Diphthong

Abstract: 1.Introduction 2.The production of speech sounds 3. Long vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs 4.Voicing and consonants 5.The phoneme 6. Fricatives and affricates 7. Nasals and other consonants 8.The syllable 9. Strong and weak syllables 10. Stress in simple words 11.Complex word stress 12. Weak forms 13. Problems in phonemic analysis

Abstract: Among the common strategies for eliminating vocalic hiatus is vowel elision. In some cases, it is the first vowel (VI) that elides, while in others it is the second (V2). Analyses of elision have, virtually without exception, simply stipulated which vowel is elided, for example, by encoding this information directly in a language-specific rule. This implies that the targeted position is not predictable, but simply a matter of which of two equally available options is selected by the language. A cross-linguistic study suggests, however, that this is not strictly the case, but that in some environments the choice of target is universally determined. This article accounts for the observed restrictions on elision target within a constraint-based theory which claims that languages preferentially preserve phonological elements in certain prominent positions.*

Abstract: The duration of speech segments as a function of position in utterances (initial, medial, final) was studied. In the first experiment seven English speakers read nonsense utterances of the form “say a [bab], say a [babab], say a [babab],” etc. Spectrograms were used to determine the duration of speech segments in the readings. Final syllables were found to be longer than nonfinal syllables. Final‐syllable vowel increments were approximately 100 msec. Final‐syllable consonant increments were less than vowel increments; for instance, absolute final consonant increments were about 20 msec. Also word‐initial consonants were found to be lengthened by 20–30 msec over medial consonants. Subsequent experimentation demonstrated with English nonsense words that (1) final‐syllable and initial‐consonant lengthening occur in utterances with various intonational patterns (imperative, declarative, interrogative); (2) final‐syllable lengthening occurs in word‐final and phrase‐final positions as well as in utterance‐final position; and (3) final‐syllable and initial‐consonant lengthening occur in various kinds of syllables, including syllables with diphthongs, with fricative consonants, with voiceless stops, with consonant cluster, and with no final consonants (i.e., CV syllables). These studies report durational increments of particularly great magnitude for absolute final fricative consonants. Explanations of the lengthening effects are discussed. One theory suggests that lengthening in certain utterance positions is a learned aspect of language which cues listeners concerning the location of boundaries of words, phrases, or sentences. Explanations based on hypothesized properties of the speech production process are also discussed.

Abstract: Particle phonology has evolved from a dissatisfaction that I experienced working within the current theoretical and notational framework of generative phonology. I had been looking at historical processes affecting vowels and diphthongs. In trying to describe the kinds of changes undergone by these entities, I was particularly frustrated by the inability of the standard notation to characterise in any enlightening way the internal structure of vowels, as well as relationships evident between particular vowels and diphthongs. The first difficulty – the nature of the internal structure of vowels – was not simply due to an inadequate set of distinctive features. Rather, the problem resided in the very notion of features as autonomous building blocks out of which segments are composed. This view contributed partially to the other difficulty – the expression of relationships between vowels and diphthongs. An additional factor to this problem came from restrictions of the notation in regard what could appear to the left and to the right of an arrow. The notation forced me to formulate rules whose statements often did not accord with my conception of the nature of the processes. It seems to me that a highly-valued notational system should have the property that I have come to call ‘mirroring’. If one believes that a process or change happens in a certain way, then the notation should not just describe that event but should reflect as closely as possible its manner of occurrence.