VOWELS IN STANDARD AUSTRIAN GERMAN - Acoustics ...

Sylvia Moosmüller
Whatever the definition of coarticulation, the unifying bond of all views is the
assumption of a "unit" or "canonical segment" which is modified when executed (Farne-
tani 1990: 94).
"To recapitulate: the concept of coarticulation entails the hypotheses that at some level
speakers make use of a representation in terms of abstract phonological segments, and that
there are regular principles governing the articulatory integration of those segments in
speech." (Kühnert & Nolan 1999: 9)
Coarticulation, is the
"process bridging the invariant and discrete units of representation to articulation and
acoustics." (Farnetani & Recasens 1999: 31)
Attributing coarticulation to a mere processual character neglects, however, the physical
and physiological aspects of coarticulation put forward by Kühnert and Nolan (1999):
"..., a single vocal tract has to alter its shape to satisfy the requirements of all the sounds in a
sequence. The vocal tract is governed by the laws of physics and the constraints of
physiology, but (...) it is producing its communicative artefact in 'real time'. It cannot move
instantaneously from one target configuration to the next." (Kühnert & Nolan 1999: 8f).
Therefore, it is those "regular principles" (Kühnert & Nolan 1999: 9) which need further
clarification and division. In their investigation of /sS/ sequencies, Holst & Nolan (1995)
assume a phonological process of assimilation to account for compensatory lengthening
in [S], when no spectral characteristics of [s] are visible anymore, i.e. when total
assimilation has taken place. Nolan et al. (1996) repeated this investigation applying
articulatory methods to account for the critique put forward by Browman (1995). The
results show that one speaker applied a phonological assimilation rule, while the other
speaker behaved in a way which suggests a deletion of the /s/. However, they could, in
both cases, find no evidence of an [s] gesture. The authors conclude:
"Articulatory Phonology already goes impressively far towards accounting for the phenomena
of connected speech by providing an implementable description of the process of articulatory
blending. It is fully acknowledged by the authors here and in Holst and Nolan
(1995) that very many observed outputs of segmental accommodation are appropriately
described in gestural terms, that is, as mechanical consequences of the dynamics of the
articulators. It would then be extremely elegant and economical if AP were able to go the
whole way, and account for all accommodatory phenomena, making Cognitive Phonology
redundant, at least in the area of connected speech processes. Elegance and economy are not
enough, however, and the scope of AP must be tested by seeking phenomena it cannot
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