Auditory and Acoustic Evidence for Palatalization of the Nasal Consonant in Cairene Arabic

This paper introduces the palatalized nasal [nʲ] as an allophonic realization of coronal /n/ in Cairene Arabic. The palatalized variants of the phonemes previously described in acoustic and sociolinguistic terms include the alveolar stops [t, d] and their pharyngealized counterparts [tˤ, dˤ], which can be palatalized preceding the high, front vowel [i:]. While previous studies have anecdotally noted that the coronal nasal /n/ can undergo palatalization in the same environment, this variant has not been systematically investigated. Focusing on syllable-final /-ni:/ segments, I first use auditory measures to show that the palatalized variant occurs with some regularity (~50%) in the read speech of seven speakers of Cairene Arabic. Then, I provide acoustic evidence that this perceived difference significantly correlates with the difference in F2 values taken from the onset and midpoint of the vowel following the nasal consonant. There is also evidence of a lexical effect, such that borrowings exhibit less palatalization than non-borrowings. This study contributes data for the unexamined Cairene nasal and supports the likelihood of palatalization of coronals at the typological level.

On covariation between nasal consonant weakening and anticipatory vowel nasalization: Evidence from a Caribbean and a non-Caribbean dialect of Spanish

In this study, I examine co-variation between the word-final nasal consonant and anticipatory vowel nasalization in two dialects of Spanish. In Caribbean dialects of Spanish, nasalization has been proposed as allophonic (an intended feature of the vowel) but elsewhere it is presumably coarticulatory (a marker of nasal consonant weakening). I argue that, when differences in the phonological interpretation of nasalization are factored in, the temporal extent of nasalization cannot be exclusively attributed to weakening of the nasal consonant. Twenty-eight speakers from Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and twenty-six from Buenos Aires (Argentina) were recorded with a nasometer. Findings revealed that when the feature for nasality is phonologized in the representation of the vowel (Santo Domingo Spanish), earlier onset of nasalization can (and does) obtain with little (and arguably even without) weakening of the nasal. By analyzing nasal consonant weakening concurrently with anticipatory vowel nasalization, this study bridges the gap between the aforementioned sources of variation in nasalization.

Comparing the Temporal Aspects of Velopharyngeal Closure in Children with and without Cleft Palate

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Children with cleft palate exhibit differences in the 4 temporal components of nasalization (nasal onset and offset intervals, nasal consonant duration, and total speech duration), with various patterns having been noted based on different languages. Thus, the current study aimed to examine the temporal aspects of velopharyngeal closure in children with and without cleft palate; this is the first study to do so in the Turkish language. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This study evaluated and compared the 4 temporal characteristics of velopharyngeal closure in children (aged 6–10 years) with (<i>n</i> = 28) and without (<i>n</i> = 28) cleft palate using nonword consonant and vowel speech samples, including the bilabial nasal-to-stop combination /mp/ and the velar nasal-to-stop combination /ηk/. Acoustic data were recorded using a nasometer, after which acoustic waveforms were examined to determine the 4 temporal components of nasalization. Flexible nasoendoscopy was then used to evaluate velopharyngeal closure patterns. <b><i>Results:</i></b> With regard to the 4 closure patterns, significant differences in the nasal offset interval (<i>F</i>_4–25 = 10.213, <i>p</i> = 0.04; <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.05) and the nasal consonant duration ratio (<i>F</i>_4–25 = 12.987, <i>p</i> = 0.02; <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.05) were observed for only /ampa/. The coronal closure pattern showed the longest closure duration (0.74 s). Children with cleft palate showed prolonged temporal parameters in all 4 characteristics, reflecting oral-nasal resonance imbalances. In particular, the low vowel sound /a/ was significantly more prolonged than the high vowel sounds /i/ and /u/. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The examined temporal parameters offer more accurate characterizations of velopharygeal closure, thereby allowing more accurate clinical assessments and more appropriate treatment procedures. Children with cleft palate showed longer nasalization durations compared to those without the same. Thus, the degree of hypernasality in children with cleft palate may affect the temporal aspects of nasalization.

Word-Initial Prevocalic [H-] in Middle English

The present contribution discusses the phonological reality of initial fricative h- in words of Germanic and French origin in dialectally identified 106 texts from the Innsbruck Corpus of Middle English Prose (Markus 2008), with the focus on native words where initial h- is frequently mute, as confirmed by (a) h-less spellings like ouse for house or especially (b) the use of the article an before h-nouns. In the early texts a phrase like an house may testify to the survival of the historical determiner (OE ān) put before both initial vowels and consonants, but in later texts this position may indicate mute initial h- in the following noun (or in an adjective before a noun). The paper offers numerical data concerning such distributions in particular Corpus texts as well as analogous data referring to the adjectives MIN and THIN (later on my and thy), where the final nasal consonant was lost when used in the function of an attribute. Consequently, this development led to the rise of a set of possessive adjectives with a syntactic, not phonological, distribution The data from the Innsbruck Corpus seem to indicate that an early loss of initial prevocalic h- in Middle English words of Germanic origin took place in particular texts rather than in texts from the whole region. The evidence from the Corpus shows that the implementation of the contemporary distribution, i.e., a before consonants and an before vowels, had a partly regional character, its first traces coming from as early as the 13th century.

The Palatal Closure Efficiency Index: A New Speaker-Centered Aerodynamic Metric for the Evaluation of Velopharyngeal Function During Speech

Purpose Pressure-flow testing provides clinicians with estimates of velopharyngeal (VP) gap size during speech production. Traditionally, adequacy of VP function has been based on absolute area criteria. This clinical focus article provides a brief overview of pressure-flow testing and introduces the palatal closure efficiency index, a speaker-centered metric to interpret findings. Conclusions The palatal closure efficiency index provides information on a speaker's ability to achieve VP closure during oral plosives relative to his/her own VP opening during a nasal consonant. This approach provides both clinicians and patients with more meaningful information to interpret pressure-flow findings for both diagnostic and treatment outcome purposes.

On the interaction of phonetic parameters implementing the voiced / voiceless phonological opposition in Standard Modern Russian

The paper reports new data obtained in the experimental study of voice coarticulation of voiced and voiceless obstruents adjacent to sonorant depending on the place and manner of articulation of these consonants in Standard Modern Russian. The experimental results revealed the voice coarticulation of the obstruent in word-internal clusters of [sonorant + obstruent + sonorant] coronal consonants, possibly due to the preceding homorganic nasal consonant. In the case of sonorants [nasal + voiceless stop + vibrant] that are not identical in place and manner of articulation, the closure part of the dental stop becomes voiced throughout, with this phonation type accommodation not leading, nevertheless, to the voiced / voiceless phoneme neutralization since the contrast in question is still maintained by phonetic parameters other than voice (phonation itself). These are closure duration, burst duration, and relative overall intensity. On the contrary, in the case of dental sonorants [nasal + voiceless stop + nasal] being identical in place and manner of articulation, the contrast in burst duration is eliminated since no burst of dental stop is found in the position before homorganic nasal, with the closure part of the stop not acquiring voicing to prevent the voiced / voiceless phoneme neutralization. In conclusion, it is argued that in Standard Modern Russian, the phonetic parameter [relative overall intensity] is less significant in the hierarchical structure of distinctive phonological feature than [closure voicing] and [burst duration] ones since it cannot serve as the only parameter distinguishing the voiced and voiceless obstruents in the intersonorant position.

Frequent Errors in Consonant Sound Production of Elementary Education Teachers at Visayas State University

Pronunciation is essential in language learning; thus, English learners as a second language should strive for articulateness in sound patterns in English. This study aimed to determine the commonly mispronounced consonant sound of the Bachelor of Elementary Education students of the Visayas State University according to the manner and place of articulation. The instrument used in the study is the Golden-Fristoe Test of Articulation, which is composed of 44 words containing the different consonant sounds in English. The study results revealed that most consonant sounds misarticulated by the respondents were fricatives /z/, the nasal consonant sound /m/, the fricative sound /ð/, the affricate /dz/. With respect to the place of articulation, most consonant sounds misarticulated by the respondents concerning the place of articulation were alveolar /z/, the velar consonant sound /m/, the interdental sound /ð/, the post-alveolar /dz/. With these results, it is expected for the Filipino English language teachers to focus on teaching the alveolar and labiodental fricatives in teaching the consonant sounds because most students failed to articulate these sounds correctly.Keywords: English language, consonant sounds, pronunciationAbstrak. Pelafalan sangat penting dalam pembelajaran bahasa. Oleh karena itu, pelajar bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa kedua harus berusaha keras untuk mengartikulasikan pola bunyi dalam bahasa Inggris. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bunyi konsonan yang sering salah diucapkan pada mahasiswa S1 Pendidikan Dasar Universitas Negeri Visayas menurut cara dan tempat artikulasi. Instrumen yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah Golden-Fristoe Test of Articulation, yang terdiri atas 44 kata yang berisi bunyi konsonan yang berbeda dalam bahasa Inggris. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa bunyi konsonan yang paling banyak salah artikulasi oleh responden adalah bunyi konsonan / z /, bunyi konsonan nasal / m /, bunyi frikatif / ð /, afrikat / dz /. Sehubungan dengan tempat artikulasi, sebagian besar bunyi konsonan yang salah diartikulasikan oleh responden mengenai tempat artikulasi adalah alveolar / z /, bunyi konsonan velar / m /, bunyi interdental / ð /, post-alveolar / dz /. Dengan hasil tersebut diharapkan para pengajar bahasa Inggris Filipina dapat fokus dalam mengajarkan frikatif alveolar dan labiodental dalam mengajarkan bunyi konsonan karena sebagian besar siswa gagal mengucapkan bunyi tersebut dengan benar. Kata kunci: bahasa Inggris, bunyi konsonan, pelafalan

Nasalização regressiva heterossilábica (NRH) da vogal /a/ acentuada em PE

According to the autosegmental model adopted by Mateus & Andrade (2000), the nasal vowel in Portuguese, in words such as cinco, lã and campo, is a phonetic form derived from a phonological oral vowel plus a nasal autosegment N in the same syllable. However, we can also notice the nasalization in words such as cãma, cẽna and cũnha in Portuguese, although not often in the standard language. This phenomenon is an heterosyllabic regressive nasalization (NRH), in which the nasal consonant of the onset nasalizes the previous vowel. In Brazilian Portuguese, there are more studies related to NRH than in European Portuguese and most of them treat it as a phonetic phenomenon (Câmara Jr., 1970; Battisti, 1997; Botelho, 2007). Moraes & Wetzels (1992) find NRH more frequently in the stressed syllable and with the palatal consonant /ɲ/, but its frequency varies in different dialects. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the variation of NRH in Mainland Portugal and the phonological processes that go together with it, focusing particularly on the structure /a/[+ac] .C[+nas] (/m/, /n/, /ɲ/). We collected occurrences that contain the target structure from the corpus Linguistic-Ethnographic Atlas of Portugal and Galicia and our analysis is based on the phonetic transcriptions performed by CLUL dialectologists. By calculating the percentage of NRH in each locality and making dialectal maps, the results show that: i) NRH can be found almost throughout the entire territory; ii) it has a greater frequency in Northwest (mainly with the consonant /ɲ/), Beira Baixa, Alentejo, and Algarve; iii) multiple phenomena transform the phonological segments into different phonetic shapes; iv) in a diachronic analysis, the changing path of /a/ in Portuguese in this structure is: [a] → [ã] → [ɐ̃]→ [ɐ], which shows that the elevation of /a/ follows the NRH. Dialects, then, choose between one of these phonetic variants.

Phonology and Phonetics

This chapter focuses on the contributions African languages have made to phonological theory. The first section reviews some of the highlights in the development of autosegmental representations, concentrating on the interface of sound segments with prosodic structure. It is shown how one–many and many–one relations between phonemes and syllable positions elucidate the behavior of geminate consonants and the compensatory lengthening that accompanies processes of devocalization and prenasalization. The sections that follow consider the African contribution to studies concerning the scope and limits of phonological variation. Typologies of vowel harmony, vowel hiatus resolution and nasal-consonant coalescence, syllabification, reduplication, and phonological phrasing are surveyed.