Glides (/w/, /j/) & Liquids (/l/,
/r/)
Associated with
1. high degree of vocal tract constriction
2. articulatory transition
Degree of Constriction
• Greater than vowels
– Poral slightly greater than Patmos
• Less than fricatives
Transition rate
• faster than the diphthongs
• slower than the stops
• lasts ~ 75-250 msec
– Poral for glides/liquids < Poral for
fricatives
• Constriction lasts ~ 100 msec
• Constriction results in a loss in
energy
– weaker formants
Stephen M. Tasko
/w/
3000
Freq (Hz)
• Place: labial
• Acoustics
– /u/-like formant
frequencies
– Constriction  formant
values
– F1 ~ 330 Hz
– F2 ~ 730 Hz
– weak F3 (~ 2300 Hz)
F3
2000
F2
1000
F1
V
Stephen M. Tasko
w
V
• Place: palatal
• Acoustics
– /i/-like formant
frequencies
– F1 ~ 300 Hz
– F2 ~ 2200 Hz
– F3 ~ 3000 Hz
Freq (Hz)
/j/
3000
F3
2000
F2
F1
1000
V
j
Stephen M. Tasko
V
/j/
V
j
Stephen M. Tasko
V
Liquids (/l/, /r/)
• lateral /l/
• Rhotic /r/
• Pickett (1999) considers these consonants
glides as well
Stephen M. Tasko
/r/
• Place: palatal
• Articulatory phonetics
– Variable tongue positions
– “bunched”
– “retroflexed”
Allophonic Variations
Some suggest
– “dark” (CV) –very low F3
– “light” (VC) –F3 not as low
• Acoustics
– Hallmark of /r/ is a low
F3
– F1 ~ 350 Hz
– F2 ~ 1050 Hz
– F3 ~ 1550 Hz
– Vowels have F3 above
2200 Hz
– Vowels around /r/ are
colored or
• F3 values lower than
usual
Stephen M. Tasko
/r/
Freq (Hz)
3000
F3
2000
F2
1000
F1
V
r
V
Stephen M. Tasko
Role of F3 transition in /w/ vs.
/r/ perception
Stephen M. Tasko
/r/ “coloring” of vowels
//
//
Stephen M. Tasko
Articulatory Variability and /r/
Stephen M. Tasko
Point parameterized
representation
Bunched
Stephen M. Tasko
Point parameterized
representation
Retroflexed
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Between-speaker variation
“row”
“row”
JW39 tp004
Very common
Stephen M. Tasko
JW45 tp004
Within-speaker variation:
different context
“row”
“dorm”
JW37 tp009
Common
Stephen M. Tasko
JW37 tp099
Within-speaker variation: same
context
“right”
“right”
JW37 tp009
Not common, but possible!
Stephen M. Tasko
JW37 tp099
• N=53 normal speakers
• Not just two different
configurations, but a whole
family of possible
configuration
From Westbury et al. (1998)
Stephen M. Tasko
How can these vastly different tongue
configurations lead to similar
acoustic/perceptual consequences?
Stephen M. Tasko
Stephen M. Tasko
Summary
• There is a wide distribution of articulatory
configurations for /r/
• Different articulatory configurations of /r/ are
indistinguishable acoustically and perceptually
– Different tongue configurations can produce equivalent
area functions
– Some parts of the area function are more critical than
others for determining key acoustic/perceptual effects
Stephen M. Tasko
Clinical Digression
• Clinically, /r/ is a difficult sound for children to
learn.
• Is there anything from our discussion that
might suggest why this might be the case?
Stephen M. Tasko
/l/
• Place: alveolar
• Articulatory phonetics:
• Acoustics
– tongue tip contacts alveolar
ridge, splitting the vocal tract
– Introduces antiformants
–
–
–
–
F1 ~ 360 Hz
F2 ~ 1300 Hz
F3 ~ 2700 Hz
F2 is variable and affected by
vowel environment
– Transition often looks more
abrupt than other sounds
discussed
– Allophonic variations
• Light /l/:
– CV environment
• Dark /l/:
– VC environment
Stephen M. Tasko
/l/
Freq (Hz)
3000
F3
2000
F2
1000
F1
V
l
Stephen M. Tasko
V
/l/
V
l
V
Stephen M. Tasko