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Segmental Phonology and the Perception of Syntactic Structure

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Segmental Phonology and the Perception of Syntactic Structure JOURNAL OF VERBAL LEARNING AND VERBAL BEHAVIOR 23, 450-466 (1984) Segmental Phonology and the Perception of Syntactic Structure DONIA R. SCOTT University of Sussex AND ANNE CUTLER MRC Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge Recent research in speech production has shown that syntactic structure is reflected in segmental phonology--the application of certain phonological rules of English (e.g., pala- talization and alveolar flapping) is inhibited across phrase boundaries. We examined whether such segmental effects can be used in speech perception as cues to syntactic structure, and the relation between the use of these segmental features as syntactic markers in production and perception. Speakers of American English (a dialect in which the above segmental effects occur) could indeed use the segmental cues in syntax perception; speakers of British English (in which the effects do not occur) were unable to make use of them, while speakers of British English who were long-term residents of the United States showed intermediate performance. Anyone who has had to make the sepa- dangerous") (Lehiste, 1973). But the fact rate meanings of an ambiguous sentence that listeners can successfully identify the clear to listeners will know that often the intended meaning even in the absence of a most efficient method is just to say the sen- disambiguating context suggests that tence in different ways. Of course, some speakers can exploit acoustic features to sentences will be more difficult to disam- highlight the distinction that is to be con- biguate in this manner than others; in gen- veyed to the listener. eral, surface structure ambiguities (e.g., In recent years, a number of studies on "The old men and women stayed at English speech perception have investi- home") prove easier than deep structure gated just what these acoustic correlates of ambiguities (e.g., "Flying planes can be syntactic structure are, and how useful they are to the listener. To date, such work has This research was supported by a grant from the Science and Engineering Research Council to the Uni- been almost exclusively concerned with the versity of Sussex. The authors are extremely grateful relationship between prosodic aspects of to Mark Pearson and John Local for the many hours the speech wave (variations in fundamental they spent transcribing the production data; to Ste- frequency contour, duration, and ampli- phen Monsell for kindly providing space and equip- tude) and the presence of major syntactic ment at the University of Chicago and access to the Chicago British community; to Steve Spearman for boundaries. This concern has to a large ex- recording the stimuli; to Gill Brown and John Local tent been motivated by findings which for discussion of the distribution of palatalization and show that the prosody of an utterance can flapping in British English; and' to Ilse Lehiste and provide listeners with information about its Dennis Norris for helpful comments on the paper. Re- surface structure; when listeners are pre- print requests should be addressed to the first author at the Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, Uni- sented with speech which has been modi- versity of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, United fied (e.g., peak clipped, spectrally inverted, Kingdom. or band passed) in such a way that all seg- 450 0022-5371/84 $3.00 Copyright © 1984 by Academic Press, Inc. All tights of reproduction in any form reserved. SEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY AND PERCEPTION OF SYNTAX 451 mental information is destroyed but the ercise effects on segmental phenomena, prosodic pattern is retained, they are still namely, the application of certain phono- able to identify the location of syntactic logical assimilation and elision rules. Many boundaries (Blesser, 1969; Kozhevnikov & such rules can apply across a word Chistovich, 1965; Martin, 1972). The same boundary, but only if the word boundary is is true for hummed or reiterant (where each not also a major syntactic boundary. In this syllable is replaced with "ma") versions of paper we attempt to assess whether such a sentence (Liberman & Streeter, 1978; segmental effects can, like prosody, be used Svensson, 1974). in perception, that is, can provide listeners Production studies have demonstrated with cues to the location of a phrase that major syntactic boundaries are often boundary. In particular, we examine the accompanied by one or more of a number possible perceptual role of two rules of prosodic features: studied by Cooper, namely, (a) flapping 1 (a) a fall-rise in the fundamental fre- and (b) palatalization of intervocalic al- quency contour (Cooper & Sorensen, 1977; veolar stop consonants. Lea, 1972; 't Hart & Cohen, 1973), The phonological rule of flapping de- (b) a pause (Boomer, 1965; Goldman- scribes the change of intervocalic/t/'s and Eisler, 1972; Grosjean & Deschamps, /d/'s to a flap ([el). In the production of a 1975), flap, the tongue tip moves rapidly upward (c) lengthening of the final stressed syl- and then downward, making brief contact lable of a phrase (Cooper, Paccia and La- with the alveolar ridge. The application of pointe, 1978; Klatt, 1975; Lindblom & the flapping rule gives, for example, homo- Rapp, 1973; Scott, 1982), phonous readings of the words liter and (d) lengthening of the foot (interstress in- leader ([lie.r]), (Although it is sometimes terval) which contains the phrase boundary claimed that vowel duration disambiguates (Lehiste, Olive, & Streeter, 1976; Scott, flapped/t/'s from flapped/d/'s, Zue & Laf- 1982), and erriere, 1979, reviewing their own and (e) changes in amplitude (Streeter, 1978). others' studies of medial flaps, conclude The first four of these features, at least, that/t/and/d/flap minimal pairs are in gen- can be used by listeners as perceptual cues eral perceived as homophonous). The flap- to the location of a major syntactic ping rule will also apply across a word boundary (Collier and 't Hart, 1975; Leh- boundary; thus the sequence/met ~en/(met iste et al., 1976; Scott, 1982; Streeter, Ann) will be realized as [mee a~ n]. The rule 1978). of palatalization applies to intervocalic/t/'s However, prosodic cues can be useful for and/d/'s in the environment of a following disambiguation only if the speaker provides /j/; here the/t/will be realized as [t f] and them, and the presence of prosodic markers the/d/as [(15]. Like flapping, palatalization of major syntactic boundaries in conversa- will also occur across word boundaries, tional speech will depend crucially on giving, for example, [dId3Q)u] for/did ju/ whether the speaker is aware of the ambi- (did you) and [metf(j)u] for/met ju/(met guity (Lehiste, 1973). But, even in the ab- you). The application of both rules, how- sence of prosodic cues, there may be other ever, is inhibited when the word boundary acoustic characteristics of the utterance between the stop and following segment is which could be useful for disambiguation. also a major syntactic boundary (Cooper et For example, Cooper and his colleagues al., 1978; Egido & Cooper, 1980); Cooper (Cooper and Paccia-Cooper, 1980; Egido and Cooper, 1980) have established that the 1 In British phonetic terminology flapping is also re- syntactic structure of an utterance can ex- ferred to as tapping (see Wells, 1982, p. 249). 452 SCOTT AND CUTLER and his colleagues found that the/t/or/d/ unknown. 2 Palatalization occurs, but it oc- in the italicized portions of sentences 1 and curs less frequently across a word 2 will be flapped in the (b) version of sen- boundary in British than in American En- tence 1 and palatalized in the (b) version of glish, and there is no evidence that its oc- sentence 2 but not in the (a) versions, in currence in British English is sensitive to which a major syntactic boundary comes the presence of a syntactic boundary. between the stop and following segment. This distributional pattern makes it pos- sible to test a subsidiary hypothesis, (la) For those of you who'd like to eat, early namely, that the ability to see segmental lunch will be served. phenomena of this type as cues to syntactic (b) For those of you who'd like to eat early, structure may be dependent on syntacti- lunch will be served. cally governed occurrence of the rules in (2a) We didn't break the code yet we intend to question in one's own speech community. break it soon. (b) We didn't break the code yet but we intend That is to say, given that only American to break it soon. speakers use flapping and palatalization as syntactically disambiguating cues, will only Because both the flapping rule and the American listeners be able to derive syn- palatalization rule are applied only option- tactic information from such cues, or will ally, the perceptual cues which they offer the cues also be effective for British lis- are somewhat indirect. Flapping never oc- teners (i.e., speakers who themselves do curs immediately before a major syntactic not mark syntactic structure in this way)? boundary, but it does not have to occur in To test this hypothesis, we measured the other environments either (Egido & sensitivity to syntactic patterning of these Cooper, 1980); therefore, the presence of cues in groups of both American and flapping should be a strong perceptual cue British listeners. to the absence of a major syntactic Since the British neither produce such boundary. The presence or absence of pal- syntactic cues themselves nor hear them atalization should be a somewhat less reli- from their compatriots, we predict that al- able syntactic marker in perception, since though the cues will indeed be effective for both forms are produced in both boundary the American listeners, the British listeners and no-boundary conditions; but because will not be able to make use of them.
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