Voicing contrast in consonant clusters: evidence against sonorant transparency to voice assimilation in Russian

Phonology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-452
Author(s):  
Vladimir Kulikov

Obstruents in Russian have been claimed to assimilate in voicing in clusters when a sonorant consonant intervenes, e.g. ot mgly [dmg] ‘from the haze’. This phenomenon (‘sonorant transparency to voice assimilation’) is controversial: it is claimed to be a phonological rule of fast speech by some linguists, while its existence is denied by others. Previous studies have shown that voicing in presonorant obstruents (C1) in Russian is consistent with that of prevocalic obstruents in slow speech; however, no research has examined whether voicing in presonorant obstruents changes either as a function of the voicing of the rightmost (C2) obstruent in a cluster or in faster speech. This paper presents experimental results supporting the claim that the voicing of C2 obstruents does not affect voicing in presonorant C1 obstruents in slow or fast speech. The results suggest that obstruents do not assimilate through a sonorant in obstruent–sonorant–obstruent clusters in Russian.

2005 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Fuchs

This work investigates laryngeal and supralaryngeal correlates of the voicing contrast in alveolar obstruent production in German. It further studies laryngealoral co-ordination observed for such productions. Three different positions of the obstruents are taken into account: the stressed, syllable initial position, the post-stressed intervocalic position, and the post-stressed word final position. For the latter the phonological rule of final devoicing applies in German. The different positions are chosen in order to study the following hypotheses: 1. The presence/absence of glottal opening is not a consistent correlate of the voicing contrast in German. 2. Supralaryngeal correlates are also involved in the contrast. 3. Supralaryngeal correlates can compensate for the lack of distinction in laryngeal adjustment. Including the word final position is motivated by the question whether neutralization in word final position would be complete or whether some articulatory residue of the contrast can be found. Two experiments are carried out. The first experiment investigates glottal abduction in co-ordination with tongue-palate contact patterns by means of simultaneous recordings of transillumination, fiberoptic films and Electropalatography (EPG). The second experiment focuses on supralaryngeal correlates of alveolar stops studied by means of Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) simultaneously with EPG. Three German native speakers participated in both recordings. Results of this study provide evidence that the first hypothesis holds true for alveolar stops when different positions are taken into account. In fricative production it is also confirmed since voiceless and voiced fricatives are most of the time realised with glottal abduction. Additionally, supralaryngeal correlates are involved in the voicing contrast under two perspectives. First, laryngeal and supralaryngeal movements are well synchronised in voiceless obstruent production, particularly in the stressed position. Second, supralaryngeal correlates occur especially in the post-stressed intervocalic position. Results are discussed with respect to the phonetics-phonology interface, to the role of timing and its possible control, to the interarticulatory co-ordination, and to stress as 'localised hyperarticulation'.  


Author(s):  
Daniel A. Dinnsen ◽  
Jessica A. Barlow ◽  
Judith A. Gierut

This chapter highlights some of the descriptive and experimental findings about young children’s phonological (non-organic) disorders that have emerged from and contribute to contemporary rule- and constraint-based theories of phonology. Special attention is given to the nature of children’s underlying representations and the processes that relate those representations to corresponding phonetic outputs. Grammatical accounts of several characteristic error patterns are examined from different theoretical perspectives. The focus is on error patterns involving restrictions on phonetic inventories, distributional restrictions, paradigm effects (i.e., morpho-phonological alternations), conspiracies, and consonant clusters. Experimental results from clinical treatment studies are also brought to bear on the evaluation of several phonological claims.


2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 408-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michihiro Shimada ◽  
Takayuki Kanda

This study investigates the influence of a robot’s speech rate. In human communication, slow speech is considered boring, speech at normal speed is perceived as credible, and fast speech is perceived as competent. To seek the appropriate speech rate for robots, we test whether these tendencies are replicated in human-robot interaction by conducting an experiment with four rates of speech: fast, normal, moderately slow, and slow. Our experimental results reveal a rather surprising trend. Participants prefer normal and moderately slow speech to fast speech. A robot that provides normal or moderately slow speech is perceived as competent. We further study how context affects this perception. In a situation where the robot and participants talk while walking, we found that slow speech was the most comprehensible. In addition, slow speech is subjectively perceived as good as moderately slow and normal speech. Keywords: Human-robot interaction; speech rate


1988 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 357-360
Author(s):  
J.C. Gauthier ◽  
J.P. Geindre ◽  
P. Monier ◽  
C. Chenais-Popovics ◽  
N. Tragin ◽  
...  

AbstractIn order to achieve a nickel-like X ray laser scheme we need a tool to determine the parameters which characterise the high-Z plasma. The aim of this work is to study gold laser plasmas and to compare experimental results to a collisional-radiative model which describes nickel-like ions. The electronic temperature and density are measured by the emission of an aluminium tracer. They are compared to the predictions of the nickel-like model for pure gold. The results show that the density and temperature can be estimated in a pure gold plasma.


Author(s):  
Y. Harada ◽  
T. Goto ◽  
H. Koike ◽  
T. Someya

Since phase contrasts of STEM images, that is, Fresnel diffraction fringes or lattice images, manifest themselves in field emission scanning microscopy, the mechanism for image formation in the STEM mode has been investigated and compared with that in CTEM mode, resulting in the theory of reciprocity. It reveals that contrast in STEM images exhibits the same properties as contrast in CTEM images. However, it appears that the validity of the reciprocity theory, especially on the details of phase contrast, has not yet been fully proven by the experiments. In this work, we shall investigate the phase contrast images obtained in both the STEM and CTEM modes of a field emission microscope (100kV), and evaluate the validity of the reciprocity theory by comparing the experimental results.


Author(s):  
A. Ourmazd ◽  
G.R. Booker ◽  
C.J. Humphreys

A (111) phosphorus-doped Si specimen, thinned to give a TEM foil of thickness ∼ 150nm, contained a dislocation network lying on the (111) plane. The dislocation lines were along the three <211> directions and their total Burgers vectors,ḇt, were of the type , each dislocation being of edge character. TEM examination under proper weak-beam conditions seemed initially to show the standard contrast behaviour for such dislocations, indicating some dislocation segments were undissociated (contrast A), while other segments were dissociated to give two Shockley partials separated by approximately 6nm (contrast B) . A more detailed examination, however, revealed that some segments exhibited a third and anomalous contrast behaviour (contrast C), interpreted here as being due to a new dissociation not previously reported. Experimental results obtained for a dislocation along [211] with for the six <220> type reflections using (g,5g) weak-beam conditions are summarised in the table below, together with the relevant values.


Author(s):  
Scott Lordi

Vicinal Si (001) surfaces are interesting because they are good substrates for the growth of III-V semiconductors. Spots in RHEED patterns from vicinal surfaces are split due to scattering from ordered step arrays and this splitting can be used to determine the misorientation angle, using kinematic arguments. Kinematic theory is generally regarded to be inadequate for the calculation of RHEED intensities; however, only a few dynamical RHEED simulations have been attempted for vicinal surfaces. The multislice formulation of Cowley and Moodie with a recently developed edge patching method was used to calculate RHEED patterns from vicinal Si (001) surfaces. The calculated patterns are qualitatively similar to published experimental results and the positions of the split spots quantitatively agree with kinematic calculations.RHEED patterns were calculated for unreconstructed (bulk terminated) Si (001) surfaces misoriented towards [110] ,with an energy of 15 keV, at an incident angle of 36.63 mrad ([004] bragg condition), and a beam azimuth of [110] (perpendicular to the step edges) and the incident beam pointed down the step staircase.


2013 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-78
Author(s):  
Sophie Richardot

The aim of this study is to understand to what extent soliciting collective memory facilitates the appropriation of knowledge. After being informed about Milgram’s experiment on obedience to authority, students were asked to mention historical or contemporary events that came to mind while thinking about submission to authority. Main results of the factorial analysis show that the students who do not believe in the reproducibility of the experimental results oppose dramatic past events to a peaceful present, whereas those who do believe in the reproducibility of the results also mention dramatic contemporary events, thus linking past and present. Moreover, the students who do not accept the results for today personify historical events, whereas those who fully accept them generalize their impact. Therefore, according to their attitude toward this objet of knowledge, the students refer to two kinds of memory: a “closed memory,” which tends to relegate Milgram’s results to ancient history; and an “open memory,” which, on the contrary, transforms past events into a concept that helps them understand the present. Soliciting collective memory may contribute to the appropriation of knowledge provided the memory activated is an “open” one, linking past to present and going beyond the singularity of the event.


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