2009/11/18

Greenlee, M. (1992). Perception and production of voiceless Spanish fricatives by Chicano children and adults. Language and Speech, 35(1-2), 173–187.

Presentation: Sarah

Summary: Sally

Previous studies have found that when labial velar glide /w/ occurs next to fricative noise, the complex acoustic features would make it perceived as a labial, rather than a velar (Ohala & Lorentz, 1977). However, Spanish spoken in Mexico and Southwest U.S. is found to have a different pattern. In this study, two directional predictions based on Ohala & Lorentz (1977) were examined on two groups of six-year-old children (one with delayed Spanish morphology and syntax development) as well as their adult relatives: effect of Context Hypothesis proposes that more labial/velar fricative interchange would occur before rounded vowels or glides, rather than unrounded ones; The Differential and Labial Predominance Hypothesis proposes that before a rounded vowel or glide, labial fricatives are favored in labial/velar interchanges. Participants were first given a perception test to discriminate minimal nonsense syllable pairs and word pairs contrasting two fricatives (/f/ and /x/) in different vowel contexts (rounded or unrounded). They were then recorded saying Spanish words containing the fricatives of interest. Results showed that the normally developing children were at extremes. They were the only group showing a labial bias in perception, but a velar bias in production. In general, results of perception tests supported the two acoustically-based predictions; results of production also showed strong sociolinguistic influences, i.e. overcorrection (especially for adults) in the opposite direction.