Alveolar-to-rhotic coarticulation in North American English: A preliminary EPG study

Alexei Kochetov, University of Toronto

Abstract

This paper reports results of an electropalatographic (EPG) study of alveolar-torhotic coarticulation in North American English. Data with alveolars /d/ and /n/ occurring in various rhotic contexts were collected from a single female speaker. The results showed a continuum of backing of the primary constriction from alveolar to post-alveolar or retroflex as a function of the absence or presence of one or more rhotic segments in the word and their proximity to the alveolar. These findings are interpreted as coarticulation of alveolars to the more constrained rhotic approximant and rhotacized vowels, and to different degrees of overlap of alveolar and rhotic gestures. The results, albeit preliminary, provide evidence for retroflexed allophones of English alveolars and point to articulatory sources of phonological patterns of retroflexion.