Gestural coordination of Italian word-initial clusters: the case of ‘impure s’

• Published in: Phonology Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. 1 - 25
• Main Authors: Hermes, Anne, Mücke, Doris, Grice, Martine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01-05-2013; Cambridge University Press (CUP)
• Subjects: Algorithms; Articulation; Consonant clusters; Consonants; Coordination; English; Evidence; Gestures; Humanities and Social Sciences; Italian language; Linguistics; Morphemes; Native Speakers; North American English; Nouns; Onset (Phonology); Phonemes; Phonetics; Phonology; Romance Languages; Syllables; Vowels; New York; United States > US
• ISSN: 0952-6757; 1469-8188
• DOI: 10.1017/S095267571300002X

We report on an articulatory study which uses an electromagnetic articulograph to investigate word-initial consonant clusters in Italian. In particular, we investigate clusters involving a sibilant, such as in spina ‘thorn’. The status of the sibilant in such clusters, referred to as ‘impure s’, is an unresolved problem for the syllable phonology of Italian. Coordination patterns of the gestural targets of consonantal and vocalic gestures reveal a structural difference between obstruent–liquid clusters, e.g. /pr/, and sibilant–obstruent clusters, e.g. /sp/. Whereas in /pr/, both /p/ and /r/ have distinct coordination patterns as compared to either /p/ or /r/ as a single consonant in the same (word-initial) position, this is not the case for /sp/. Here the /p/ patterns like a single consonant: /p/ in spina patterns with /p/ in Pina (proper name). Thus, although /s/ in spina constitutes a word onset, there is evidence against it being part of a syllable onset.