Gestural reduction of Hong Kong Cantonese syllable-final oral stops

Abstract

Previous work on Cantonese unreleased syllable-final stops have shown that these sounds are cued primarily by their spectral transitions during the preceding vowel (Khouw & Ciocca, 2006). However, it remains unclear whether speakers have lost a place distinction between such sounds. This study investigates the articulation of syllable-final /t, k/ that precede consonants differing by place (labial, alveolar, velar), which could result in varying degrees of gestural reduction. Productions of disyllabic Cantonese words by five speakers were recorded using ultrasonic tongue imaging and analyzed for lingual contour and minimal lingual aperture. Results for all but one speaker show systematic patterns of reduction of the anterior or posterior constrictions for /t, k/ according to the place of the following consonant. Unexpectedly, the pre-labial contexts elicited the most gestural reduction and deletion/assimilation, despite the fact that this context should have permitted the greatest amount of simultaneity and coarticulation.