Realizations of [j] vs. hiatus in different vocalic contexts

Abstract

Glide-like formants can arise either through articulation of a glide or through articulation of hiatus, which often results in similar formant movements (e.g. she yachts, she ought). Davidson & Erker (2014) established that the glide-like formant movements are measurably different from actual, phonological glides. The current study compares a wider range of vowel environments to investigate the different realizations of [j]. Analysis of modal V#(j)V sequences finds significant differences in intensity change and duration in most vowel environments examined, and additionally finds significant differences in formant movements for one ambiguous vowel environment. However, the large degree of overlap in acoustic properties is noted, casting doubt that the differences could be strongly disambiguating perceptually. Additionally, this work gives a detailed picture of the multitude of different ways in which a phonological [j] can be acoustically realized.