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. 2016;30(3-5):174-201.
doi: 10.3109/02699206.2015.1127999. Epub 2016 Feb 25.

Acquiring rhoticity across languages: An ultrasound study of differentiating tongue movements

Suzanne E Boyce  1 , Sarah M Hamilton  1 , Ahmed Rivera-Campos  1
Affiliations

Acquiring rhoticity across languages: An ultrasound study of differentiating tongue movements

Suzanne E Boyce et al. Clin Linguist Phon. 2016.

Abstract

Rhotics in many languages develop late and show clinically significant misarticulations. The English approximant and Spanish trill rhotics exhibit both a primary constriction along the palate and a secondary constriction in the pharynx. We speculate that the secondary constriction might be a cross-linguistic characteristic of rhotics and thus potentially a factor in delayed articulatory development/misarticulations. We describe an exploratory study analyzing rhotic tongue configurations in ultrasound videos from a small sample of native adult speakers of English, Malayalam, French, Persian and Spanish. Our findings confirm that rhotic sounds most subject to late development also involve tongue root movement towards a pharyngeal constriction, but this conclusion must remain tentative without further research. In the meantime, clinical strategies that include attention to primary and secondary constrictions should be explored for remediation of rhotic misarticulations across languages.

Keywords: Cross-linguistic; phonological acquisition; rhoticity; speech sound disorders; ultrasound.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interests

The authors of this paper report no declarations of commercial interests. This study was partially funded by USA National Institutes of Health awards R01 DC005250 and R01 DC013668 to Suzanne Boyce, plus an Ohio Speech-Language-Hearing Doctoral Research Grant to Sarah Hamilton.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Images from 12 native speakers of US English producing sustained syllabic /ɹ/ as in ‘pour’. These are adapted from Tiede et al. 2004.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Figure 2a. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing a misarticulated version of sustained syllabic /ɹ/ (sounds like rounded /ə/). Figure 2b. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing an accurate version of sustained syllabic /ɹ/. Figure 2c. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing a sustained /i/ vowel. Figure 2d. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing a sustained /u/ vowel.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Figure 2a. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing a misarticulated version of sustained syllabic /ɹ/ (sounds like rounded /ə/). Figure 2b. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing an accurate version of sustained syllabic /ɹ/. Figure 2c. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing a sustained /i/ vowel. Figure 2d. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing a sustained /u/ vowel.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Figure 2a. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing a misarticulated version of sustained syllabic /ɹ/ (sounds like rounded /ə/). Figure 2b. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing an accurate version of sustained syllabic /ɹ/. Figure 2c. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing a sustained /i/ vowel. Figure 2d. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing a sustained /u/ vowel.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Figure 2a. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing a misarticulated version of sustained syllabic /ɹ/ (sounds like rounded /ə/). Figure 2b. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing an accurate version of sustained syllabic /ɹ/. Figure 2c. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing a sustained /i/ vowel. Figure 2d. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from an US English-speaking child producing a sustained /u/ vowel.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Figure 3a. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from a US English-speaking adult producing a sustained /i/ vowel. Figure 3b. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from a US English-speaking adult producing a sustained /u/ vowel. Figure 3c. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from a US English-speaking adult producing a sustained /ɑ/ vowel.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Figure 3a. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from a US English-speaking adult producing a sustained /i/ vowel. Figure 3b. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from a US English-speaking adult producing a sustained /u/ vowel. Figure 3c. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from a US English-speaking adult producing a sustained /ɑ/ vowel.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Figure 3a. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from a US English-speaking adult producing a sustained /i/ vowel. Figure 3b. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from a US English-speaking adult producing a sustained /u/ vowel. Figure 3c. Midsagittal Magnetic Resonance Image from a US English-speaking adult producing a sustained /ɑ/ vowel.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Figure 4a. Ultrasound Image from a US English-speaking child producing a misarticulated version of /ɹ/ (sounds like rounded [ə] or [ʊ]). Instructions were to say ‘ear’. Figure 4b. Ultrasound Image from an US English-speaking child producing an accurate version of /ɹ/. Instructions were to say ‘ree’.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Figure 4a. Ultrasound Image from a US English-speaking child producing a misarticulated version of /ɹ/ (sounds like rounded [ə] or [ʊ]). Instructions were to say ‘ear’. Figure 4b. Ultrasound Image from an US English-speaking child producing an accurate version of /ɹ/. Instructions were to say ‘ree’.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Figure 5a. Ultrasound Image of Spanish rhotic production of [riso]. Figure 5b. Ultrasound Image of Spanish [i] in [riso]. Figure 5c. Ultrasound Image of Spanish sustained [i] vowel.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Figure 5a. Ultrasound Image of Spanish rhotic production of [riso]. Figure 5b. Ultrasound Image of Spanish [i] in [riso]. Figure 5c. Ultrasound Image of Spanish sustained [i] vowel.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Figure 5a. Ultrasound Image of Spanish rhotic production of [riso]. Figure 5b. Ultrasound Image of Spanish [i] in [riso]. Figure 5c. Ultrasound Image of Spanish sustained [i] vowel.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Figure 6a. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam rhotic production of [rup:ikɑ]. Figure 6b. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam [u] in [rup:ikɑ]. Figure 6c. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam [r] in [kɑjər] Figure 6d. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam [j] in [kɑjər]
Figure 6
Figure 6
Figure 6a. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam rhotic production of [rup:ikɑ]. Figure 6b. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam [u] in [rup:ikɑ]. Figure 6c. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam [r] in [kɑjər] Figure 6d. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam [j] in [kɑjər]
Figure 6
Figure 6
Figure 6a. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam rhotic production of [rup:ikɑ]. Figure 6b. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam [u] in [rup:ikɑ]. Figure 6c. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam [r] in [kɑjər] Figure 6d. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam [j] in [kɑjər]
Figure 6
Figure 6
Figure 6a. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam rhotic production of [rup:ikɑ]. Figure 6b. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam [u] in [rup:ikɑ]. Figure 6c. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam [r] in [kɑjər] Figure 6d. Ultrasound Image of Malayalam [j] in [kɑjər]
Figure 7
Figure 7
Figure 7a. Ultrasound Image of Persian rhotic production of [ʃir]. Figure 7b. Ultrasound Image of Persian [i] in [ʃir].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Figure 7a. Ultrasound Image of Persian rhotic production of [ʃir]. Figure 7b. Ultrasound Image of Persian [i] in [ʃir].
Figure 8
Figure 8
X-Ray tracing of sequential frames for the French intervocalic uvular trill. These are adapted from Delattre & Freeman (1971).
Figure 9
Figure 9
Figure 9a. Ultrasound Image of French rhotic [ʁ] in [piʁ]. Figure 9b. Ultrasound Image of French [i] in [piʁ].
Figure 9
Figure 9
Figure 9a. Ultrasound Image of French rhotic [ʁ] in [piʁ]. Figure 9b. Ultrasound Image of French [i] in [piʁ].
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