LINGUIST List 25.137
Fri
Jan 10 2014
Diss: Phonology:
Falahati: 'Gradient and Categorical Consonant
Cluster Simplification in Persian ...'
Editor for this issue:
Xiyan Wang <xiyanlinguistlist.org>
Date: 09-Jan-2014
From: Reza Falahati
<reza.falahati
uottawa.ca>
Subject: Gradient and
Categorical Consonant Cluster Simplification in
Persian: An ultrasound and acoustic study
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Institution: University of Ottawa
Program: Department of Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2013
Author: Reza Falahati
Dissertation Title: Gradient and Categorical
Consonant Cluster Simplification in Persian: An
ultrasound and acoustic study
Dissertation URL:
http://www.ruor.uottawa.ca/en/handle/10393/26117
Linguistic Field(s): Phonology
Dissertation Director:
Jeff Mielke
Dissertation Abstract:
The main goal of this thesis is to investigate
the nature of an optional
consonant deletion process, through an
articulatory and acoustic study of
word-final consonant clusters in Persian.
Persian word-final coronal stops
are optionally deleted when they are preceded
by obstruents or the
homorganic nasal /n/. For example, the final
clusters in the words /næft/
'oil', /suχt/ 'burnt' and /qæsd/ 'intention'
are optionally simplified in
fast/casual speech, resulting in: [næf], [suχ],
and [qæs]. What is not
clear from this traditional description is
whether the coronal stop is
truly deleted, or if a coronal gesture is
produced, but not heard, because
it is obscured by the adjacent consonants.
According to Articulatory
Phonology (Browman & Goldstein 1986, 1988,
1989, 1990a, 1990b, 1992, 2001),
the articulatory gestures of the deleted
segments can still exist even if
the segments are not heard. In this
dissertation, ultrasound imaging was
used to determine whether coronal consonant
deletion in Persian is
categorical or gradient, and the acoustic
consequences of cluster
simplification were investigated through
duration and spectral measures.
This phonetic study enables an account for the
optional nature of the
cluster simplification process.
Ten Persian-speaking graduate students from the
University of Ottawa and
Carleton University, five male and five female,
aged 25-38 participated in
the articulatory and acoustic study. Audio and
real time ultrasound video
recordings were made while subjects had a
guided conversation with a native
speaker of Persian.
662 tokens of word-final coronal clusters were
auditorily classified into
unsimplified and simplified according to
whether they contained an audible
[t]. Singleton coda consonants and singleton
/t/s were also captured as
controls.
The end of the constriction plateau of C1 and
beginning of constriction
plateau of C3 were used to define a time
interval in which to measure the
coronal gesture as the vertical distance
between the tongue blade and the
palate. Smoothing Splines ANOVA was used in a
novel way to compare tongue
blade height over time across the three
conditions.
The articulatory results of this study showed
that the gestures of the
deleted segments are often still present. More
specifically, the findings
showed that of the clusters that sounded
simplified, some truly had no [t]
gesture, some had gestural overlap, and some
had reduced gestures. In order
to explain the optional nature of the
simplification process, it is argued
that the simplified tokens are the result of
two independent mechanisms.
Inevitable mechanical and physiological effects
generate gesturally reduced
and overlapped tokens whereas planned
language-specific behaviors driven by
phonological rules or abstract cognitive
representations result in no
[t]-gesture output. The findings of this study
support the main arguments
presented in Articulatory Phonology regarding
the underlying reasons for
sound patterns and sound change. The results of
this study are further used
to examine different sound change models. It is
argued that the simplified
tokens with totally deleted [t] gesture could
be the result of speakers
changing their representations based on other
people's gestural overlap.
This would be instances of the Choice and
Chance categories in Blevins'
(2004) CCC sound change model. The acoustic
results did not find any major
cues which could distinguish simplified tokens
from controls. It is argued
that articulatory data should form an integral
part of phonetic studies.
Page Updated: 10-Jan-2014