Dynamic hyperarticulation of coda voicing contrasts

Area of Science:

• Phonetics and Speech Science
• Auditory Perception and Production
• Linguistic Communication

Background:

• Understanding how speakers adapt their articulation in response to contextual demands is crucial for speech production models.
• Previous research has explored phonetic variability, but the targeted, context-dependent nature of durational cue enhancement requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the capacity for targeted hyperarticulation of contextually-relevant phonetic contrasts.
• To determine if speakers enhance durational cues for word-final voicing contrasts (/s/ vs. /z/) based on contextual availability of minimal pairs.

Main Methods:

• Participants produced target words with word-final /s/ or /z/.
• The experimental context manipulated the availability of voicing minimal-pairs (e.g., 'dose' vs. 'doze').
• Acoustic analysis focused on durational cues of the final fricatives.

Main Results:

• Speakers demonstrated enhanced durational cues for the word-final voicing contrast when contextually required.
• This enhancement involved both lengthening and shortening of fricative duration, optimizing the contrast.
• The degree of temporal enhancement was sensitive to the specific contextual demands.

Conclusions:

• Talkers possess a sophisticated ability for targeted, context-sensitive temporal enhancements in speech production.
• Phonetic articulation is dynamically modulated to maximize the perceptual salience of contextually relevant contrasts.
• Findings support models of speech production that incorporate adaptive, context-driven articulatory adjustments.