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Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and
acoustic perspectives
Philipp Buech*, Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie (CNRS & Sorbonne Nouvelle), FR,
philipp.buech@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr
Anne Hermes, Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie (CNRS & Sorbonne Nouvelle), FR,
anne.hermes@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr
Rachid Ridouane, Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie (CNRS & Sorbonne Nouvelle), FR,
rachid.ridouane@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr
*Corresponding author.
This study investigated the implementation of pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt, across various
linguistic contexts VCV, VCCV, VCCV, and VCCCV. We analyzed articulatory and acoustic data from
six male speakers who produced words containing these sequences with both plain ([d, z]) and
pharyngealized target consonants ([dʕ, zʕ]). The investigation comprised dynamic analyses of
kinematic and formant trajectories, as well as acoustic parameters of consonants and intrusive
schwas. While pharyngealization did not affect the tongue tip, it did lead to a significant lowering
of the tongue body. This lowering was not confined solely to the target consonants but was
observed in larger domains, extending up to nearly the entire VCCCV items. The primary acoustic
correlate of pharyngealization was identified as a lowered F2 of vowels and intrusive schwas,
while acoustic properties of consonants remained unaffected. Consistent with observations
in the articulatory domain, the lowering of F2 was not restricted solely to vowels adjacent
to pharyngealized coronals; instead, it extended to larger domains, even when there were
intervening consonants.
Laboratory Phonology: Journal of the Association for Laboratory Phonology is a peer-reviewed open access journal published by
the Open Library of Humanities. © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction
in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
OPEN ACCESS
Buech, P., Hermes, A., & Ridouane, R. (2025).
Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and
acoustic perspectives. Laboratory Phonology: Journal
of the Association for Laboratory Phonology, 16(1),
pp.1–49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16995/labphon.16727
lab
la
phon
Journal of the Association for
Laboratory Phonology
Laboratory Phonology
hon
2Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
1. Introduction
Pharyngealization is a secondary articulation characterized by a constriction of the pharynx
and a backward movement of the tongue towards the pharyngeal wall (Ghazeli, 1977).
This articulation is lexically contrastive in some languages, notably in Arabic, where it is a
the phonetic implementation of pharyngealization has been extensively studied in Arabic
varieties, research on this topic in non-Semitic languages remains limited. Tashlhiyt is one such
non-Semitic language where pharyngealization is phonemic and a feature of the entire set of
providing a comprehensive, dynamic analysis of the articulatory and acoustic characteristics of
pharyngealization in an Amazigh language.
The characteristics of pharyngealization, like other secondary articulations, are
predominantly manifested in the formant structure of adjacent vowels (Ladefoged & Maddieson,
1996). Consequently, phonetic investigations of pharyngealization typically focus on plain and
pharyngealized segments occurring within a vocalic context, with consonant-related measurements
consonant clusters, it becomes crucial to understand how pharyngealization is manifested when
the immediate phonetic context is either partially or completely occupied by consonants. To
C
CC
CC marks the coronal target consonant. In these contexts, the underlined
In the subsequent sections of this introduction, we will review the existing literature on
provide a concise overview of the phenomenon of pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt.
1.1 Pharyngealization: A rare, but well-studied secondary articulation
accompanies another, stronger, primary constriction in another location in the vocal tract (Crystal,
2008; Laver, 1994; Proctor, 2022; Trask, 1996). The simultaneity of the primary and secondary
constriction is an important criterion that distinguishes these segments from sequences, and
3Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
The major types of secondary articulations are usually listed as labialization, palatalization,
pharyngealization, and velarization (Ladefoged & Maddieson, 1996; see also Laver, 1994
2022). Pharyngealization is often associated with Arabic varieties where it is a prominent feature
of a subset of coronal consonants. As a result, phonetic studies on pharyngealized consonants
have been predominantly based on data from Arabic varieties such as Cairene Arabic (e.g.,
majority of these studies was on the acoustics of pharyngealization, there were also articulatory
1.1.1 Articulatory correlates of pharyngealization
Several techniques have been used to investigate pharyngealization in Arabic from an articulatory
perspective. These include X-ray measurements (Ghazeli, 1977), ultrasound (Alwabari, 2020;
caused by an additional constriction at the pharynx, resulting from a retraction of the tongue
examined the production of bi- and multisyllabic words containing the sequence C12, with
C1 as the underlying pharyngealized consonant and C2
4Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
the words containing pharyngealized coronals and a lowering of the tongue body for all vowels,
regardless of height and quality. She also observed a stronger constriction at the pharynx in
segments preceding the pharyngealized consonant than in segments following them, indicating a
stronger leftward than rightward spread in Cairene Arabic.
1.1.2 Acoustic correlates of pharyngealization
As mentioned previously, the primary focus in acoustic studies on pharyngealization has been on
contribution of F1 is less clear, although the majority of studies report a raised F1 in adjacent
its limited sensitivity to pharyngealization, certain studies, such as Al-Masri (2009) and Chiu and
Al-Masri (2009) reported higher values throughout the vowel when preceded by a pharyngealized
pharyngealized segment.
The acoustic properties of pharyngealized consonants themselves have received relatively
less attention when compared to adjacent vowels. Studies that have examined consonant-related
5Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
, t
fricatives [ð, ð, s, s
for [z
standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis.
Acoustic investigations of spread of pharyngealization have primarily focused on vowels,
consistently revealing a lowered F2 in all vowels in up to four-syllable words (Ahmed &
(2021) conducted one of the rare investigations in this domain by a comparison of word-initial
Notably, research exploring the acoustic impact of pharyngealization on non-coronal consonants
remains extremely scarce. To date, only one study by Al-Masri has been found, which analyzed
the spectral moments.
1.2 Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt Amazigh
, t, d, s, z
, l
only reported instances of these pharyngealized consonants. The presence of the pharyngealized
Moroccan Arabic, where it was found to be systematic with French back vowels).
6Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
In Tashlhiyt, pharyngealization is a feature that any segment can display at the phonetic
level. Similar to Arabic, it involves the spread of this secondary articulation from underlying
have the potential to phonetically exhibit pharyngealization, resulting in the pronunciation
[fatima
ablad r
such instances, there is no established method of determining whether only one or more coronals
are underlyingly pharyngealized.
adn
and minstrels during certain forms of public speeches. Although there is a lack of consensus
regarding the precise extent of pharyngealization spread in Tashlhiyt, it is generally admitted
that the syllable serves as the minimum domain, while the word represents the maximum
domain for this phenomenon. Nevertheless, irrespective of word boundaries, it is observed
that onset-nucleus syllables can exhibit either pharyngealized or plain characteristics. Consider
the following examples that showcase a phonological pun commonly found in the Tashlhiyt
speaking area. This pun relies on a wordplay facilitated by the rule dictating that the onset-
word boundary (in contrast to 1b).
(1) a. i-d i
-eat -fall -sleep
b. id i
-eat diarrhea
The phonetic characteristics of pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt have primarily been based on
judgments, experimental studies are crucial for obtaining an objective assessment of this
phenomenon. This study aims to address this need by presenting an investigation that examines
7Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
parameter was a lowering of the middle of the tongue and tongue body during the production of
pharyngealized consonants. In terms of acoustics, the primary acoustic parameter distinguishing
preceding and the following vowels. The impact of pharyngealization on other formants was
and formant trajectories between pharyngealized and plain items. In order to do so, we have
by including a collection of 28 real words contrasting pharyngealized and plain stops ([d
CCCC
This diverse range of contexts allows us to investigate the nature and extent of pharyngealization
spread in a more comprehensive manner.
2. Methods
2.1 Participants
a co-author) were recruited for the experiment. None of them reported any speech or hearing-
2.2 Stimuli
The stimuli are displayed in Table
pharyngealized counterparts [d
C C C C
Tashlhiyt words, some pairs lacked appropriate plain or pharyngealized versions, so we used
phonotactically well-formed non-words in those cases.
All target words were embedded in the carrier sentence (2):
(2) Innajam ____ bahra
i-nna-am ____ bahra
-say- ____ a_lot
The sentences were randomized and presented on a computer screen. The number of utterances
speaker)). The stimuli for one speaker consisted of a subset of the words in Table 1, these were
8Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
the pairs [idmaz
Table 2 gives an overview of the number of
tokens retrieved for each sequence type by plain and pharyngealized productions.
target structure plain meaning pharyngealized meaning
Cidan idan
Cibda ibda
C idaln idam
C ibdas ibdas nonce
Cadan adan
Cabdaj abdaj
C adal adal nonce
Cizi izi
Cimzi name of a hill imzi
C izmaz izman
C imzman nonce imzmaz name of a city (pl.)
Caza letter azaletter
C amzaj amz
C azaj azaj nonce
Table 1: Stimuli by target consonant, structure and type.
context type N
Cplain 114
pharyngealized 107
Cplain 109
pharyngealized 107
C plain 106
pharyngealized 104
C plain
pharyngealized
Table 2: Number of tokens by context and type.
9Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
2.3 Recording procedure and data processing
Simultaneous recording of articulatory and acoustic signals was performed using the
were placed at the vermillion border of the upper and lower lips (ULIP, LLIP), the tongue tip
on a computer screen placed in a comfortable position in front of the speaker. The articulatory
annotation of the acoustic data. After a manual correction of the segmentation, the stop burst
transients for the consonants [d, d
of the stop burst detection algorithm described in Ananthapadmanabha et al. (2014). Any
necessary corrections were made afterwards. Stops without a clear stop burst in the waveform
appearing only as a long closure, were excluded from the analysis.
2.4 Data analysis
Two main analyses are applied in this study: a dynamic analysis of the articulatory data and
such as gestural onset, peak velocity and target, we did not conduct a parametric analysis of the
articulatory data. Instead, we relied on a dynamic analysis of the articulatory signal, where we
used the kinematic trajectories of the vertical (high-low) positions of the TTIP for the primary
C CCC
10 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
the formants in the same intervals from the onset to midpoint of the sequence. These formants
(2) from Traunmüller (1990).
=26.81 /(1960+ ) 0.53zf f–
(1)
+0.15(2 ), if 2.0
=+0.22( 20.1) if 20.1
z zz
zzz z
’ (2)
coronal consonants and for intrusive schwas, if present within the consonant sequences. Intrusive
midpoint of the schwas, along with their duration. For consonants, we measured the closure
duration for non-stops [z, z
windows with a variable size, spanning from the stop burst to the end of the release.
11Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
2.5 Statistical analysis
posterior distributions of possible values of the parameter estimates in the models.1 For decision-
rule and are depicted in Figure 1.
Figure 1:
the articulatory and formant trajectories over time, we applied Gaussian Process (GP) regression
analysis for this kind of data. GPs are non-parametric models that do not quantify parameter
values but continuous functions. These GPs depend on a kernel function with a covariance
described by the length scale and the width. Since GPs are computationally expensive, we used
1
12 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
In our analysis of the articulatory trajectories, we ran one model for the vertical dimension
CCCC
analysis, we centered the data of each sensor around the mean per speaker. In the models we
C an, adan,
adan, izi, izi, aza and az
Gamma priors with alpha and beta set to 2 for the length scale and width and with separate
where Adim
= == = +
dim
RT ORD PEAKER
A ~ hsgp(Timestep, by W , m 8, c 1.5, share _ cov False) (1| S )
For the formant trajectories, we used the same model structure as for the articulatory
trajectories, and we ran these models for each formant, each position of the full vowel, and each
C
separate estimates for idan, idan, idan, adan, adan, izi, izi, aza and aza. For length scale and
width, we used the same priors (Gamma, alpha and beta set to 2) and adapted the length scale
to Gamma (2,1) for one model. The prior for the common intercept was a normal distribution
F#pos was either the bark-transformed F1prec, F2precprec, F1foll, F2follfoll with the indices prec
and foll indicating the position of the full vowel. Furthermore, we set the basis vectors to 4.
= == = +
pos ORD PEAKER
F# ~ hsgp(Timestep,by W , m 4, c 1.5, share _cov Fal se) (1 | S )
(4)
frequency perception is logarithmic by nature, which means that we are more sensitive to small
range of the respective formants, but also for each time step of the measurements, given that the
13Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
argument of these maxima.
For the analysis of the parametric acoustic measurements, we ran hierarchical linear
regression models. All parameter values were z-scored prior to the analysis. Separate models
response variable was one of the acoustic parameters.
( )
++YPE YPE PEAKERResponse ~ T 1 T | S
All models for the dynamic analyses were sampled with four MCMC chains with 2000 draws
and 2000 samples for tuning, thus resulting in 8000 samples for each model. The parametric
models, on the other hand, were run also with four MCMC chains, but with 8000 draws and 8000
all models by assuring that no ȓ value was greater than 1. As described above, we graphically
For the parametric models, we report the posterior mean (β), the lower and upper boundary of
β
tables displaying these statistical results.
3. Results
CCCC
14 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
we present the results from the dynamic analysis of the articulatory and formant trajectories.
Then, the parametric acoustic analysis will be presented. The dynamic analyses are reported for
each pair along with aggregated trajectories.
3.1 VCV
C
Figure 2.
plain (blue) and pharyngealized (red, hatched) estimates of the trajectories, and the lower one
Figure 2: C
15Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
of the coronal target. This lowering was present already in the preceding vowel and continued
through the coronal, followed by a slight rise into the following vowel, while still maintaining a
in all pairs. A deviation can be observed for the pair [id
the [az
compared to the other pairs, and it displayed a relatively consistent lowering over time.
The analysis of the formant trajectories are shown in Figure
preceding full vowel are depicted in the left column and the results for the following full vowel are
the smaller panels (a-d) indicate the estimates for each pair. Color coding is according to Figure
2, that is, plain estimates are given in blue, the estimates for the pharyngealized trajectories are
vowel quality. For the coronal fricatives [z, z
through the entire vocalic segments in the case of the pair [iz
16 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
Figure 3: C
TableTable
4 displayes the results of the linear regression analyses. The temporal measurements for
C
spectra.
17Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
label sequence parameter plain pharyngealized
12 (4) 9 (4)
1179 (1172)
1600 (846)
Table 3: Means and standard deviations (in brackets) for the acoustic measurements of the target
C
under investigation (capital letters mark the coronal target, underlined segments indicate the
label sequence measurement parameter mean lower
HDI
upper
HDI
P (β <>
ROPE)
ia, Intercept
aa 0.07 0.76
Intercept 0.77 0.89
0.98
Intercept 0.9 0.82
0.88
Intercept 0.26 0.86
0.91
ii, Intercept 0.44 0.8
aa 0.01 0.87 0.96
Intercept 0.07 0.81 0.76
0.69 0.8
Intercept 0.16 0.79
0.28 0.88
Table 4:
C
18 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
3.2 VCCV
C
is depicted in Figure
Figure 4:C
coronal consonant and in the center of the following vowel in the vertical TTIP trajectory. These
19Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
C
target consonants, beginning at least in the preceding segment and extending into the following
i
the preceding consonant but with a nearly equally substantial lowering in the target fricative.
Similar to the behavior observed in the previous section for the pair [az
[amz
sequence.
Figure
the preceding and the following vowel. Conversely, F2 was lowered in both vowel positions,
following than in the preceding vowel. F2 in the preceding vowel consistently decreased and
started increasing in the following vowel, indicating a more substantial F2 lowering with
discernible pattern was observed. This formant was raised only in the pairs [imz
and [amz
were observed across the two vowel qualities and covered nearly the entire duration of the
Appendix A.1 presents the summary (Table A.1.1) and the linear regression results (Table
A.1.2) of the consonant-related temporal and spectral characteristics, as well as the duration and
the formants of intrusive schwas occurring within consonant sequences. A total of 69 out of 111
number of intrusive schwas by pair is given in Table
containing stops.
20 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
Figure 5: C
pair plain pharyngealized
ibd 19 20
abd 16 19
imz 0 0
amz 1 0
Table 5:C
The statistical analyses in Table A.1.2 indicated no evidence that the durations of the
21Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
and had an average of 16 ms and 18 ms, respectively. Conversely, there was evidence that
the release, respectively. Also, pharyngealization had no impact on the fricative or the stop
release spectra, although the summary statistics in Table A.1.1 showed a tendency of a lower
3.3 VCCV
Figure C
coronal stops. The pair [ad
observed also in [id
CC
This lowering initiated in the preceding vowel and remained consistent up to the following
do not necessarily result from pharyngealization. These distinct patterns may arise from the
[id
22 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
Figure 6:C
Figure
C
of a general lowering regardless of vowel quality. Notable divergences can be seen, however, in
23Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
F1 in the pair [id
in the second half of the preceding vowel in [iz
following vowel in [az
in [ad
in the latter pair, especially in the second half of the following vowel, may be attributed to the
Figure 7: C
24 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
The acoustic characteristics of the consonants and intrusive schwas (Table A.2.1), and the
results of the linear regression analyses (Table A.2.2) are given in A.2. Stop releases were found
Table 6. The schwas occurred most
often in stop-stop sequences.
pair plain pharyngealized
idaln 26
adal 21
iz 11
azaj 7
Table 6:C
C C
C
ms after pharyngealized fricatives. In contrast, pharyngealization had an impact on the formant
3.4 VCCCV
The analysis of the articulatory trajectories for plain and pharyngealized coronals in inter-
CFigure
more than 1 mm was found at the transition of the preceding vowel to the pre-coronal segment
in the pair [imz
trajectory, on the other hand, exhibited a continuous lowering in pharyngealized productions,
which started already in the preceding vowel and spread to the end of the following vowel.
mm until the end of the sequence.
25Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
The analyses of the formants trajectories are depicted in Figure
pairs. A F2 lowering was found in the second half of the preceding vowel in the pair [ibd
lowered nearly during the entire vowel duration in both pairs.
Figure 8:C
(rose area).
C
consonant sequences. Table 7 gives an overview of the occurences of these schwas. Ninety-seven
percent of the schwas were found in tokens for the pair [ibd
26 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
parameters for the coronal targets, the surrounding consonants and the intrusive schwas are
Figure 9: C
pair position plain pharyngealized
ibdas pre-coronal 22 20
post-coronal 17 16
imz pre-coronal 2 0
post-coronal 0 0
Table 7:C
27Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
identical before coronal in plain and pharyngealized articulations were identical before coronal
targets and averaged at 19 ms before. Schwas after pharyngealized coronal consonants had a
There was evidence that pharyngealization led to a lowering of F2 in the pre-coronal schwa,
pharyngealization: These schwas had a higher F1 and a lower F2 after pharyngealized consonants
than after plain coronals.
4. Discussion and Conclusion
C
condition, used as a baseline, our results showed that the tongue body was already lowered in the
preceding vowel. This lowering reached its maximum during the consonant, and subsequently
continued into the following vowel, with a decreasing intensity. Acoustically, F2 was lowered
CCC
in all contexts, showing it is the anchor of pharyngealization. Furthermore, this lowering
extended beyond the target segments, implicating that the scope of pharyngealization is larger
and decreases with increasing distance to the coronal anchor. Acoustically, we found that the
lowering of F2 was present in full vowels as well as in intrusive schwas present within consonant
sequences. A notable behavior regarding these articulatory and acoustic correlates was found
28 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
and acoustic characteristics of pharyngealization, followed by the spread and direction of
4.1 Phonetic correlates of pharyngealization
C
position, we observed that a lowering of the tongue, which started in the preceding vowel, had its
peak at the coronal target, and propagated with decreasing amplitude into the following vowel.
C
contexts, but also in the other contexts under investigation.
to the growing body of evidence suggesting that the lowering of F2 is a universal feature of
explored, since most acoustic studies take only F1 and F2 into consideration. The few studies that
29Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
which we used as a threshold for our statistical analysis. In any case, the transformations from
Contrary to some studies that examined the temporal characteristics of pharyngealized
of their position and context. The present study is one of the few studies that has included
consonant-related acoustic measurements of non-coronals in the analysis. The only other study
we are aware of that has done so is Al-Masri (2009), which found no change in the temporal and
tongue dorsum while the main acoustic attribute is the lowering of F2. Although these attributes
occur in parallel, they are not in a causal relationship, given that tongue body lowering is known
to cause a raising of F1 and not a drop of F2 (e.g., Lindblom & Sundberg, 1971; Stevens, 2000).
C
notably smaller and remained relatively constant, unlike the more dynamic changes observed in
the other pairs. If there was a causal relationship between tongue body lowering and F2 lowering,
suggests that the lowering of the tongue body is not the cause of a drop of F2, although clearly
F2 lowering. Additionally, the lowering of the tongue dorsum due to tongue root retraction is at
30 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
following pharyngealized coronal. This pattern is similarly observed during the transition from
the pharyngealized coronal to the subsequent vowel, where both the tongue body and F2 exhibit
in neighboring vowels, it remains the primary acoustic correlate indicating pharyngealization.
The concurrent lowering of the tongue dorsum remains consistent across our item pairs and
contexts, although the degree and progression over time may vary depending on vowel quality.
4.2 Pharyngealization spread
A particular focus of this study was the investigation of the implementation and the spread of
C
phenomenon inherent to this secondary articulation, as there are languages with pharyngealization
level as the smallest domain to encompass the entire word as the largest domain, contingent
claims are mostly based on subjective impressions rather than experimental evidence. Therefore,
experimental studies are crucial for providing an objective assessment of this phenomenon,
especially considering the limitations and ambiguities in acceptability judgments.
C
C
C C C Figure 10 illustrates this observation,
the tongue body lowering was not limited to the segments immediately preceding or following
the underlyingly pharyngealized segment, whether they were vowels or consonants. Instead, it
C
provides clear articulatory support to the claim that pharyngealization spread in Tashlhiyt can
encompass an entire word.
31Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
Figure 10:
Studies on Arabic, particularly those examining multisyllabic words, documented a lowering
also in neighboring syllables, extending even to longer distances in the case of three or four
study provided similar results. Figure 11 illustrates the extent of F2 lowering across the vowels
occurs only partially in the vowel segment, or does not occur at all if there was a consonant
transitional schwas occurring within consonant sequences also bear the same lowered F2 when
adjacent to pharyngealized coronals.
Figure 11:
32 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
and lesser narrowing of the pharyngeal cavity for the high vowel. Additionally, Alwabari (2020)
retraction for pharyngealization was inconsistent with the more forward position of the tongue
cases, a more advanced tongue root is needed to create a constriction by the elevated tongue
dorsum. As Alwabari (2020) highlighted, this mechanism is at odds with the more retracted
reduces, but does not eliminate, the dorsal lowering caused by the pharyngealized gesture
(Alwabari, 2020).
The high dorsum position required by a certain set of segments can introduce a level of
resistance to pharyngeal coarticulation: The higher the tongue dorsum position, and consequently,
the tighter the constriction, the greater the resistance to the spread of pharyngealization. This
relationship may not be complete, however. To fully account for the spread of pharyngealization,
involves the backing of the tongue root since this is the primary articulatory correlate for
pharyngealization. This dimension would interact with the tongue dorsum height such that
a higher dorsal position or a stronger dorsal closure results in a more advanced tongue root,
and thus a smaller narrowing of the pharyngeal cavity. The second dimension would take into
account the temporal extent or distance to the pharyngealized coronal. As evidenced by our
further from the underlyingly pharyngealized segment.
33Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
articulation is not restricted to the underlying pharyngealized consonant itself, but can be tracked
non-vocalic surrounding segments, where overtly acoustic vowel-related correlates are absent. In
to co-articulated pharyngealization may guide future research to incorporate a wider variety
of segments. This may inform theoretical approaches on pharyngealization spread not only
in Tashlhiyt, but also in other languages by providing a more in-depth understanding of this
phenomenon, factoring in aspects such as tongue body height and distance to the coronal anchor.
34 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
A Appendix
A.1 VCCV
position sequence segment parameter plain pharyngealized
pre-coronal ib b
ab 10 (6)
949 (929)
im m
am
inter-
consonantal
ia, 18 (7)
aa, 14.9 (0.4)
aa F2 11.9 (0.4) 10.0 (1.1)
F1
coronal iba,
aba
1618 (1010) 1474 (971)
1797 (807)
imi, 102 (20)
ama 1192 (1042)
Table A.1.1:
C
35Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
position sequence segment measurement parameter mean lower
HDI
upper
HDI
P (β <>
ROPE)
pre-coronal ib b Intercept 0.04 0.69 0.68
ab 0.77 0.76
Intercept 0.48 0.66
0.62 0.74
Intercept 0.76
0.64
Intercept 0.11 1.07 0.8
0.77
im m Intercept 0.64 0.71
im 0.47 0.66
consonantal
ia, Intercept
aa, 0.81 0.81
aa Intercept 0.8
0.17 1.0 0.82
F2 Intercept 0.86 0.46 1.39 1.0
TYPE[pharyng.] –1.34 –2.17 –0.4 0.99
F1 Intercept 0.99
TYPE[pharyng.] 0.98 0.1 1.73 0.99
(Contd.)
36 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
position sequence segment measurement parameter mean lower
HDI
upper
HDI
P (β <>
ROPE)
coronal iba, Intercept 0.76
aba 0.29 0.74 0.86
Intercept 0.4 0.69
0.21 0.81 0.8
Intercept 0.72
0.77
Intercept 0.79 0.76
0.84 0.78
imi, Intercept 0.02 0.69 0.71
ama 0.64
Intercept 0.11 0.97 0.79
0.17
Intercept 0.11 0.81
0.08 0.9
Table A.1.2:
C
parameter. The sequence column lists the sequences under investigation (capital letters mark the coronal target, underlined segments
37Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
A.2 VCCV
position sequence segment parameter plain pharyngealized
coronal i
a 16 (12)
1849 (706)
ima, 91 (16) 92 (17)
a
inter-
consonantal
ia, 26 (10)
aa, 14.2 (0.7)
ia, F2 12.9 (0.6)
aa F1
post-
coronal
a,
a,
a 1708 (808)
ma m 70 (12) 69 (14)
Table A.2.1:
C
38 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
position sequence segment measurement parameter mean lower
HDI
upper
HDI
P (β <>
ROPE)
coronal i Intercept 0.24
a 0.2 0.89 0.79
Intercept 0.17 0.79
0.22 0.94
Intercept 0.04 0.74
0.8
Intercept 0.02 0.76
0.4 0.76
ima, Intercept 0.74 0.72
a 0.81
Intercept 0.98 0.82
0.89 0.77
Intercept 1.04
0.16 0.77
(Contd.)
39Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
position sequence segment measurement parameter mean lower
HDI
upper
HDI
P (β <>
ROPE)
inter-
consonantal
i Intercept 0.64 0.79
aa,
ia, Intercept 0.18 1.11
aa 0.29
F2 Intercept 0.67 0.32 1.03 1.0
TYPE[pharyng.] –1.21 –1.89 –0.54 1.0
F1 Intercept –0.67 –1.13 –0.2 0.99
TYPE[pharyng.] 1.13 0.64 1.59 1.0
coronal
a, Intercept 0.48 0.66
a, 0.07 0.64
a Intercept 0.12 0.67
0.29 0.76
Intercept 0.16 0.96 0.79
0.07 0.92
Intercept 0.1 0.77
0.78
ma m Intercept 0.02 0.9 0.77
0.77
Table A.2.2:
C
parameter. The sequence column lists the sequences under investigation (capital letters mark the coronal target, underlined segments
40 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
A.3 VCCCV
position sequence segment parameter plain pharyngealized
pre-coronal ib b
14 (8)
621 (276) 467 (160)
im m 70 (17) 68 (18)
inter-
consonantal
i 19 (10) 19 (9)
ima 14.8 (0.7)
F2 12.4 (0.6) 11.2 (1.0)
F1
coronal ib 49 (14)
19 (14) 14 (11)
1977 (881)
imma 102 (14)
1616 (817) 1602 (847)
inter-
consonantal
iba 24 (9)
14.4 (0.6) 14.1 (0.4)
F2 12.7 (0.7) 11.7 (0.8)
F1 2.9 (0.2)
post-coronal a 49 (12)
1784 (814)
ma m 71 (11)
Table A.3.1:
C
41Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
position sequence segment measurement parameter mean lower
HDI
upper
HDI
P (β <>
ROPE)
pre-coronal ib b Intercept 0.02 0.64 0.7
0.77 0.78
Intercept 1.18
0.08 0.89
Intercept 0.87
0.94
Intercept 0.28 0.87
im m Intercept 0.06 0.69 0.72
inter-con-
sonantal
i Intercept 0.97 0.81
ima 0.04 0.74
Intercept 0.21 1.29
0.62 0.86
F2 Intercept 0.02 1.17 0.98
TYPE[pharyng.] –1.25 –2.13 –0.44 1.0
F1 Intercept 0.78
0.4 1.4 0.89
(Contd.)
42 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
position sequence segment measurement parameter mean lower
HDI
upper
HDI
P (β <>
ROPE)
coronal ib Intercept 0.08 1.06 0.81
0.8 0.82
Intercept 0.16 0.84 0.77
0.88
Intercept 0.21 1.19
0.41 0.9
Intercept 0.22
0.9
imma Intercept 0.04 0.94 0.78
0.4 0.78
Intercept 0.02 0.88 0.78
0.4
Intercept 0.96 0.82
(Contd.)
43Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
position sequence segment measurement parameter mean lower
HDI
upper
HDI
P (β <>
ROPE)
inter-con-
sonantal
iba Intercept 0.98 0.81
0.2 0.8
Intercept 0.22
0.94
F2 Intercept 1.44 0.88
TYPE[pharyng.] –0.87 –1.49 –0.27 0.99
F1 Intercept
TYPE[pharyng.] 1.04 0.3 1.8 0.99
post-
coronal
a Intercept 0.78 0.84
0.48
Intercept 0.86 0.84
0.11 1.8 0.87
Intercept 0.99 0.86
0.09 1.64 0.86
Intercept 0.81 0.77
0.02 0.86
ma m Intercept 0.77
0.42 1.48 0.89
Table A.3.2:
C
respective parameter. The sequence column lists the sequences under investigation (capital letters mark the coronal target, underlined
44 Buech et al: Pharyngealization in Tashlhiyt from kinematic and acoustic perspectives
Data availability
The data tables and analysis scripts are available under .
Acknowledgements
Competing interests
The authors have no competing interests to declare.
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