Le schwa final en français standard est-il un « lubrifiant phonétique » ?

Phonologization is a process whereby phonetic substance becomes phonological structure [1]. The process involves at least two steps: (i) a universal phonetic ('automatic') variation becomes a language-specific ('speaker-controlled') pattern, (ii) the language-specific pattern becomes a phonological ('structured') object. This paper will focus on the first step and ask the question of whether three universal phonetic variations of the laryngeal feature of word-final codas (final devoicing, voicelessness assimilation and voicing assimilation) are becoming language-specific patterns in two Romance languages, Romanian and French. Our results suggest that neutralization processes (final devoicing) might be beginning their phonologization process in both French and Romanian whereas assimilation processes (regressive assimilation of voicing and voicelessness) remain universal phonetic tendencies.

show abstract

“…Studies show that word-final schwa tends to disfavor adjacency effects such as final devoicing and regressive assimilation in French[23].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ongoing Phonologization of Word-Final Voicing Alternations in Two Romance Languages: Romanian and French

Hutin¹,

Jatteau²,

Vasilescu³

et al. 2020

Interspeech 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

French Schwa [Ǝ] at the Crossroads of Linguistics, Sociolinguistics and Neuro-Linguistics

BUBNOVA

2023

Moscow University Bulletin. Series 19. Linguistics and Intercultural Communication

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The sound [ǝ] refers to one of the most complex and variable phenomena observed in the French speech stream. One of the most important features of [ǝ] is its ability to be both a sound and an absence of sound in almost the same context, i.e. without changing the informative content of the message. The specificity of French [ǝ] also lies in the fact that it is pronounced as a labialized vowel. As a result, three rounded vowels of the front row and middle rise are pronounced in an unstressed syllable: fluent [ǝ] and harmonized [œ] and [ø]. Taking into account the acoustic and articulatory similarity of these sounds and the law of least effort, the [ǝ] ability for complete reduction could be expected to be transferred to [œ] and [ø], especially in rapid speech. Do these facts indicate the French unstressed vocalism tendency towards simplification? How is this variability tracked by the speaker while understanding and generating speech? The article summarizes empirical data (acoustic, articulatory and perceptual) on the [ǝ] variability from phonetic, sociolinguistic and neuro-linguistic studies. It highlights major challenges and open issues that should be addressed in further research.

show abstract

Le schwa final en français standard est-il un « lubrifiant phonétique » ?

Cited by 2 publications

References 18 publications

Ongoing Phonologization of Word-Final Voicing Alternations in Two Romance Languages: Romanian and French

Ongoing Phonologization of Word-Final Voicing Alternations in Two Romance Languages: Romanian and French

French Schwa [Ǝ] at the Crossroads of Linguistics, Sociolinguistics and Neuro-Linguistics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About