Hindi Speech Rate Effects and the Phonology of Voiced Aspirates

Hindi Speech Rate Effects and the Phonology of Voiced Aspirates
For languages with two- and three-way stop contrasts, there is an asymmetrical effect of
speaking rate on Voice Onset Time (VOT). As speakers slow down, prevoiced and aspirated
stops are produced with more prevoicing and aspiration, respectively. Conversely, stops
produced with short-lag VOT show little to no change in their VOTs (Summerfield 1981, Pind
1995, Magloire & Green 1999, Beckman 2014). Kessinger and Blumstein (1997) show that this
asymmetry is found both in languages with two-way stop contrasts (e.g., English, French), and a
three-way contrast (e.g., Thai). For Swedish, a language with a two-way contrast between
prevoiced and voiceless aspirated stops (Helgason & Ringen 2007), Beckman et al. (2011) found
more prevoicing and aspiration as speakers slowed down. They hypothesize that, in all of these
cases, it is the phonologically-specified categories’ VOT values that undergo a change, assuming
privative [voice] and [spread glottis].
The current study is the first to examine speaking rate effects in a language with a four-way
stop contrast, Hindi, and the first investigation of rate effects on breathy voiced stops (voiced
aspirates). Work beginning with Davis (1994), followed by Mikuteet & Reetz (2007) and
Berkson (2012), adapted VOT so that for voiced aspirates it reliably captures both the prevoicing
and breathy release. I examine how speech rate affects these Hindi stop cues, and then bring
these phonetic data to bear on previous phonological accounts of voiced aspirates, for which
authors have posited a range of features, varying both in number and type (Chomsky & Halle
1968, Ladefoged 1971, Davis 1994). Lombardi (1994) and Dutta (2007) note that a central issue
is whether or not voiced aspirates should be phonologically represented via [voice] and [spread
glottis] or whether breathy voice comprises an independent mode of phonation that should not
have the same phonological representation as voiceless aspiration.
I recorded 5 native speakers at different speaking rates, including data for the full four-way
stop paradigm. Results show that for plain voiced stops and voiceless aspirated stops, both
prevoicing and aspiration increase as a function of speech rate, respectively. The voiceless
unaspirated stops show no changes in their VOT values. Crucially, both the prevoicing and
breathy voice of voiced aspirates independently increase as speakers slow down. These results
provide empirical support for a privative [voice, spread glottis] analysis of voiced aspirates,
which naturally explains why the speech rate effects on the production of the post-release noisy
period (breathy voice) of these stops are parallel to the changes found for aspiration of voiceless
aspirated stops (e.g., English, German, Swedish). Moreover, such a phonological representation
serves to form a natural class of aspirates, which is desirable based on phonological data from
closely related Indic languages with four-way stop contrasts. As a result, this study fills a gap in
the literature on speech rate effects, but also contributes empirical evidence relevant for a more
accurate phonological analysis of voiced aspirates.
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References
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