Context-dependent articulation of consonant gemination in Estonian

Abstract

The three-way quantity system is a well-known phonological feature of Estonian. In a number of studies it has been shown that quantity is realized in a disyllabic foot by the stressed-tounstressed syllable rhyme duration ratio and also by pitch movement as the secondary cue. The stressed syllable rhyme duration is achieved by combining the length of the vowel and the coda consonant, which enables minimal septets of CVCV-sequences based on segmental duration. In this study we analyze articulatory (EMA) recordings from four native Estonian speakers producing all possible quantity combinations of intervocalic bilabial stops in two vocalic contexts (/ɑ-i/ vs. /i-ɑ/). The analysis shows that kinematic characteristics (gesture duration, spatial extent, and peak velocity) are primarily affected by quantity on the segmental level: Phonologically longer segments are produced by longer and larger lip closing gestures and, in reverse, shorter and smaller lip opening movements. Tongue transition gesture is consistently lengthened and slowed down by increasing consonant quantity. In general, both kinematic characteristics and intergestural coordination are influenced by non-linear interactions between segmental quantity levels as well as vocalic context.

Acoustic and Kinematic Correlates of Heterosyllabicity in Different Phonological Contexts

“…This finding was consistent with data from various languages that suggested that the closing gesture for a geminate consonant starts earlier than for a singleton (e.g., Šimko et al, 2014, for Finnish, Türk et al, 2017, for Estonian, Ridouane & Hallé, 2017, for Tashlhiyt Berber; see review in §1). However, in other languages no effect of gemination on articulatory timing was found (e.g., Moroccan Arabic, according to Zeroual et al, 2008).…”

“…Contextsensitivity is an important issue also in articulatory-kinematic studies. For instance, Šimko et al (2014) reported that the anticipation of the lip closing gesture for /p:/ in Finnish occurred in the /ap:i/ context more than in the /ip:a/ context and when the preceding consonant was /t/ more than when it was /p/; similar effects were found by Türk et al (2017) in Estonian. Features of the consonant are relevant also in Zeroual et al's (2008) and Ridouane and Hallé's (2017) studies, according to which linguopalatal contact and gestural velocity differences are significant for voiceless plosives but not for their voiced cognates.…”

“…From the studies on geminates, we know that phonological length in consonants is not only conveyed by increased acoustic duration (associated with an increased duration of the jaw opening gesture), but also by specific articulatory and kinematic characteristics, among which are a more extended linguopalatal contact and a longer, spatially larger and sometimes slower gestures. Moreover, the consonantal gesture for an intervocalic geminate is reported to start earlier than the gesture for the corresponding singleton (e.g., Löfqvist, 2005Šimko et al, 2014, for Finnish bilabial stops;Türk et al, 2017, for Estonian bilabial stops; Ridouane & Hallé, 2017, for Tashlhiyt Berber). 1 However, there are also studies reporting little or no kinematic difference for increased duration of consonants and vowels.…”

The Three-Way Distinction of Consonant Duration in Estonian

“…Their data included an intervocalic /p/ in the context of /ɑ-i/ or /i-ɑ/ and the results indicated that a segmental-level influence sometimes outweighs the quantity itself. This was also shown by an articulatory study [23] that used the same set of material as [22] for investigating the kinematics of the articulatory gestures (gesture duration, spatial extent, peak velocity) in terms of the quantity distinction. The kinematic characteristics were mainly influenced by the quantity on the segmental level.…”

“…At this stage of the study, however, vocalic context effects were not considered. As [22], [23] have shown, the vocalic context influences the realization of the Estonian three-way quantity distinction; with this in mind, subsequent studies should also take the vocalic context effects into account.…”