The CV coordination in English and Mandarin

Abstract

There is no consensus on the phonetic basis of sonority, either in the articulation or the perception of speech (Albert 2023). This study explores sonority in speech production by following up on previous studies which suggest a positive correlation between CV lag and sonority difference (Crouch 2022; Crouch et al. 2023; Gao 2008; Shaw & Chen 2019). Based on Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) experiments participated by 10 English and 10 Mandarin speakers, we found that CV lag positively correlates with CV sonority difference in both languages. If we make an assumption that larger lags are preferred within a syllable, the finding forms a basis to explain universal constraints such as the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP) and the Sonority Dispersion Principle (SDP).