Cho Taehong
Division of English Language and Literature, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 133-791, Korea.
J Acoust Soc Am. 2005 Jun;117(6):3867-78. doi: 10.1121/1.1861893.
In this study the effects of accent and prosodic boundaries on the production of English vowels (/a,i/), by concurrently examining acoustic vowel formants and articulatory maxima of the tongue, jaw, and lips obtained with EMA (Electromagnetic Articulography) are investigated. The results demonstrate that prosodic strengthening (due to accent and/or prosodic boundaries) has differential effects depending on the source of prominence (in accented syllables versus at edges of prosodic domains; domain initially versus domain finally). The results are interpreted in terms of how the prosodic strengthening is related to phonetic realization of vowel features. For example, when accented, /i/ was fronter in both acoustic and articulatory vowel spaces (enhancing [-back]), accompanied by an increase in both lip and jaw openings (enhancing sonority). By contrast, at edges of prosodic domains (especially domain-finally), /i/ was not necessarily fronter, but higher (enhancing [+high]), accompanied by an increase only in the lip (not jaw) opening. This suggests that the two aspects of prosodic structure (accent versus boundary) are differentiated by distinct phonetic patterns. Further, it implies that prosodic strengthening, though manifested in fine-grained phonetic details, is not simply a low-level phonetic event but a complex linguistic phenomenon, closely linked to the enhancement of phonological features and positional strength that may license phonological contrasts.
在本研究中，通过同时考察声学元音共振峰以及用电磁关节造影术（EMA）获得的舌头、下颚和嘴唇的发音最大值，研究了重音和韵律边界对英语元音（/a, i/）发音的影响。结果表明，韵律强化（由于重音和/或韵律边界）根据突出的来源（在重读音节中与在韵律域的边缘；在韵律域开始时与在韵律域结束时）具有不同的影响。这些结果根据韵律强化与元音特征的语音实现之间的关系进行了解释。例如，当带有重音时，/i/在声学和发音元音空间中都更靠前（增强[-后]），同时嘴唇和下颚开度增加（增强响度）。相比之下，在韵律域的边缘（尤其是在韵律域末尾），/i/不一定更靠前，但更高（增强[+高]），仅伴随着嘴唇开度增加（下颚开度不增加）。这表明韵律结构的两个方面（重音与边界）通过不同的语音模式得以区分。此外，这意味着韵律强化虽然体现在精细入微的语音细节中，但并非仅仅是一个低层次的语音事件，而是一种复杂的语言现象，与音系特征的增强以及可能许可音系对立的位置强度密切相关。
