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In this study we employ the gestural syllable model to examine cluster-vowel timing in Polish sibilant initial (SI = {/∫m-, ∫p-, sp-, sk-/}) and sibilant final (SF = {/m∫-, p∫-, ps-, ks-/}) onset clusters. In this model, the timing of a complex onset is evaluated relative to a simplex onset and it is predicted that timing relations between onset and vowel should be invariant independently of onset complexity (Browman and Goldstein, 2000). Articulatory data of three speakers show that SI clusters conform to the predicted timing pattern in terms of a globally organized onset cluster relative to the vowel (“c-center”). This is compatible with previous findings for several languages. For SF clusters, however, there are considerable timing differences between complex and corresponding simplex onsets. This suggests that SF clusters are coordinated differently (and inconsistently) to the following vowel compared to SI clusters, as also reported previously for Romanian (Marin, 2013). We investigate to which extent this difference between SI and SF clusters is related to sibilants’ high coarticulatory resistance preventing a close C-V coordination. We will present an analysis of jaw movement data to consider possible effects of jaw position constraints on the temporal coordination of clusters.

It has long been proposed in speech production research that in CV sequences, the movement for consonant and vowel are initiated synchronously. However, mostly due to limitations on the statistical analysis of articulator motion over time, this could only be shown in a limited fashion, based on positional differences at a single time point during consonantal constriction formation. It is unknown to which extent this observation generalizes to earlier timepoints. In this paper, we illustrate the use of functional principal component analysis (FPCA) for the statistical analysis of articulator motion over time. Using articulography data, we quantify CV coarticulation during constriction formation of [k] in two vowel contexts. We show how FPCA enables us to analyse both horizontal and vertical movement components over time in a single model while preserving information on temporal variability. We combine FPCA with linear mixed modelling to obtain estimated mean trajectories and confidence bands for [k] in the two vowel contexts. Results show that well before the timepoint of peak velocity the vowel causes a substantial spatial separation of the consonantal trajectories, estimated to be at least 3 mm at peak velocity. This lends support to the hypothesis that vowel and consonant are initiated synchronously.

We investigate timing in Polish tautosyllabic C1C2 clusters differing in manner, consonant order, and syllable position. Hoole et al. (2013) reported for German that perceptual constraints may condition timing differences in /kn/ and /kl/ clusters due to the nasal but not the lateral obscuring the preceding stop burst. Using articulography, we test this hypothesis for a variety of Polish onset clusters (C1={m, p, k}, C2={n, l, r}). Results from three speakers confirm a significant influence of both C1 and C2 on timing patterns. A C1 nasal shows more overlap than a stop. For C2, /l/ shows more overlap than /n/, consistent with the German results. However, the relative difference between C2=/n/ and C2=/l/ holds independently of whether C1 is a nasal or a stop, contra the perception hypothesis. Further, it is known from several languages that onset clusters overlap less than coda clusters, yet this observation has been confounded by the sonority conditioned change in consonant order in onset/coda. Polish has several clusters which do not change order as a function of syllable position, allowing us to tease these two factors apart. If consonant order is kept constant, there is no significant syllable position effect on C-C timing.