Bridging planning and execution: Temporal planning of syllables

Christine Mooshammer, Louis Goldstein, Hosung Nam, Scott McClure, Elliot Saltzman, Mark Tiede

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study compares the time to initiate words with varying syllable structures (V, VC, CV, CVC, CCV, CCVC). In order to test the hypothesis that different syllable structures require different amounts of time to prepare their temporal controls, or plans, two delayed naming experiments were carried out. In the first of these the initiation time was determined from acoustic recordings. The results confirmed the hypothesis but also showed an interaction with the initial segment (i.e., vowel-initial words were initiated later than words beginning with consonants, but this difference was much smaller for words starting stops compared to /l/ or /s/). Adding a coda did not affect the initiation time. In order to rule out effects of segment-specific articulatory to acoustic interval differences, a second experiment was performed in which speech movements of the tongue, the jaw and the lips were recorded by means of electromagnetic articulography. Results from initiation time, based on articulatory measurements, showed a significant syllable structure effect with VC words being initiated significantly later than CV(C) words. Only minor effects of the initial segment were found. These results can be partly explained by the amount of accumulated experience a speaker has in coordinating the relevant gesture combinations and triggering them appropriately in time.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)374-389
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Phonetics
Volume40
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012 May
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Speech and Hearing

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Bridging planning and execution: Temporal planning of syllables'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this