Individual Differences in Frequency Effects in English Palatalization

doi:10.18627/jslg.34.2.201808.197

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2018 Vol.34, Issue 2 Preview Page Next Page

Research Article

Individual Differences in Frequency Effects in English Palatalization: Sung, Jae-Hyun

31 August 2018. pp. 197-213

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Abstract

Lexical frequency and its influence on speech production have been widely acknowledged across languages and varieties, and frequency effects are very prevalent in various phonological phenomena. Previous experimental studies have reported that high lexical frequency leads to a greater chance of overt coarticulation. This study tests for articulatory evidence of frequency effects in lexical and post-lexical palatalization in English using ultrasound imaging. Comparisons of tongue shapes of palatalized consonants show that differences in lexical frequency are not directly linked to articulatory gestures. Speakers do not necessarily produce a greater degree of palatalization, i.e., tongue contour closer to the palate, in high-frequency words or phrases. Further, when speakers produce articulatory contrast between high- and low-frequency contexts, the way speakers differentiate palatalized consonants from high- vs. low-frequency items is highly individualized. The findings in this study are in line with individual variation in coarticulation and merit further exploration in the role of lexical frequency in speech production.

Keywords

English palatalization

frequency

lexical

post-lexical

ultrasound imaging

References

Archangeli, D., J. Berry, P. Boersma, D. Ellison, and G. Hahn-Powell. 2013. UltraPraat: Software and Database for Simultaneous Acoustics and Articulatory Analysis. UltraFest VI.
Bateman, N. 2007. A Crosslinguistic Investigation of Palatalization. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of California, San Diego.
Bell, A., J. M. Brenier, M. Gregory, C, Girand, and D. Jurafsky. 2009. Predictability Effects on Durations of Content and Function Words in Conversational English. Journal of Memory and Language 60, 92-111.10.1016/j.jml.2008.06.003
Berry, J. 2012. Machine Learning Methods for Articulatory Data. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Arizona.
Boersma, P. and D. Weenink. 2018. Praat: Doing Phonetics by Computer, Version 5.1.25.
Bush, N. 1999. The Predictive Value of Transitional Probability for Word-boundary Palatalization in English. M.A .Thesis, University of New Mexico.
Bush, N. 2001. Frequency Effects and Word-boundary Palatalization in English. In J. Bybee and P. Hopper (eds.), Frequency and the Emergence of Linguistic Structure, Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 255-280.10.1075/tsl.45.14bus
Davidson, L. 2005. Addressing Phonological Questions with Ultrasound. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 19.6-7, 619-633.
Davidson, L. 2006. Comparing Tongue Shapes from Ultrasound Imaging Using Smoothing Spline Analysis of Variance. Journal of Acoustical Society of America 120, 407-415.10.1121/1.220513316875236
Davies, M. 2008. Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). http://www.americancorpus.org
Ernestus, M., M. Lahey, F. Verhees, and R. H. Baayen. 2006. Lexical Frequency and Voice Assimilation. Journal of Acoustical Society of America 120, 1040-1051.10.1121/1.221154816938990
Fasel, I. and J. Berry. 2010. Deep Belief Networks for Real-time Extraction of Tongue Contours from Ultrasound during Speech. In 20th International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR), 1493-1496.10.1109/ICPR.2010.369
Gahl, S. 2008. Time and Thyme Are not Homophones: The Effect of Lemma Frequency on Word Durations in Spontaneous Speech. Language 84.3, 474-496.10.1353/lan.0.0035
Gick, B., I. Wilson, K. Koch, and C. Cook. 2004. Language-Specific Articulatory Settings: Evidence from Inter-Utterance Rest Position. Phonetica 61, 220-233.10.1159/000084159
Gu, C. 2002. Smoothing Spline ANOVA Models. New York: Springer.10.1007/978-1-4757-3683-0
Kochetov, A. 2002. Production, Perception, and Emergent Phonotactic Patterns: A Case of Contrastive Palatalization. Oxford: Routledge.
Myers, J. and Y. Li. 2009. Lexical Frequency Effects in Taiwan Southern Min Syllable Contraction. Journal of Phonetics 37, 212-230.10.1016/j.wocn.2009.02.002
Pluymaekers, M., M. Ernestus, and R. H. Baayen. 2005. Lexical Frequency and Acoustic Reduction in Spoken Dutch. Journal of Acoustical Society of America 118, 2561-2569.10.1121/1.201115016266176
Sung, J-H. 2013. Frequency and Acoustic Reduction in English –ment Derivatives. Coyote Paper: Working Papers in Linguistics, Linguistic Theory at the University of Arizona 21. Tucson: University of Arizona Linguistics Circle, 1-13.
Sung, J-H. 2015. A Cross-linguistic Articulatory Analysis of Palatalization in Korean, English, and Scottish Gaelic. Ph. D .Dissertation. University of Arizona.
Yun, G. 2006. The Interaction between Palatalization and Coarticulation in Korean and English. Ph. D. Dissertation. University of Arizona.
Yun, G. 2010. The Effects of Neighborhood Density and Word Frequency on the Production of English-learning Korean Speakers. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 16.2, 217-243.10.17959/sppm.2010.16.2.217
Yun, G. 2012. Lexical and Phonological Effects on Phonological Variation in L2 English Palatalization. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 18.2, 297-320.10.17959/sppm.2012.18.2.297
Zsiga, E. C. 1993. Features, Gestures, and Temporal Aspects of Phonological Organization. Ph. D. Dissertation. Yale University.
Zsiga, E. C. 1995. An Acoustic and Electropalatographic Study of Lexical and Postlexical Palatalization in American English. In B. Connell and A. Arvaniti (eds.), Phonology and Phonetic Evidence: Papers in Laboratory Phonology IV, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 282-302.10.1017/CBO9780511554315.020
Zsiga, E. C. 2000. Phonetic Alignment Constraints: Consonant Overlap and Palatalization in English and Russian. Journal of Phonetics 28, 69-102.10.1006/jpho.2000.0109

Information

Publisher :The Modern Linguistic Society of Korea
Publisher(Ko) :한국현대언어학회
Journal Title :The Journal of Studies in Language
Journal Title(Ko) :언어연구
Volume : 34
No :2
Pages :197-213
DOI :https://doi.org/10.18627/jslg.34.2.201808.197

[1] Archangeli, D., J. Berry, P. Boersma, D. Ellison, and G. Hahn-Powell. 2013. UltraPraat: Software and Database for Simultaneous Acoustics and Articulatory Analysis. UltraFest VI.

[2] Bateman, N. 2007. A Crosslinguistic Investigation of Palatalization. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of California, San Diego.

[3] Bell, A., J. M. Brenier, M. Gregory, C, Girand, and D. Jurafsky. 2009. Predictability Effects on Durations of Content and Function Words in Conversational English. Journal of Memory and Language 60, 92-111.10.1016/j.jml.2008.06.003

[4] Berry, J. 2012. Machine Learning Methods for Articulatory Data. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Arizona.

[5] Boersma, P. and D. Weenink. 2018. Praat: Doing Phonetics by Computer, Version 5.1.25.

[6] Bush, N. 1999. The Predictive Value of Transitional Probability for Word-boundary Palatalization in English. M.A .Thesis, University of New Mexico.

[7] Bush, N. 2001. Frequency Effects and Word-boundary Palatalization in English. In J. Bybee and P. Hopper (eds.), Frequency and the Emergence of Linguistic Structure, Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 255-280.10.1075/tsl.45.14bus

[8] Davidson, L. 2005. Addressing Phonological Questions with Ultrasound. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 19.6-7, 619-633.

[9] Davidson, L. 2006. Comparing Tongue Shapes from Ultrasound Imaging Using Smoothing Spline Analysis of Variance. Journal of Acoustical Society of America 120, 407-415.10.1121/1.220513316875236

[10] Davies, M. 2008. Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). http://www.americancorpus.org

[11] Ernestus, M., M. Lahey, F. Verhees, and R. H. Baayen. 2006. Lexical Frequency and Voice Assimilation. Journal of Acoustical Society of America 120, 1040-1051.10.1121/1.221154816938990

[12] Fasel, I. and J. Berry. 2010. Deep Belief Networks for Real-time Extraction of Tongue Contours from Ultrasound during Speech. In 20th International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR), 1493-1496.10.1109/ICPR.2010.369

[13] Gahl, S. 2008. Time and Thyme Are not Homophones: The Effect of Lemma Frequency on Word Durations in Spontaneous Speech. Language 84.3, 474-496.10.1353/lan.0.0035

[14] Gick, B., I. Wilson, K. Koch, and C. Cook. 2004. Language-Specific Articulatory Settings: Evidence from Inter-Utterance Rest Position. Phonetica 61, 220-233.10.1159/000084159

[15] Gu, C. 2002. Smoothing Spline ANOVA Models. New York: Springer.10.1007/978-1-4757-3683-0

[16] Kochetov, A. 2002. Production, Perception, and Emergent Phonotactic Patterns: A Case of Contrastive Palatalization. Oxford: Routledge.

[17] Myers, J. and Y. Li. 2009. Lexical Frequency Effects in Taiwan Southern Min Syllable Contraction. Journal of Phonetics 37, 212-230.10.1016/j.wocn.2009.02.002

[18] Pluymaekers, M., M. Ernestus, and R. H. Baayen. 2005. Lexical Frequency and Acoustic Reduction in Spoken Dutch. Journal of Acoustical Society of America 118, 2561-2569.10.1121/1.201115016266176

[19] Sung, J-H. 2013. Frequency and Acoustic Reduction in English –ment Derivatives. Coyote Paper: Working Papers in Linguistics, Linguistic Theory at the University of Arizona 21. Tucson: University of Arizona Linguistics Circle, 1-13.

[20] Sung, J-H. 2015. A Cross-linguistic Articulatory Analysis of Palatalization in Korean, English, and Scottish Gaelic. Ph. D .Dissertation. University of Arizona.

[21] Yun, G. 2006. The Interaction between Palatalization and Coarticulation in Korean and English. Ph. D. Dissertation. University of Arizona.

[22] Yun, G. 2010. The Effects of Neighborhood Density and Word Frequency on the Production of English-learning Korean Speakers. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 16.2, 217-243.10.17959/sppm.2010.16.2.217

[23] Yun, G. 2012. Lexical and Phonological Effects on Phonological Variation in L2 English Palatalization. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 18.2, 297-320.10.17959/sppm.2012.18.2.297

[24] Zsiga, E. C. 1993. Features, Gestures, and Temporal Aspects of Phonological Organization. Ph. D. Dissertation. Yale University.

[25] Zsiga, E. C. 1995. An Acoustic and Electropalatographic Study of Lexical and Postlexical Palatalization in American English. In B. Connell and A. Arvaniti (eds.), Phonology and Phonetic Evidence: Papers in Laboratory Phonology IV, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 282-302.10.1017/CBO9780511554315.020

[26] Zsiga, E. C. 2000. Phonetic Alignment Constraints: Consonant Overlap and Palatalization in English and Russian. Journal of Phonetics 28, 69-102.10.1006/jpho.2000.0109

The Journal of Studies in Language ISSN:1225-4770(Print) 2671-6151(Online) 언어연구

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