Effects of syllable position and vowel context on Japanese /r/: Kinematic and perceptual data

Abstract

In order to investigate the articulatory processes involved in producing Japanese /r/, we obtained speech recordings for native talkers of standard Japanese using an electromagnetic articulography (EMA) system. Each talker produced repetitions of /r/ in a carrier phrase designed to contrast syllable (CV and VCV VCV) and vowel (/a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, and /o/) contexts. Kinematic recordings were made using tongue (tip, TT; dorsum, TD; body, TB; left lateral, TLL; and right lateral, TRL) and lower lip/jaw (LL) sensors. We measured TT vertical displacement, TT duration at maximum position, and tongue blade width for the consonant gestures. In a perceptual experiment, American English listeners decided whether these consonants consisted of 'l,' 'r,' or 'd.' The kinematic results indicate Japanese talkers produced CV consonants with greater stricture and longer closures than consonants in intervocalic positions. CV productions also had narrower tongue blade widths than VCV VCV productions, especially in /i/ and /u/ contexts. The data were modeled with Dirichlet regression in order to determine how strongly tongue width and context (syllable and vowel) factors predict listeners' judgments. The results showed a significant fit for 'r' judgments, with the tongue width fit successively increased by the addition of syllable and vowel context information.

A review of data collection practices using electromagnetic articulography

“…A study by Dromey et al (2018), who tested sensor habituation, found that after ten minutes, participants reached a level of habituation to the sensors that did not improve even if the habituation stage lasted longer. In general, if researchers include a sensor habituation stage, it is most often 5-10 minutes of informal conversation (e.g., Katz, Mehta, & Wood, 2018;Goozée et al, 2007).…”

Significant sensors and parameters in assessment of dysarthric speech

“…The results show that the sensors placed on the articulators provide precise details of integrity and functional status of the muscle groups at each stage of the speech production process from respiration up to articulation. In Katz et al (2018), the authors have used tongue sensors for characterizing American English alveolar consonants such as/l/,/z/ and/d/ uttered by normal speakers. It was concluded that the data acquired using the tongue tip sensor provided the highest amount of useful information in distinguishing these consonants.…”

“…All the above-discussed analyzes (Frank, 2011; Lee et al , 2017; Pattem et al , 2018; Mefferd and Dietrich, 2020; Wang et al , 2016a; Katz et al , 2018) are performed using articulatory sensors for assessment of the speech. In Wang et al (2016a) only the tongue and lip sensors are considered to be optimal for the assessment for speech.…”