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date: 12 February 2025

Phonetics of Fricativeslocked

Phonetics of Fricativeslocked

  • Allard JongmanAllard JongmanUniversity of Kansas

Summary

Fricatives are very common, occurring in over 90% of the world’s documented languages and at all places of articulation codified in the International Phonetic Alphabet charts. Fricatives constitute a class of consonant sounds characterized by a turbulent airflow produced by a severe but not complete constriction of the vocal tract. This constriction divides the vocal tract into two parts, a front cavity that ranges from the constriction to the lips and a back cavity that ranges from the constriction to the larynx. For anterior fricatives, the friction generated at the constriction excites the front cavity and the resonances associated with the front cavity dominate the sound spectrum. The length of the front cavity is a major determinant of the spectrum. As the location of the constriction moves toward the back of the vocal tract, the front cavity becomes longer, and the resonances occur at lower frequencies. For more posterior fricatives produced at and beyond the velum, back cavity resonances become more prominent.

Acoustic and perceptual studies focusing on the frication noise show that properties of the spectrum, amplitude, and duration of the noise all serve to distinguish the sibilant from the non-sibilant fricatives across a wide variety of languages. In addition, spectral properties distinguish /s/ from /ʃ/, with /s/ having a concentration of energy in higher frequencies than /ʃ/. None of the noise properties seem adequate to distinguish /f/ from /θ/. Acoustic and perceptual studies of fricative-to-vowel formant transitions suggest that transitions may provide unique information for those contrasts that are difficult to distinguish on the basis of the frication itself.

Fricatives, especially /s/ and /ʃ/, have also been shown to carry information about social-group membership, including speakers’ sexual orientation and social class.

Measures such as spectral moments can be sensitive to differences in sampling rate and type and exact location of the analysis window. Methods to obtain reliable measurements are discussed, including ensemble averaging and multitaper analysis. In addition, alternatives to spectral moments such as the Discrete Cosine Transformation coefficients are introduced.

Subjects

  • Phonetics/Phonology

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