Final published version, 1.73 MB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Towards a dynamical model of English vowels
T2 - Evidence from diphthongisation
AU - Strycharczuk, Patrycja
AU - Kirkham, Sam
AU - Gorman, Emily
AU - Nagamine, Takayuki
PY - 2024/11/30
Y1 - 2024/11/30
N2 - Diphthong vowels exhibit a degree of inherent dynamic change, the extent of which can vary synchronically and diachronically, such that diphthong vowels can become monophthongs and \emph{vice versa}. Modelling this type of change requires defining diphthongs in opposition to monophthongs. However, formulating an explicit definition has proven elusive in acoustics and articulation, as diphthongisation is often gradient in these domains. In this study, we consider whether diphthong vowels form a coherent phonetic category from the articulatory point of view. We present articulometry and acoustic data from six speakers of Northern Anglo-English producing a full set of phonologically long vowels. We analyse several measures of diphthongisation, all of which suggest that diphthongs are not categorically distinct from monophthongs. We account for this observation with an Articulatory Phonology/Task Dynamic model in which diphthongs and long monophthongs have a common gestural representation, comprising two articulatory targets in each case, but they differ according to gestural constriction and location of the component gestures. We argue that a two-target representation for all long vowels is independently supported by phonological weight, as well as by the nature of historical diphthongisation and present-day dynamic vowel variation in British English.
AB - Diphthong vowels exhibit a degree of inherent dynamic change, the extent of which can vary synchronically and diachronically, such that diphthong vowels can become monophthongs and \emph{vice versa}. Modelling this type of change requires defining diphthongs in opposition to monophthongs. However, formulating an explicit definition has proven elusive in acoustics and articulation, as diphthongisation is often gradient in these domains. In this study, we consider whether diphthong vowels form a coherent phonetic category from the articulatory point of view. We present articulometry and acoustic data from six speakers of Northern Anglo-English producing a full set of phonologically long vowels. We analyse several measures of diphthongisation, all of which suggest that diphthongs are not categorically distinct from monophthongs. We account for this observation with an Articulatory Phonology/Task Dynamic model in which diphthongs and long monophthongs have a common gestural representation, comprising two articulatory targets in each case, but they differ according to gestural constriction and location of the component gestures. We argue that a two-target representation for all long vowels is independently supported by phonological weight, as well as by the nature of historical diphthongisation and present-day dynamic vowel variation in British English.
U2 - 10.1016/j.wocn.2024.101349
DO - 10.1016/j.wocn.2024.101349
M3 - Journal article
VL - 107
JO - Journal of Phonetics
JF - Journal of Phonetics
SN - 0095-4470
M1 - 101349
ER -