This paper investigates the articulation of approximant /ɹ/ in New Zealand English (NZE), and tests whether the patterns documented for rhotic varieties of English hold in a non-rhotic dialect. Midsagittal ultrasound data for 62 speakers producing 13 tokens of /ɹ/ in various phonetic environments were categorized according to the taxonomy by Delattre & Freeman (1968), and semi-automatically traced and quantified using the AAA software (Articulate Instruments Ltd. 2012) and a Modified Curvature Index (MCI; Dawson, Tiede & Whalen 2016). Twenty-five NZE speakers produced tip-down /ɹ/ exclusively, 12 tip-up /ɹ/ exclusively, and 25 produced both, partially depending on context. Those speakers who produced both variants used the most tip-down /ɹ/ in front vowel contexts, the most tip-up /ɹ/ in back vowel contexts, and varying rates in low central vowel contexts. The NZE speakers produced tip-up /ɹ/ most often in word-initial position, followed by intervocalic, then coronal, and least often in velar contexts. The results indicate that the allophonic variation patterns of /ɹ/ in NZE are similar to those of American English (Mielke, Baker & Archangeli 2010, 2016). We show that MCI values can be used to facilitate /ɹ/ gesture classification; linear mixed-effects models fit on the MCI values of manually categorized tongue contours show significant differences between all but two of Delattre & Freeman's (1968) tongue types. Overall, the results support theories of modular speech motor control with articulation strategies evolving from local rather than global optimization processes, and a mechanical model of rhotic variation (see Stavness et al. 2012).
A large number of studies have investigated the articulation of approximant /ɹ/ in American English (AE) (e.g., Delattre & Freeman, 1968). This research has found that a low third formant (F3), the main acoustic cue signaling rhoticity, can be achieved using many different tongue configurations; the two main tongue shapes used for /ɹ/ are “tip-down” (“bunched”) and “tip-up” (“retroflex”) (cf. Hagiwara, 1994). While speakers likely employ various “trading relationships” to maintain a constantly low F3 across production strategies (Guenther et al., 1999), they have access to a pool of variation, which some use to form complex and idiosyncratic patterns of allophony (Mielke et al., 2016). Such patterns may arise during speech acquisition (Magloughlin, 2016). This study focuses on a non-rhotic dialect, New Zealand English (NZE), to test whether dialect rhoticity constrains idiosyncratic allophony. Ultrasound video was collected for 63 speakers articulating 13 words containing tokens of /ɹ/ in different phonetic environments. Analysis aims to determine whether NZE speakers utilize the same tongue gestures as seen in AE, and whether they display similar patterns of allophonic variation. The data include productions from 12 children (under 10) and 13 youth (11-18), allowing examination of /ɹ/ during childhood development.
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