Perception grammars and sound change
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Patrice Speeter Beddor
Abstract
The acoustic consequences of gestural overlap afford listeners multiple, time-varying cues for a given linguistic percept. Findings from “offline” perceptual tasks and “online” real-time processing converge in demonstrating that listeners attend to the dynamic cues, tracking the coarticulatory information over time. These findings also converge in showing that listeners systematically differ in their perceptual weighting of the information contributed by the coarticulatory source and its effects; that is, listener attention is selective. One factor contributing to these listener differences in perception grammars may be listener-specific experiences with particular coarticulatory patterns. However, another factor is the quasi-systematic nature of coarticulatory variation, which provides listeners with covarying cues and therefore multiple possible weightings that are fully consistent with the input. Of particular interest for sound change are “innovative” listeners, for whom the coarticulatory cues are heavily weighted. These listeners’ perception grammars have the potential to contribute to changes in which the coarticulatory effect is requisite and its source may be lost – but only insofar as those grammars are publicly manifested. Such manifestation is likely to occur in conversational interactions either through innovative listeners’ expectations about coarticulated speech or through those listeners’ own productions.
Abstract
The acoustic consequences of gestural overlap afford listeners multiple, time-varying cues for a given linguistic percept. Findings from “offline” perceptual tasks and “online” real-time processing converge in demonstrating that listeners attend to the dynamic cues, tracking the coarticulatory information over time. These findings also converge in showing that listeners systematically differ in their perceptual weighting of the information contributed by the coarticulatory source and its effects; that is, listener attention is selective. One factor contributing to these listener differences in perception grammars may be listener-specific experiences with particular coarticulatory patterns. However, another factor is the quasi-systematic nature of coarticulatory variation, which provides listeners with covarying cues and therefore multiple possible weightings that are fully consistent with the input. Of particular interest for sound change are “innovative” listeners, for whom the coarticulatory cues are heavily weighted. These listeners’ perception grammars have the potential to contribute to changes in which the coarticulatory effect is requisite and its source may be lost – but only insofar as those grammars are publicly manifested. Such manifestation is likely to occur in conversational interactions either through innovative listeners’ expectations about coarticulated speech or through those listeners’ own productions.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword and acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors and discussion participants ix
- Editors’ introduction 1
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Part I. Perception
- The listener as a source of sound change 21
- Perception grammars and sound change 37
- A phonetic interpretation of the sound changes affecting dark /l/ in Romance 57
- The production and perception of sub-phonemic vowel contrasts and the role of the listener in sound change 77
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Part II. Production
- The coarticulatory basis of diachronic high back vowel fronting 103
- Natural and unnatural patterns of sound change? 123
- The gaits of speech 147
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Part III. Social factors, structural factors and the typology of change
- Prosodic skewing of input and the initiation of cross-generational sound change 167
- Social and personality variables in compensation for altered auditory feedback 185
- Patterns of lexical diffusion and articulatory motivation for sound change 211
- Foundational concepts in the scientific study of sound change 235
- Index of subjects and terms 247
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword and acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors and discussion participants ix
- Editors’ introduction 1
-
Part I. Perception
- The listener as a source of sound change 21
- Perception grammars and sound change 37
- A phonetic interpretation of the sound changes affecting dark /l/ in Romance 57
- The production and perception of sub-phonemic vowel contrasts and the role of the listener in sound change 77
-
Part II. Production
- The coarticulatory basis of diachronic high back vowel fronting 103
- Natural and unnatural patterns of sound change? 123
- The gaits of speech 147
-
Part III. Social factors, structural factors and the typology of change
- Prosodic skewing of input and the initiation of cross-generational sound change 167
- Social and personality variables in compensation for altered auditory feedback 185
- Patterns of lexical diffusion and articulatory motivation for sound change 211
- Foundational concepts in the scientific study of sound change 235
- Index of subjects and terms 247
