonants.
Main Results:
- Approximately 50% of /k/ closures were absent in the analyzed sequences.
- Velar stop absence was most frequent when /k/ followed /s/ and preceded an oral stop.
- /k/ was prominently realized when adjacent to /s/ and /z/.
- Sequences lacking /k/ closure showed residual articulation via increased duration and dorsopalatal contact.
Conclusions:
- Articulatory reduction and elision are key mechanisms for handling complex consonant sequences in Catalan.
- The phonetic context significantly influences the production of the velar stop /k/.
- Two distinct production strategies exist for three-consonant sequences: reduction/elision and enhanced salience.
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