Overview This series of articles entitled CONNECTED SPEECH 101 is part of the Human Communication 101 series of introductory-level articles. Words in isolation v words together In Allophones 101 we saw how systematic operations can alter the pronunciation of words in isolation, i.e. spoken as single units. The…
Contents OVERVIEW Underpinning knowledge Articulatory Dynamics Biomechanical performance Neuromuscular control Coarticulation A word of caution ASSIMILATION Allophonic Assimilation Dentalization Labialization De-voicing of Liquids Disapplication Phonemic Assimilation Assimilation of Voice Assimilation…
Articulatory dynamics explained Connected speech involves rapid, coordinated, sequential movements of the articulatory mechanism over extended periods of time. Our ability to move the articulators with precision in connected speech is influenced by two main factors: biomechanical performance of the articulatory mechanism neuromuscular control mechanism Biomechanical performance Naturally,…
The inherent delay in the biomechanical system and the compensatory mechanism of early initiation of neuromuscular commands influence the pronunciation of words (Hardcastle & Hewlett, 1999; Tatham & Morton, 2006) such that various features of articulation interact and overlap. These so-called coarticulations are especially present in…
As we have seen, connected speech is more than a series of target articulations strung together by simple movements. In reality, we find that individual target articulations are nearly always affected by the articulation of adjacent segments. There is often, therefore, a considerable overlap of articulatory activities in…
Allophonic assimilation overview Consider the following phrase. bad thought /bæd θɔt/ There is a word boundary between the word bad and the word thought. The sound at the end of the word bad is the alveolar /d/ and the sound at the beginning of the word thought is…
Allophonic assimilation – dentalization To reiterate, assimilation occurs when one sound is altered owing to the influence of a neighboring segment. In the previous example we saw how alveolars may be dentalized across a word boundary when followed immediately by a dental sound. A further example should…
Allophonic assimilation – labialization Within words, we have seen elsewhere that whenever the bilabial nasal /m/ or the alveolar nasal /n/ appears before a labiodental fricative /f, v/ they are likely to assimilate the labiodental place of articulation, e.g. comfort /kʌmfət/ → [k̠ʰʌ̃ɱfətʰ] A similar process of…
