A Study of F1 Coarticulation in VCV Sequences

This study investigates F1 coarticulatory patterns in a large sample of VCV sequences with 7 consonants and 2 vowels uttered by 5 Catalan speakers. Measures of the size and the temporal extent of anticipatory and carryover coarticulation were obtained for the consonantal effects during the adjacent vowels, for the vocalic effects at the consonantal period, and during each transconsonantal vowel; F1 coarticulatory patterns are interpreted in the light of coarticulation data for the jaw and for dorsopalatal contact and F2 reported in the literature. Results show that consonantal effects reflect trends in lingual and jaw coarticulation, whereas vocalic effects are mostly in agreement with jaw coarticulatory trends. This finding is consistent with the view that consonantal and vocalic gestures overlap in VCV sequences and are ruled by relatively independent articulatory subsystems.