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Articulatory coordination distinguishes complex segments from segment sequences
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 December 2021
Abstract
Phonological patterning motivates a distinction between complex segments and segment sequences, although it has also been suggested that there might be reliable phonetic differences. We develop the hypothesis that, in addition to their distinct phonological patterning, complex segments differ from segment sequences in how constituent articulatory gestures are coordinated in time. Through computational simulation, we illustrate predictions that follow from hypothesised coordination differences, showing as well how coordination is conceptually independent of temporal duration. We test predictions with kinematic data collected using electromagnetic articulography. Electromagnetic articulography data comparing labial-palatal gestures in Russian, which we argue on the basis of phonological facts to constitute complex segments, and similar labial-palatal gestures in English, which we argue constitute segment sequences, show distinct patterns of coordination, providing robust support for our main hypothesis. At least in this case, gestural coordination conditions patterns of kinematic variation that clearly distinguish complex segments from segment sequences.
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- Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press
Footnotes
We would like to thank the participants who volunteered for this study. For assistance with data collection, we thank Christopher Geissler, Vivian Li and Muye Zhang. For comments and discussion, we thank audiences at AMP 2020, where aspects of this work were presented, as well as the Yale Phonology group (especially Samuel Andersson, Christopher Geissler, Mark Tiede, Natalie Weber and Doug Whalen) and the MSU Phonology-Phonetics group. We also thank three anonymous reviewers and the associate editor for comments that improved the final version. We are responsible for any remaining errors and oversights.
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