Articulatory and acoustic correlates of prominence in French: Comparing L1 and L2 speakers. (November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Smith, Caroline L.; Erickson, Donna; Savariaux, Christophe
• Is Part Of: Journal of phonetics. Volume 77(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-11
• Subjects: Prominence -- Prosodic structure -- Duration -- Jaw displacement -- F1 -- French -- Non-native (L2) speaker; Phonetics -- Periodicals; Phonetics -- Periodicals; Phonétique -- Périodiques; Phonetics; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 414.05
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wocn.2019.100938
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0095-4470

Abstract

Abstract: This study investigates how L1 and L2 speakers of French produce phonetic correlates of French prosodic structure, specifically the properties of Accentual Phrases that are evidenced in dimensions other than f0. The L2 speakers had English L1, with varying levels of proficiency in French. We also examined the same individuals' productions of sentences in English. Differences in prosodic structure between English and French lead us to expect differences between the two groups of speakers. Our study measured jaw displacement in electromagnetic articulography, as well as acoustic duration and vowel formant values. Patterns of variation across the syllables of the stimulus sentences were evaluated by comparing normalized values for individual syllables; significance testing was not used as it could not capture the relatively small syllable-to-syllable differences. In French, we found that despite substantial individual variation, the L1 speakers generally show a tendency for expanded articulation (greater jaw displacement, and F1 values corresponding to this), and longer durations on syllables that are final in an Accentual Phrase (identified using f0 cues). The most obvious differences in the L2 speakers' productions were seen in polysyllabic words, particularly cognates, where less advanced speakers tended to produce expanded articulations on syllables that would receive lexical stress in English but no accentuation in French. For English, limited data show greater consistency among the L2 (native French) speakers, possibly due to them feeling less able to exploit the variability in prominence placement that English allows.