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Gestural coordination of Italian word-initial clusters: the case of ‘impure s’*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2013

Anne Hermes ,
Doris Mücke  and
Martine Grice
Anne Hermes
Affiliation:
University of Cologne
Doris Mücke
Affiliation:
University of Cologne
Martine Grice
Affiliation:
University of Cologne
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Abstract

We report on an articulatory study which uses an electromagnetic articulograph to investigate word-initial consonant clusters in Italian. In particular, we investigate clusters involving a sibilant, such as in spina ‘thorn’. The status of the sibilant in such clusters, referred to as ‘impure s’, is an unresolved problem for the syllable phonology of Italian. Coordination patterns of the gestural targets of consonantal and vocalic gestures reveal a structural difference between obstruent–liquid clusters, e.g. /pr/, and sibilant–obstruent clusters, e.g. /sp/. Whereas in /pr/, both /p/ and /r/ have distinct coordination patterns as compared to either /p/ or /r/ as a single consonant in the same (word-initial) position, this is not the case for /sp/. Here the /p/ patterns like a single consonant: /p/ in spina patterns with /p/ in Pina (proper name). Thus, although /s/ in spina constitutes a word onset, there is evidence against it being part of a syllable onset.

Type
Research Article
Information
Phonology , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , May 2013 , pp. 1 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

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Footnotes

[*]

We would like to thank Louis Goldstein, Hosung Nam and Elina Savino for their generous advice at the conceptual stage. We are also grateful to three anonymous reviewers and the associate editor for constructive suggestions and comments, and to Franceso Cangemi and Jessica Di Napoli for helpful insights into the phonology of Italian.

References

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