Contrast enhancement as motivation for closed syllable laxing and open syllable tensing

Abstract

This paper proposes that closed syllable laxing and open syllable tensing of non-low vowels are motivated by conflicting strategies of contrast enhancement in vowel–consonant sequences. Laxing enhances the distinctiveness of consonant contrasts by allowing for more distinct VC formant transitions, in particular in sequences involving a non-low vowel followed by an oral labial/coronal/velar consonant (e.g. [p t k]). Tensing enhances the distinctiveness of vowel contrasts by providing more distinct formant realisations for vowels. Linguistic variation results from different ways of resolving the tension between maximising vowel dispersion and maximising consonant dispersion. Laxing typically applies before coda consonants as a way to compensate for the absence of good perceptual cues to place of articulation. The hypothesis that laxing enhances the distinctiveness of postvocalic place contrasts is supported by a study of mid-vowel laxing in French, which corroborates the general claim that perceptual contrast plays a role in shaping phonotactic restrictions.

Perceptual factors license vocalic contrasts in Chamorro

“…Most vowels in word final syllables are unstressed in Chamorro, which should provide the ideal environment for lowering. This is characteristic of patterns of closed syllable vowel laxing, where tense-lax contrasts are only allowed in stressed syllables (Storme 2017). Closed syllable lowering is also found in Austronesian generally (e.g.…”

Not only size matters: limits to the Law of Three Consonants in French phonology

“…This question also has theoretical implications beyond French. As anticipated in Section 1, phonetically based theories of phonotactics hold that phonotactic asymmetries ultimately reflect perceptual and articulatory asymmetries (Ohala 1990;1992;Steriade 1997;Flemming 2002;Storme 2019). According to these theories, the same phonotactic asymmetries should be reflected across the grammar's morphosyntactic domains if the same phonetic asymmetries among segments hold across these domains.…”

“…This question is not only relevant to French phonology but also more widely to phonological theory. In phonetically based theories of phonology, phonotactic asymmetries ultimately reflect perceptual or articulatory asymmetries (Ohala 1990;1992;Steriade 1997;Flemming 2002;Storme 2019). Phonetic explanations have been put forth to account for the role of the consonantal context in French schwa-zero alternations in particular (Côté 2001).…”

Acoustic and Kinematic Correlates of Heterosyllabicity in Different Phonological Contexts

“…Peak velocity and gestural anticipation, besides vowel shortening, should all be considered as phonetic ways to enhance the contrast between phonologically long and short consonants. Contrast enhancing through systematic variation of production dynamics occurs frequently in languages, and the speakers have an auditory advantage from that (e.g., Dmitrieva, 2019; Storme, 2019). All stops and sonorants (plus fricatives) can be geminated in Italian; such widespread distribution of the phonological length feature corresponds to systematic acoustic and kinematic variations between singletons and geminates.…”