Acoustics and perception of emphasis in Urban Jordanian Arabic

Acoustic and perceptual effects of emphasis, a secondary articulation in the posterior vocal tract, were investigated in Urban Jordanian Arabic. Twelve speakers of Jordanian Arabic recorded both consonants and vowels of monosyllabic minimal CVC pairs containing plain or emphatic consonants in initial and final position to investigate the extent of coarticulatory effects of emphasis. In general, the acoustic correlates of emphasis include a raised F1, lowered F2, and raised F3 in the vowel adjacent to the emphatic consonant, consistent with a narrowing near the uvula. These effects are similar in magnitude for vowels following and preceding emphatic consonants. In addition, the spectral mean of emphatic stops, but not emphatic fricatives, was lower than that of plain consonants. A perception study with cross-spliced natural stimuli explored whether Arabic listeners’ recognition of emphasis is based on information in the target consonant or the rest of the word (vowel+non-target consonant). Results show that the rest of the word contributes significantly more to the perception of emphasis than the target consonant itself. Overall, the acoustic data and perceptual results will address the correlates of emphasis, spread of emphasis, and the asymmetry between stops and fricatives.

Research highlights► Vowels in an emphatic context have a higher F1, lower F2, and higher F3 than vowels in a plain context. ► Emphasis lowers the spectral mean of stops but not of fricatives. ► Leftward spread of emphasis is stronger than rightward spread. ► Perception of emphasis is determined by the vowel, not the emphatic/plain nature of the consonant.