CONDITIONING FACTORS IN EXTERNAL SANDHI: AN EPG STUDY OF ENGLISH /l/ VOCALISATION

James M. Scobbie1, Marianne Pouplier2 & Alan Wrench3
1Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh; 2University of Edinburgh; 3Articulate Instruments Ltd

ID 1275
[full paper]

We investigate l-sandhi in English, specifically the changes that occur in alveolar contact when word-final /l/ appears in a range of connected speech contexts. Analysis of EPG data for Scottish Standard English and Southern Standard British English speakers shows that there is wide variation in the rate of vocalisation and in the extent of alveolar contact, and that whether the following word is lexically onsetless or not is not enough to predict how /l/ behaves. We conclude that resyllabification is not sufficient as a mechanism for conditioning this alternation.