MRI evidence for commonality in the post-oral articulations of English vowels and liquids

Gestural reduction, lexical frequency, and sound change: A study of post-vocalic /l/

“…In drawing this link between apical weakening or undershoot and lenition processes, we are not making a novel claim, but rather providing further data in support of earlier proposals of the possible articulatory origins for these sound changes (e.g., Straka 1968;Hardcastle and Barry 1989;Recasens 1996 and elsewhere;Gick, Kang, and Whalen 2002).…”

Markedness in phonology and in syntax: the problem of grounding

“…This is confirmed by phonetic evidence showing that both segments are articulated with identical gestures of tongue dorsum backing, creating similar vocal tract configurations in the pharyngeal and uvular regions (Gick et al, 2002). In other words, by subtracting the central coronal closure from /l/ one obtains / c f/.…”

The Role of the Spectral and Temporal Cues in Consonantal Vocalization and Glide Insertion

“…There are, however, some relevant spectral differences which render the replacement of [ɫ] by [w] less straightforward. Thus, F2, F3 and possibly F1 are regularly lower for [w] than for [ɫ] in line with well-established articulatory characteristics for the two sounds: lip rounding and a narrow dorsovelar constriction for the glide, and a wider pharyngeal constriction, a small front cavity and considerable oral opening for the lateral [Bladon, 1979;Browman and Goldstein, 1995;Fant, 1960;Gick et al, 2002;Keating et al, 1994;Zawadowski, 1951, 1956;Lindblad and Lundqvist, 2003;Martins et al, 2008;Narayanan et al, 1997]. The spectrographic displays for the Catalan words [ aɫβə] 'dawn' and [ awβə] 'poplar' in figure 1, and to a large extent Lehiste's [1964] [Espy Wilson, 1992;Fant, 1960].…”