Sung, Jae-Hyun 2020. Retroflection or retraction? Phonetic variability in pre-rhotic coronal stops in English. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 26.3. 487-501. Pre-rhotic coronal obstruents in English are prone to various phonological changes, represented by s-retraction as in street or t/d-retraction as in tree or dream. Based on the previous findings that morphological structures and lexical frequency play critical roles in many coarticulatory processes, this study investigates whether the degree of retroflection or retraction before /ɹ/ is influenced by different morphological structures or lexical frequency. Comparisons of tongue contours from seven American speakers show that different morphological structures are not at play in articulatory patterns, but that high-frequency words and phrases, albeit weakly, result in greater degrees of retroflection represented by articulatory posterity, mostly for /d/. Furthermore, the gestural patterns of various morphological and frequency conditions are highly individualized. (Kongju National University, Assistant Professor)

 

Keywords: retroflection, retraction, pre-rhotic coronal stops, articulation, ultrasound imaging