Anticipatory Coarticulatory Effect of Bi-Syllabic Words in Chinese

Abstract—In this study, trans-consonantal vowel-to-vowel coarticulation in Chinese is investigated. The target words are in the form of ‘bV1.ba’, and the subjects are eight native speakers of standard Chinese. Vowel formants are examined at the onset, middle and offset points of the target vowel. Results show that trans-segmental coarticulation exists in Chinese, especially at the onset point of the target vowel. Coarticulation is more likely to occur on F2, and in Chinese, coarticulatory effect does not extend to the offset point of the vowel.