Between [s] and [ʃ]: differences in spectral properties of /s/ between Cypriot Greek and Standard Greek

Spyros Armostis¹ & Eftychia Lombardo²

University of Cyprus¹ & European University Cyprus²

The study comprises a comparison of the realisation of the alveolar fricative /s/ in two varieties of Greek: Standard Greek (henceforth SG) and Cypriot Greek (henceforth CG). In contrast to SG, CG has both an alveolar and a post-alveolar fricative in its inventory. In the case of SG, since there is no such contrast, the realisation of /s/ need not be very different from the realisation of a /ʃ/. Indeed, SG [s] was acoustically shown to be intermediate between English [s] and [ʃ] (Panagopoulos 1991) and also Bulgarian [s] and [ʃ] (Milenova 2014). In articulatory terms, the realisation of SG /s/ (Nicolaidis 2001) involves a retracted articulation compared to English [s] (cf. Arvaniti 2007). However, in spontaneous speech, some variability was observed, as SG /s/ was articulatorily shown to be fronted before e.g. /t/, but retracted in between two /ɐ/s (Nicolaidis 1994, 2001).

No study so far has examined whether the realisation of /s/ differs between SG and CG, and, in particular, whether SMG [s] is intermediate between CG [s] and [ʃ]. In order to investigate this, an acoustic experiment was designed, which examined [s] in both SG and CG, and [ʃ] in CG, in every vocalic context in both stressed and unstressed syllables. Six native speakers of SG and six native speakers of CG were recorded. The first four spectral moments from the centre of the target fricatives were measured in order to establish differences in fricative spectral shape.

The results showed that SG [s] was intermediate in Centre of Gravity (CoG) between CG [s] and [ʃ], being closer to the latter rather than to the former. Vowel environment and stress had no effect on CoG. Spectral standard deviation did not vary significantly among the three fricatives. Regarding spectral skewness, SG [s] exhibited the highest positive value, followed by CG [ʃ], indicating concentration of energy in the lower frequencies for both consonants; CG [s] exhibited almost zero skewness, something that shows that acoustic energy was symmetrically distributed around the mean. Finally, SG [s] showed greater kurtosis than both SG [s] and [ʃ].

References

Arvaniti, A. 2007. Greek phonetics: the state of the art. Journal of Greek Linguistics 8: 97–208.

Milenova, M. 2014. The acquisition of new and similar sounds — evidence from Bulgarian learners of Modern Greek. In G. Kotzoglou et al. (eds.), Selected Papers of the 11^th International Conference on Greek Linguistics, 1113–1121. Rhodes: University of the Aegean.

Nicolaidis, K. 1994. Aspects of lingual articulation in Greek: An electropalatographic study. In I. Philippaki-Warburton, K. Nicolaidis & M. Sifianou (eds.), Themes in Greek Linguistics, 225–232. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Nicolaidis, K. 2001. An electropalatographic study of Greek spontaneous speech. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 31. 1: 67–85.

Panagopoulos, L. 1991. A comparison of English and Greek alveolar fricatives. In Proceedings of the XII^thInternational Congress of Phonetic Sciences. Vol. 2, 326–328. Aix en Provence: Service des Publications.