THE ACOUSTIC AND PERCEPTUAL CORRELATES OF EMPHASIS IN URBAN JORDANIAN ARABIC

Abstract

Abstract Acoustic and perceptual correlates of emphasis, a secondary articulation in the posterior vocal tract, in Urban Jordanian Arabic were studied. CVC monosyllables and CV.CVC bisyllables with emphatic and plain target consonants in word-initial, word-medial and word-final positions were examined. Spectral measurements on the target vowels at vowel onset, midpoint and offset revealed a significant increase in F1 and F3 and a decrease in F2 in emphatic compared to plain environments. Emphasis was observed more in the environment of high and low front vowels than high back vowels, anticipatory emphasis spread was more salient than perseveratory emphasis spread, and males showed more emphasis than females. Spectral moment measures of the target consonants themselves revealed inconsistent or no effects of emphasis. Results from a perception experiment with cross-spliced monosyllables showed that perception of emphasis follows the vowel, not the consonant, in the emphatic syllable, thus confirming the results of the acoustic experiments.