The electropalatographic study of the coarticulatory effect of vowels on coronal stops in Persian

Abstract

Using electropalatographic (EPG) data, we study the coarticulatory effect of intervocalic contexts on the Persian coronal stops [t] and [d]. The EPG patterns demonstrate that [d] is produced in a more anterior place than [t], proving the former to be a dentialveolar consonant and the latter to be an alveolar one. The coarticulation index (CI) is calculated for each consonant flanked by the same vowels. The results obtained show that there is no significant difference between [t] and [d], in terms of coarticulation; however, based on the data we have, we can say that [t] is more resistant to coarticulatory effect than [d]. This result is in agreement with previous investigations which propose that laminals show stronger coarticulation resistance than apicals.

Keywords

• coarticulatory effect
• coarticulation index
• electropalatography
• coronal stops
• Persian