Coarticulation LIN 3201

Coarticulation Articulation at two different places simultaneously essential May be essential to the nature of the sound itself  [w] (voiced labial-velar approximant), [  ] (voiced labial- palatal approximant) environmental Or environmental, resulting of the production of that sound in an environment of other sounds  [k] rounder, with slight lip rounding, before [u]

The key to coarticulation is that… TWO DIFFERENT ARTICULATIONS OCCUR AT THE SAME TIME

We’ll be most concerned with the different types of ESSENTIAL COARTICULATION

Essential Coarticulation In the nature of the sound itself… Type 1: Coordinate Structures Two equal articulations produced at the same time Type 2: Secondary Articulations One articulation is imposed onto another, with one articulation subordinate to the other

Coarticulation can involve two sounds of the same rank, ( Coordinate ) such as [kp] (2 stops) Or two sounds of different ranks ( Secondary ), such as [t w ] (stop & approximant)

NOTE: On the Ranking of Consonant Strictures To talk about coarticulation, we must first talk about the “ranking” of consonant strictures. Rank is from most closed, most constricted to most open, least constricted Stop > Trill > Fricative > Approximant > Vowel

TYPE 1 - Coordinate Structures OR Double Articulations Equal sounds, of same rank (with same degree of stricture), produced at the same time Stop-stop [gb], [kp] (have tie bar underneath to connect them) West African languages; Sherbro [gbí] ‘all’ Fricative-fricative [  x] – written as [  ] Exists in some dialects of Swedish: skjorta [  or  a] ‘shirt’ Harder to produce because of maintenance of air, very rare Approximant-approximant More common English, [w]; French [  ] huit [  it] ‘eight’

TYPE 2 – Secondary Articulations Imposition of one sound, of one rank, imposed on another; Primary stricture usually has more stricture; secondary has less Secondary stricture is usually an approximate

In other words… The “primary” consonant being produced will generally be a stop or a fricative, [t j ], [s j ], [k w ] while the “secondary” consonant being produced will be a sound with less stricture, like an approximant [t j ], [s j ], [k w ]

Major types of Secondary Coarticulation **All are transcribed with diacritics** Labialization – hold tongue at [w] while producing primary articulation; [ w ] Palatalization – hold tongue at [i] while producing primary articulation; [ j ] Velarization – hold tongue at velar approximant, [  ] while producing primary articulation; [  ] Pharyngealization – pushing back of tongue as downwards and as backwards as possible, as if “swallowing” while producing primary articulation; [  ] Nasalization – generally coarticulation with vowels; made by sending air through nasal cavity while producing primary articulation; [ ~ ]

Keep in mind… Some of these distinctions can seem very subtle, or difficult to distinguish Sample from English:  Palatalized [l j ] vs. Velarized [l  ] Palatalized before [j], before vowels [l j ] [l j i:f] ‘leaf’ [m  l j  n] ‘million’ Velarized word medially and finally [l  ] [fijl  ] ‘feel’

Sequences

Sequence VS. Coarticulation Instead of being produced simultaneously, like coarticulated sounds, sequences consist of two or more sounds produced right after one another that function as a single unit in that language

Types of Sequences Homorganic Sequences = produced with the same speech organs, i.e. at the same place of articulation 1. Geminates – two identical or nearly identical consonant sounds Italian [tt]; Arabic [tt] or [ll] 2. Affricates – stop released as homorganic fricative (central or lateral) German [ts] in [tsajt] ‘time’ Navajo [tsah] ‘needle’ and [t  ah] ‘ointment’

Types of Sequences, cont. 3. Plosion – stop released as lateral approximant or homorganic nasal, where that approximant or nasal generally functions as syllable nucleus; diacritic for syllable nucleus = [  ] English nasal plosion: [bejk  ] ‘bacon’, [s  dn  ] ‘sudden’ English lateral plosion: [l  l  ] ‘little’, [m  l  ] ‘middle’ 4. Pre-nasalized Stops – nasal followed by homorganic stop [ m b], [ n d]