Perception of Place and Secondary Articulation Contrasts in Different Syllable Positions: Language-Particular and Language-Independent Asymmetries

Abstract

This study investigated the perception of place and secondary articulation contrasts in different syllable positions by Russian and Japanese listeners. The consonants involved in the study were the Russian plain (velarized) and palatalized labial and coronal voiceless stops in syllable-initial and syllable-final positions at word boundaries. The findings revealed substantial asymmetries in the perception of the contrasts by both groups of listeners: With respect to positions, consonants in syllable-final position were characterized by lower correct identification rates and (less consistently) longer reaction time than the same consonants in syllable-initial position. Positional syllable position differences were accompanied by differences in segment-specific contexts. With respect to individual consonants, the palatalized labial /p(j)/ and the plain coronal /t/ showed a lower correct identification rate and smaller perceptual distance than the plain labial /p/ and the palatalized coronal /t(j)/. The results also showed some differences between Russian and Japanese listeners in the perception of the contrast. These differences can be explained by phonotactic differences between the two languages, as well as by differences in the phonetic realizations of the consonants. The results of the study provide evidence for the role of both universal and language-particular factors in speech perception.

Testing Licensing by Cue: A Case of Russian Palatalized Coronals

“…To our knowledge, none of the previous studies have consistently examined transitions and releases of /t/ and /t / in syllable-final position (word-internally or word-finally across word boundaries and utterance finally). While the perceptual importance of CV transitions as a cue to the plain/palatalized contrast has previously been documented [Derkach, 1975;Kochetov, 2004;Kavitskaya, in press], no studies have focused on the role of and relative perceptual importance of VC transitions and releases. Examining cues to the voicing contrast, Steriade [1997, pp.…”

“…At least, one might expect releases to be more salient than VC transitions, which are notably perceptually inferior to CV transitions (see e.g. Ohala [1990] on place and Kochetov [2004] on palatalization).…”

The interplay of left- and right-branching effects: A phonotactic analysis of Korean syllable structure

“…This also explains why onset consonants are more carefully articulated than coda consonants (compareSussman et al, 1997;Redford and Diehl, 1999;Kochetov, 2004 as well asBeckman, 1997 who extends the analysis from the within-to the between-syllable domain and shows that word-(or root-)initial syllables are more informative or contrastive than non-word-initial ones). 11 This presupposes that both child and adult speakers are highly sensitive to phonotactic probability, which is in fact the case (e.g Munson, 2001;Zamuner et al, 2004;Vitevitch et al, 2004)…”

Liquid dissimilation as listener hypocorrection

“…Phonological dissimilation rules do not seem to show a cross-linguistic preference for right-to-left or left-to-right processes; however, West (1999aWest ( , 2000, and Heid and Hawkins (2000) all claim to find stronger anticipatory coarticulation in small-scale studies, so if a phonetic bias exists, it will be useful to know how listeners make use of this information. In addition, both onset (intervocalic) and coda (pre-nasal) conditioning consonants will be tested, since listeners show sensitivity to acoustic differences between pre-vocalic and pre-consonantal liquids (Kochetov 2004) and differences in strength of effect might be observed based on the prosodic position of the conditioning consonant.…”