On the positional asymmetry of consonant gemination in Japanese loanwords

We investigate the temporal and kinematic properties of consonant gemination and heterosyllabic clusters as opposed to singletons and tautosyllabic clusters in Italian. The data show that the singleton versus geminate contrast is conveyed by specific kinematic properties in addition to systematic durational differences in both the consonantal and vocalic intervals; by contrast, tautosyllabic and heterosyllabic clusters differ significantly for the duration of the consonantal interval but do not vary systematically with respect to the vocalic interval and cannot be consistently differentiated at the kinematic level. We conclude that systematic variations in acoustic vowel duration and the kinematics of tongue tip gestures represent the phonetic correlates of the segmental phonological contrast between short and long consonants, rather than of syllable structure. Data are only partly consistent with the predictions of both moraic and gesture-based models of the syllable about the effects of syllable structure on speech production dynamics and call for a more gradient view of syllabification.

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CONSONANT GEMINATION

A Grammar of Neo-Aramaic ◽

10.1163/9789004305045_005 ◽

1999 ◽

pp. 56-61

Keyword(s):

Consonant Gemination

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An instrumental study of consonant gemination

Journal of Phonetics ◽

10.1016/s0095-4470(19)31418-4 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 131-148 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Ilse Lehiste ◽

Katherine Morton ◽

M.A.A. Tatham

Keyword(s):

Instrumental Study ◽

Consonant Gemination

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Non-durational acoustic correlates of word-initial consonant gemination in Kelantan Malay: The potential roles of amplitude and f0

Journal of the International Phonetic Association ◽

10.1017/s0025100318000142 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 23-60

Author(s):

Mohd Hilmi Hamzah ◽

John Hajek ◽

Janet Fletcher

Keyword(s):

Native Speakers ◽

Initial Position ◽

Acoustic Parameters ◽

Rare Word ◽

Acoustic Correlates ◽

Closure Duration ◽

Disyllabic Words ◽

Consonant Gemination ◽

Manner Of Articulation ◽

Magnitude Difference

This study reports on non-durational acoustic correlates of typologically rare word-initial consonant gemination in Kelantan Malay (KM) by focusing on two acoustic parameters – amplitude and f0. Given the unusual characteristics of the word-initial consonant contrast and its potential maintenance in domain-initial environments, this study sets to examine the extent to which amplitude and f0 can potentially characterise such a contrast in KM in addition to the cross-linguistically established acoustic correlate of closure duration. The production data involved elicited materials from sixteen KM native speakers. RMS and f0 values were measured at the start of the vowel following stops and sonorants produced in isolation (i.e. utterance-initial position) and in a carrier sentence (i.e. utterance-medial position). Results indicate that the consonant contrast is reflected in systematic differences in (i) vowel onset amplitude and f0 following the target consonant and (ii) the ratios of amplitude and f0 across two syllables of disyllabic words. There are also effects of utterance position, manner of articulation and voicing type on the magnitude of contrast between singletons and geminates with utterance-initial voiceless stops generally showing the greatest magnitude difference. The conclusion is drawn that the KM word-initial singleton/geminate consonant contrast can be associated with a set of acoustic parameters alongside closure duration.

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