Variable stem-final fricative voicing in American English plurals: Different pa[ð ~ θ]s of change

MacKenzie, Laurel

doi:10.1017/s0954394518000091

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…These aerodynamic constraints result in devoicing patterns being described as more phonetically natural, particularly for obstruents in utterance-final position (Ladefoged & Johnson, 2011). Also, phonological rules of English fricative final-devoicing are more common than the reversewithin and across varieties of English-though there is the small set of voiceless fricative final words which can voice when coupled with the plural morpheme (e.g., houses can be pronounced as [haʊsəz] or [haʊzəz]; MacKenzie, 2018). In a study of such words, MacKenzie (2018) finds that /s/-voicing rates are dropping precipitously in apparent time, further reiterating the asymmetry between /s/-voicing and /z/-devoicing.…”

Section: Coronal Fricatives In Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetries in Perceptual Adjustments to Non-Canonical Pronunciations

Babel

Johnson

Sen

2021

Laboratory Phonology

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This paper examines two plausible mechanisms supporting sound category adaptation: directional shifts towards the novel pronunciation or a general category relaxation of criteria. Focusing on asymmetries in adaptation to the voicing patterns of English coronal fricatives, we suggest that typology or synchronic experience affect adaptation. A corpus study of coronal fricative substitution patterns confirmed that North American English listeners are more likely to be exposed to devoiced /z/ than voiced /s/. Across two perceptual adaptation experiments, listeners in test conditions heard naturally produced devoiced /z/ or voiced /s/ in critical items within sentences, while control listeners were exposed to identical sentences with canonical pronunciations. Perceptual adaptation was tested via a lexical decision test, with devoiced /z/ or voiced /s/, as well as a novel alveopalatalized pronunciation, to determine whether adaptation was targeted in the direction of the exposed variant or reflected a more general relaxation. Results indicate there was directional and word-specific adaptation for /z/-devoicing with no evidence for generalization. Conversely, there was evidence of /s/-voicing generalizing and eliciting general category relaxation. These results underscore the role of perceptual experiences, and support an evaluation stage in perceptual learning, where listeners assess whether to update a representation.

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Section: Coronal Fricatives In Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetries in Perceptual Adjustments to Non-Canonical Pronunciations

Babel

Johnson

Sen

2021

Laboratory Phonology

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show abstract

“…These aerodynamic constraints result in devoicing patterns being described as more phonetically natural, particularly for obstruents in utterance-final position (Ladefoged & Johnson, 2011). Also, phonological rules of English fricative final-devoicing are more common than the reverse -within and across varieties of English -though there is the small set of voiceless fricative final words which can voice when coupled with the plural morpheme (e.g., houses can be pronounced as [haʊsəz] or [haʊzəz];MacKenzie, 2018). In a study of such words, MacKenzie (2018) finds that /s/-voicing rates are dropping precipitously in apparent time, further reiterating the asymmetry between /s/-voicing and /z/-devoicing.…”

Section: Coronal Fricatives In Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetries in Perceptual Adjustments to Non-Canonical Pronunciations

Babel¹,

Johnson²,

Sen³

2020

Preprint

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Listeners need to accommodate pronunciations that vary widely. Lexically-guided perceptual adaptation has been well documented in the literature, but relatively little is known about its limits. Moreover, there are at least two plausible mechanisms supporting adaptation for sound categories: targeted shifts towards the novel pronunciation or a general relaxation of criteria. This paper examines a limit of perceptual adaptation — asymmetries in adaptation to the voicing and devoicing of coronal fricatives in English — and suggests that typology or synchronic experience affects how listeners adapt. A corpus study of coronal fricative substitution patterns confirmed that North American English listeners are more likely to be exposed to devoiced /z/ than voiced /s/. Across two perceptual adaptation experiments, listeners in test conditions head naturally produced devoiced /z/ or voiced /s/ in critical items within sentences, while control listeners were exposed to identical sentences with canonical fricative pronunciations. Perceptual adaptation was tested via word endorsement rates in a lexical decision test, with devoiced /z/ or voiced /s/, as well as a novel alveopalatalized pronunciation, to determine whether adaptation was targeted in the direction of the exposed variant or reflected more general relaxation. Results indicate there was targeted and word-specific adaptation for /z/ devoicing. Conversely, there was some evidence of /s/ voicing eliciting a more general category relaxation. These results underscore the role of prior perceptual experiences, and suggest a need for an evaluation stage in lexically-guided perceptual learning, where listeners assess whether a heard item merits an update to the representation.

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References

2023

Sounds of English Worldwide

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Variable stem-final fricative voicing in American English plurals: Different pa[ð ~ θ]s of change

Cited by 7 publications

References 22 publications

Asymmetries in Perceptual Adjustments to Non-Canonical Pronunciations

Asymmetries in Perceptual Adjustments to Non-Canonical Pronunciations

Asymmetries in Perceptual Adjustments to Non-Canonical Pronunciations

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