Chapter 7, Coarticulation PDF

Coarticulation Coarticulation  Coarticulation: the influence of the target phoneme on surrounding phonemes.  In this chapter we will look at three particular consonants: /ɹ/, /l/, and /ŋ/ that are strongly influenced by coarticulation.  Although many consonants have unique qualities, th...

Coarticulation Coarticulation  Coarticulation: the influence of the target phoneme on surrounding phonemes.  In this chapter we will look at three particular consonants: /ɹ/, /l/, and /ŋ/ that are strongly influenced by coarticulation.  Although many consonants have unique qualities, these three consonants warrant additional detail as explained here. The Turned R /ɹ/  The orthographic r (as it is written from language to language) varies more in pronunciation than any other consonant in the IPA.  The IPA devotes seven symbols to it on the consonant chart, rhoticity in the diacritic section, and the open- mid, central, unrounded vowel /ɜ/ in the vowel section.  According to the IPA (1996), the turned R /ɹ/ is now the accepted GAP pronunciation in the initial position of CV words and in CCV syllables that are unaspirated (stɹ/, /skɹ/, and /spɹ/. Variations of the /ɹ/ in CCV Syllables  The r is greatly influenced by coarticulation.  The /ɹ/ becomes voiceless in a CCV syllable when preceded by a voiceless stop such as /p/ in pry [praɪ], /t/ in trim [tɹɪm], or /k/ in crow [kɹoʊ], or a voiceless fricative such a /f/ in free [fɹi], /ʃ/ in shrink [ʃɹɪŋk], or /ɵ/ in thread [ɵɹɛd].  The /ɹ/ is unchanged in CCV clusters such as /stɹ/ in string [stɹɪŋ], /skɹ/ in scratch [skɹæʧ], /spɹ/ in spry [spɹaɪ].  Variations of the /ɹ/ in VC Syllables  According to the phonological rules of the English language, the /ɹ/ can only close syllables containing the vowels /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /a/, /ɔ/ and the diphthongs /aɪ/ and /aʊ/.  When the diphthongs /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ are combined with the /ɹ/, there are two pronunciations:  As a monosyllabic word: fire [faɪɹ] or the bisyllabic word such as fire [faɪ jɚ].  The combination phonemes /ju/ can also be combined with the /ɹ/.  Note: /oʊ/ and /ɔɪ/ can be in syllables closed by /ɹ/, but most individuals using GAP do not use these pronunciations.  The open-mid, central, unrounded vowel /ɜ/ combined with rhoticity [ɝ] is used in many GAP pronunciations.  Variations of the /ɹ/ in VC Syllables (cont.)  The vowel + /ɹ/ combinations are referred to as centering diphthongs. These are: /ɪɹ, ɛɹ, ɑɹ, ɔɹ, juɹ, aɪɹ, aʊɹ/. The /juɹ/ is used mostly in more formal speech and is often replaced in everyday speech by the /ɜ/ with rhoticity [ɝ].  ɪɹ: ear, fear, tear, etc.  ɛɹ: air, fair, tear, rare, etc.  ɑɹ: car, far, star, jar, etc.  ɔɹ: for, chore, store, chord, etc.  juɹ: sewer, pure, your, etc.  aɪɹ: ire, irate, ironic, etc.  aʊɹ: hour, our, tower, shower, Howard, etc.  The word pure [pjuɹ] (in formal speech) becomes [pɝ] (in everyday speech. Variations of the /ɹ/ in VC Syllables (cont.)  The vowels /i/ and /e/ can be combined with the /ɹ/ only in multisyllabic words by changing the /ɹ/ to /ɚ/ and placing an intrusive approximant, in this case the /j/, between the vowel and the r variation.  This is also true of the /o/. However, in this case the /w/ is the intrusive approximant.  The Eng /ŋ/  Because of nasal coarticulation and phonological rules, the /ŋ/ can only be combined with the /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /æ/, /ɔ/, /ʌ/, and /a/ vowels in GAP.  /ɪ/: think, thing, wing, ring, etc.  /ɛ/: Jenkins, Feng shui, etc.  /æ/: thank, bank, sank, bang, etc.  /ɔ/: honk, long, song, etc.  /ʌ/: sunk, junk, bunk, punk, uncle, etc.  /a/: bronchi, bonk, bong, etc. The Eng /ŋ/ (cont.)  When pronouncing these vowels followed by the /ŋ/, the vowel may sound different than it would in other contexts due to the influence of nasality.  The /ŋ/ is found in medial and final positions.  Medial position: Jenkins /ˈʤɛŋ.kɪnz/  Final position: fling /flɪŋ/, dong /dɔŋ, dɑŋ/, etc. The Lower-case L /l/  The /l/ phoneme is the only lateral approximant in GAP, and it varies significantly based on its position in the word.  In the initial position of a CVC syllable, the voiced lateral approximant /l/ is produced as in:  light, listen, like, low, loud, etc.  When the /l/ follows a vowel (V + l), precedes another consonant (l + C), or ends a word, it becomes a velarized l [ɬ], often called a dark /l/.  V + /l/: ball, call, Saul, Velcro, cauldron, bell, sell, cell, etc.  /l/ + C: milk, silk, bulk, film, built, help, etc.  The Lower-case L /l/ (cont.)  When the /l/ is followed by the front vowels /e/ or /æ/, it becomes retracted.  /l/ + /e/ → lake, lane, lace, laid, etc.  /l/ + /æ/ → lash, land, lack, lap, etc.  When the /l/ is followed by the back vowel /o/, the /l/ is often omitted (in conversation), as in pole [pol], unless the speaker emphasis and exact pronunciation.  Because of their unique character, /l/ words like sail (jail, tail, snail, ale) are often difficult to transcribe correctly in broad transcription.  The Lower-case L /l/ (cont.)  When the vowels /i/, /e/, and /u/; and the diphthongs /aʊ/, /aɪ/, or /ɔɪ/, are combined with the final /l/, the word can often be pronounced as monosyllabic or bisyllabic words.  Monosyllabic → fail [fel]  Bisyllabic → fail [fe jəl]  Other words that can work the same are:  Feel, ale, rule, owl, isle, aisle, I’ll, coil, etc.  The /l/ also becomes syllabic in unstressed syllables in multisyllabic words at the conversation level.