Paths to Phonological Complexity: Onset clusters in speech production, perception, and disorders – PATHS

By considering the perceptual recoverability of preferred production patterns we broaden our understanding of how physiological preferences may be reflected in grammar. In addition, we consider the interplay of universal preferences and learned behavior in the light of apraxia of speech and aphasia, which allows for new insights into the cognitive and motoric/perceptual components of phonological complexity, and challenges abstractionist theories of aphasic phonological impairment.

The most interesting result so far supports our hypothesis, that native listeners of all languages tested (French, German, Georgian, Japanese) make use of timing lag information in distinguishing between the same clusters produced in German (high overlap) and Georgian (low overlap). This was not predicted for Japanese listeners, based on previous research. However, this finding is particularly interesting, because it provides evidence that, when the task does not require categorical labelling, listeners can be sensitive to non-native sub-phonemic details regardless of their native phonotactics. It therefore suggests that the « deafness » reported for Japanese listeners, who commonly perceive intrusive vowels in consonant clusters, is purely phonological, and should only be observable in a phonological task, but not a phonetic one. This result suggests an answer to the main question of our study : how does phonotactic complexity evolve ?

Please see details in the uploaded document

Publications based on the project:

Chitoran – 1. Relating the sonority hierarchy to articulatory timing patterns : A cross-linguistic perspective. In Martin J. Ball and N. King (Eds.) Sonority across languages. Equinox Series « Studies in Phonetics and Phonology ». 2016. 45-62

Conference presentations:

Chitoran & Kwon, 2016 – Patterns of coproduction in Georgian stop clusters : Insights from perception. 7th International Symposium on Kartvelian Studies. Tbilisi, Georgia, October 17-22

Chitoran & Kwon, 2016 – Timing lag matters in the perception of Georgian stop sequences by native speakers. LabPhon 15, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA, July 13-17

Kwon, 2016. Perceptual sensitivity to cross-linguistic timing differences in consonant clusters. IPS workshop: How words emerge and dissolve: Evidence from Speech Production, Speech Perception, Acquisition and Disorders, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany, May 17-18

Chitoran, 2016. Sonority from an articulatory perspective. CUNY Phonology Forum, New York, USA, January 14-15

The principal aim of our proposal is to significantly advance our knowledge of how universal aspects of speech production, motor control and perception are shaped by grammatical differences between the languages of the world. We propose a cross-linguistic study into the nature of preferred patterns in speech production, their perception and their manifestation in disordered speech. We capitalize on prosodic and phonotactic differences between four languages (Japanese, French, German, Georgian), and, for a single language, on error pattern differences between two types of speech disorders (apraxia, aphasia). We further take the emergence of motor optimization into account. No such comprehensive cross-linguistic study exists to date. Further innovative potential comes from considering differences in articulatory timing (consonant overlap) between languages and the impact timing differences have on the conditions in which preferred production patterns emerge and how these patterns are perceived. By considering the perceptual recoverability of preferred production patterns we broaden our understanding of how physiological preferences may be reflected in grammar. In addition, we consider the interplay of universal preferences and learned behavior in the light of apraxia of speech and aphasia, which allows for new insights into the cognitive and motoric/perceptual components of phonological complexity, and challenges abstractionist theories of aphasic phonological impairment. This work will be foundational for our understanding of one of the major aspects of human speech and language: how the diversity of the world's languages arises from a common cognitive and physiological basis.