Modelling Variation in the Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Azran with Articulatory Phonology

This chapter begins to motivate the development of an alternative approach to speech production by pointing out three potential difficulties with the highly-successful Articulatory Phonology/Task Dynamics approach. First, it discusses the extensive nature of modifications to AP/TD default specifications required to account for the wide variety of surface phonetic forms. The need for a large number of adjustments in AP/TD raises questions about the appropriateness of the AP/TD default-adjustment approach, which would have been more appropriate if the default, non-prominent, phrase-medial, normal-speech-rate specifications could be used most of the time. Second, it discusses the lack of a principled explanation for behaviors described by Fitts’ law. While the theory can accommodate some aspects of Fitts’ law, others are not explained or accommodated. Finally, it suggests that AP/TD’s gestural score architecture raises the risk of spatial interference among overlapping, independent gestures. These three challenges taken together set the stage for the discussion of additional challenges in Chapter 4, which further motivate consideration of phonology-extrinsic-timing-based approaches to speech motor control.

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Articulatory Phonology/Task Dynamics

Speech Timing ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198795421.003.0002 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 8-48

Author(s):

Alice Turk ◽

Stefanie Shattuck-Hufnagel

Keyword(s):

Speech Rate ◽

Systematic Variation ◽

Articulatory Phonology ◽

Timing Control ◽

Speech Timing ◽

Articulatory Movement ◽

Key Features

This chapter summarizes the basic mechanisms of the Articulatory Phonology model, currently the most thoroughly worked-out model in the literature, with a focus on its system-intrinsic mechanisms used to account for systematic variation in speech timing. Key features of the model are reviewed, and oscillator-based mechanisms are described for timing control for articulatory gestures, control of inter-gestural coordination, prosodic timing control, and the control of overall speech rate. Strengths of the AP/TD approach are discussed, which include facts that are well-accounted-for within this model, such as the predominance of CV syllables within the world’s languages, as well as characteristics of processing within the model that are assumed to be advantageous, such as the avoidance of the need to explicitly plan the details of articulatory movement when planning an utterance. This presentation forms the basis of the evaluation presented in subsequent chapters.

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Articulatory Phonology

10.1159/isbn.978-3-318-01905-6 ◽

1992 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Articulatory Phonology

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Duration of syllable nuclei in Spanish

Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics ◽

10.1515/shll-2019-2012 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 247-280

Author(s):

Alexander C. Aldrich ◽

Miquel Simonet

Keyword(s):

Research Question ◽

Syllable Structure ◽

Vowel Duration ◽

Consonant Cluster ◽

Articulatory Phonology ◽

Using Data

AbstractIn many languages, vowel duration is modulated by syllable structure — a phenomenon known asvowel compression— so that vowels are shorter in syllables with more segments than in syllables with fewer segments. Most instrumental evidence to date has reported an effect, in many languages, of the presence (and complexity) of a coda, and some studies have also documented effects of the presence (and complexity) of an onset. However, no prior studies on Spanish vowel duration have captured any effects of syllable structure. Using data from nine speakers and controlled speech materials, the present study addresses the following research question: Does syllable structure modulate vowel duration? The findings are as follows: (a) Relative to simplex onsets (those with a singleton consonant), complex onsets (those with a consonant cluster) trigger vowel compression; and (b) neither simplex nor complex codas consistently drive vowel compression — i.e. codas do not systematically affect vowel duration. Together with the facts for other languages, our findings support a view according to which syllable structure — in particular,onsetcomplexity — modulates acoustic vowel duration. The study discusses the theoretical implications of this finding, which are argued to be in line with some of the principles of the Articulatory Phonology framework or, alternatively, suggest that codas should not be considered part of the articulatory syllable.

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The phonological status of Dutch epenthetic schwa

Phonology ◽

10.1017/s0952675701004213 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 387-420 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Natasha Warner ◽

Allard Jongman ◽

Anne Cutler ◽

Doris Mücke

Keyword(s):

Articulatory Phonology ◽

Phonological Process ◽

Tongue Position

In this paper, we use articulatory measures to determine whether Dutch schwa epenthesis is an abstract phonological process or a concrete phonetic process depending on articulatory timing. We examine tongue position during /l/ before underlying schwa and epenthetic schwa and in coda position. We find greater tip raising before both types of schwa, indicating light /l/ before schwa and dark /l/ in coda position. We argue that the ability of epenthetic schwa to condition the /l/ alternation shows that Dutch schwa epenthesis is an abstract phonological process involving insertion of some unit, and cannot be accounted for within Articulatory Phonology.

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Aspects of the phonology of labial-velar stops

Studies in African Linguistics ◽

10.32473/sal.v28i2.107374 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 155-184

Author(s):

Michael Cahill

Keyword(s):

Historical Development ◽

The Other ◽

Articulatory Phonology ◽

Phonological Processes ◽

Feature Geometry ◽

Occurrence Patterns

Phonological patterns of labial-velar stops [kp, gb] are distinctively different from other consonants in their distribution and participation in phonological processes. A summary of cross-linguistic (> 80 languages) patterns of labial-velars includes phonemic inventories, co-occurrence patterns with vowels and consonants, and phonological processes that involve labial-velars. To explain these patterns, phonetic distinctives of labial-velars are presented, as well as the historical development of labial-velars. Feature Geometry and Articulatory Phonology are shown to account for some patterns. The conclusion drawn is that some patterns are best explained by diachronic factors, and there is no single current phonological theory that adequately accounts for all the other patterns.

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Looking into Segments

Proceedings of the Annual Meetings on Phonology ◽

10.3765/amp.v4i0.3996 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sharon Inkelas ◽

Stephanie S Shih

Keyword(s):

Correspondence Theory ◽

Articulatory Phonology ◽

Complex Contour ◽

Onset Target ◽

Q Theory ◽

Autosegmental Phonology ◽

Phonological Constraints ◽

Changes Of State

This paper outlines Q theory, in which the traditional segment (consonant, vowel) is decomposed into a string of three ordered subsegments, or q, representing the onset, target, and offset of the segment. The postulation of subsegmental structure permits the representation of complex (contour) segments as well as subtle contrasts in segment-internal changes of state. Q Theory synthesizes insights from Autosegmental Phonology, Aperture Theory, and Articulatory Phonology in a representation that standard phonological constraints can refer to. Q theory is supported by arguments that subsegments act independently and need to be independently referenced by the phonological grammar. Embedded into Agreement by Correspondence Theory, Q theory permits the analysis of contour assimilation as well as contour formation, both in the tonal and segmental domains.

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Articulatory Phonology

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.745 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Marianne Pouplier

Keyword(s):

Degrees Of Freedom ◽

Vocal Tract ◽

Speech Rate ◽

Spoken Language ◽

Articulatory Phonology ◽

Control Units ◽

Formidable Challenge ◽

The Many ◽

Low Dimensional ◽

Linguistic Units

One of the most fundamental problems in research on spoken language is to understand how the categorical, systemic knowledge that speakers have in the form of a phonological grammar maps onto the continuous, high-dimensional physical speech act that transmits the linguistic message. The invariant units of phonological analysis have no invariant analogue in the signal—any given phoneme can manifest itself in many possible variants, depending on context, speech rate, utterance position and the like, and the acoustic cues for a given phoneme are spread out over time across multiple linguistic units. Speakers and listeners are highly knowledgeable about the lawfully structured variation in the signal and they skillfully exploit articulatory and acoustic trading relations when speaking and perceiving. For the scientific description of spoken language understanding this association between abstract, discrete categories and continuous speech dynamics remains a formidable challenge. Articulatory Phonology and the associated Task Dynamic model present one particular proposal on how to step up to this challenge using the mathematics of dynamical systems with the central insight being that spoken language is fundamentally based on the production and perception of linguistically defined patterns of motion. In Articulatory Phonology, primitive units of phonological representation are called gestures. Gestures are defined based on linear second order differential equations, giving them inherent spatial and temporal specifications. Gestures control the vocal tract at a macroscopic level, harnessing the many degrees of freedom in the vocal tract into low-dimensional control units. Phonology, in this model, thus directly governs the spatial and temporal orchestration of vocal tract actions.

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