Articulation of liquid consonants
This study investigates whether tongue narrowing correlates over time with the unfolding coronal and uvular constriction in English laterals, using multi-slice rtMRI imaging (mid-saggital and axial slices).
More details here: LabPhon18 abstract, LabPhon18 poster presentation
Gestural timing of liquid rimes
In American English rimes involving liquids exhibit coordination patterns reserved for onsets. One explanation for this divergent behavior is the complex gestural composition of the coda liquids. The present paper investigates the relationship between lateral consonant darkness and coda coordination patterns in Georgian, Romanian, Russian and American English.
More details here: ISSP2024 abstract
Sesquisyllables
Sesquisyllables - words involving tense vowels or diphthongs followed by a liquid consonant (feel, file, pier, pyre) - receive variable syllable count judgments (non monosyllabic) from native speakers. This project investigates the reasons behind the variation in syllable weight perception and the hypothesis that syllable count judgments are related to subsegmental representations in the rime, and in particular to the gestural specification of coda liquids.
More details here: Popescu, 2019, Popescu & Chitoran, 2022
Acoustic-Articulatory Relations
American English exhibits two lateral allophones: clear /l/ in onset position and dark /l/ in coda position. F3 is known to show higher values in darker varieties of /l/. This contrast has been attributed to differences in closure fronting and front cavity configuration. This study proposes a possible alternative explanation for higher F3 in dark /l/, based on sensitivity functions.
More details here: Joint ASA & ASJ Meeting 2016 poster