Work

Variation in the production of nasal coarticulation by speaker age and speech style

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This study investigates apparent-time variation in the production of anticipatory nasal coarticulation in California English. Productions of consonant-vowel-nasal words in clear vs casual speech by 58 speakers aged 18-58 (grouped into three generations) were analyzed for degree of coarticulatory vowel nasality. Results reveal an interaction between age and style: the two younger speaker groups produce greater coarticulation (measured as A1-P0) in clear speech, whereas older speakers produce less variable coarticulation across styles. Yet, duration lengthening in clear speech is stable across ages. Thus, age- and style-conditioned changes in produced coarticulation interact as part of change in coarticulation grammars over time.

Source: JASA Express Letters

DOI: 10.1121/10.0036227

Authors: Georgia Zellou, Michelle Cohn

Institution: University of California, Davis

Language: English

Topic: Phonetics and Phonology Research

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: National Science Foundation

Award: The seeds and spread of sound change: Individual differences in coarticulatory patterns