Department of Linguistics, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DA, United Kingdom.
J Acoust Soc Am. 2010 Sep;128(3):1346-56. doi: 10.1121/1.3466859.
This paper investigates the effects of syllable structure on vowel-to-vowel (V-to-V) coarticulation using Thai and English data. Languages differ in syllable complexity and their realizations of syllable structure. It was hypothesized that languages with complex syllable structure (English) would allow more V-to-V coarticulation than languages with simple syllable structure (Thai). Onset and coda consonants are different acoustically, articulatorily, typologically and perceptually. Onsets are generally 'stronger' and more stable than codas because they are longer, louder, and involve tighter articulatory constrictions. It was hypothesized that closed syllables (that end in a consonant C, i.e., VC#V) would allow more V-to-V coarticulation than open syllables (V#CV). /C(1)V(1)#C(2)V(2)/ and /C(1)V(1)C(2)#V(2)t/ sequences were recorded from six native speakers in Thai and six in English. First and second formant frequencies were measured. Results show that English allows more V-to-V coarticulation than Thai regardless of the intervocalic duration and vowel quality difference, but open and closed syllables only affect V-to-V coarticulation minimally. In addition to syllable structure, other possible factors contributing to the language difference in V-to-V coarticulation are discussed.
本文使用泰语和英语数据研究了音节结构对元音-元音（V-to-V）协同发音的影响。语言在音节复杂性及其音节结构的实现上存在差异。我们假设，音节结构复杂的语言（英语）比音节结构简单的语言（泰语）具有更多的 V-to-V 协同发音。起始音和结尾音在声学、发音、类型学和感知上都有所不同。起始音通常比结尾音更“有力”且更稳定，因为它们更长、更响亮，并且涉及更紧的发音限制。我们假设，以辅音结尾的闭音节（即 VC#V）比以元音结尾的开音节（V#CV）具有更多的 V-to-V 协同发音。从六位以泰语为母语的人和六位以英语为母语的人中记录了 /C(1)V(1)#C(2)V(2)/ 和 /C(1)V(1)C(2)#V(2)t/ 序列。测量了第一和第二共振峰频率。结果表明，无论元音之间的持续时间和元音质量差异如何，英语比泰语具有更多的 V-to-V 协同发音，但开音节和闭音节仅对 V-to-V 协同发音产生最小的影响。除了音节结构之外，还讨论了导致语言之间 V-to-V 协同发音差异的其他可能因素。
