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Variegation – the presence of more than one supraglottal consonant per word – is a key challenge for children as they increase their expressive vocabulary toward the end of the single-word period. Here we consider the prosodic structures of target words and child forms in English, Finnish, French, Japanese and Mandarin to determine whether children learning these languages respond similarly to the challenge or instead differ in ways related to the phonological structure of the adult language. Based on proportional occurrence of each structure, we find that the word forms of children learning Mandarin and Japanese show more variegation than do those of children learning the European languages, although their target words do not; proportions of reduplication, consonant harmony and single-consonant words also differ by language. We conclude that experience with the structure of the language – and thus representation, as well as immature articulatory skills – shapes children’s responses to variegation.

Background Scripts of different languages differ in the representation of symbols. Abugidas, used across India and other southeast Asian countries, originate from ancient Brahmi. Here, unlike in alphabetic scripts, each symbol (“akshara”) represents a syllable but can also be teased apart into individual phonemes. Despite their wide reach, how increasing cognitive impairment affects reading and spelling in abugidas remains unexplored. Method Sixty subjects (thirty each with Alzheimer's clinical syndrome‐dementia (ACS‐dem) and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI)), and 60 age‐ and education‐matched cognitively unimpaired (CU) subjects were asked to read a word list in Bengali, an abugida, and later spell the same words to dictation. The list included words containing the following: no consonant clusters; conjunct consonants where both original consonants retain their shape; one consonant in the conjunct loses its shape; both consonants in the conjunct lose their shape; plausible nonwords; irregular words. We focused on errors in reading or spelling conjunct consonants at the word level. Non‐parametric statistical analyses were performed. Result Mean age and education of subjects were 70 (1.35) years and 14.5 (1.25) years, respectively. Both aMCI and ACS‐dem subjects read non‐words significantly worse than CU subjects (p <0.05) but did not differ from each other. ACS‐dem subjects were worse in reading irregular words compared to the other groups. Spelling performance in all tested parameters were worse in aMCI and ACS‐dem compared to CU (p <0.001) but irregular word spelling in aMCI did not differ from CU. ACS‐dem subjects spelt significantly worse than aMCI subjects on words with no consonant clusters, words where both consonants in the conjunct retained their original shapes and non‐words (p <0.05 in all). However, the two groups performed similarly when even one consonant in the conjunct lost its original shape. Conclusion In ACS subjects who have Bengali as their first language, difficulty in spelling conjunct consonants within a word can be seen across all complexities of consonant cluster formation, even at the MCI stage. Reading is less severely affected and restricted to irregular words and non‐words. Our work should encourage more research on how cognitive impairment affects patterns of breakdown in other non‐alphabetic languages.

Understanding the neural basis of speech perception requires that we study the human brain both at the scale of the fundamental computational unit of neurons and in their organization across the depth of cortex. Here we used high-density Neuropixels arrays 1 – 3 to record from 685 neurons across cortical layers at nine sites in a high-level auditory region that is critical for speech, the superior temporal gyrus 4 , 5 , while participants listened to spoken sentences. Single neurons encoded a wide range of speech sound cues, including features of consonants and vowels, relative vocal pitch, onsets, amplitude envelope and sequence statistics. Neurons at each cross-laminar recording exhibited dominant tuning to a primary speech feature while also containing a substantial proportion of neurons that encoded other features contributing to heterogeneous selectivity. Spatially, neurons at similar cortical depths tended to encode similar speech features. Activity across all cortical layers was predictive of high-frequency field potentials (electrocorticography), providing a neuronal origin for macroelectrode recordings from the cortical surface. Together, these results establish single-neuron tuning across the cortical laminae as an important dimension of speech encoding in human superior temporal gyrus. High-density single-neuron recordings show diverse tuning for acoustic and phonetic features across layers in human auditory speech cortex.

Word list-learning tasks are commonly used to evaluate auditory-verbal learning and memory. However, different frequencies of word usage, subtle meaning nuances, unique word phonology, and different preexisting associations among words make translation across languages difficult. We administered lists of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) nonword trigrams to independent American and Italian young adult samples. We evaluated whether an auditory list-learning task using CVC nonword trigrams instead of words could be applied cross-culturally to evaluate similar learning and associative memory processes. Seventy-five native English-speaking (USA) and 104 native Italian-speaking (Italy) university students were administered 15-item lists of CVC trigrams using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test paradigm with five study-test trials, an interference trial, and short- and long-term delayed recall. Bayesian tests and mixed-design ANOVAs contrasted the primary learning indexes across the two samples and biological sex. Performance was comparable between nationalities on all primary memory indices except the interference trial (List B), where the Italian group recalled approximately one item more than the American sample. For both nationalities, recall increased across the five learning trials and declined significantly on the postinterference trial, demonstrating susceptibility to retroactive interference. No effects of sex, age, vocabulary, or depressive symptoms were observed. Using lists of unfamiliar nonword CVC trigrams, Italian and American younger adults showed a similar performance pattern across immediate and delayed recall trials. Whereas word list-learning performance is typically affected by cultural, demographic, mood, and cognitive factors, this trigram list-learning task does not show such effects, demonstrating its utility for cross-cultural memory assessment.

  This study examines the phonology and historical development of the labialized dorsal consonants in Seri (Cmiique Iitom), a language of northwestern Mexico. This language has a rare contrast between velar and uvular fricatives, each with labialized counterparts, forming six voiceless dorsal phonemes. It is shown that labialized consonants originated historically through the loss of round vowels in three main contexts: posttonic syllable, the third person indirect object prefix, and the emphatic realis prefix. Phonetic phenomena such as anticipatory labialization and postlexical spread are presented in detail. The study also discusses the Seri orthography, which preserves distinctions critical to the language’s structure. Este estudio examina la fonología y el desarrollo histórico de las consonantes dorsales labializadas en el seri (cmiique iitom), una lengua del noroeste de México. Esta lengua presenta un contraste poco común entre fricativas velares y uvulares, cada una con su contraparte labializada, formando seis fonemas dorsales sordos. Se demuestra que las consonantes labializadas surgieron históricamente por la pérdida de vocales redondeadas en tres contextos principales: la sílaba postónica, el prefijo de objeto indirecto de tercera persona y el prefijo de realis enfático. Se presentan detalles fonéticos como la labialización anticipada y la propagación posléxica. Además, se analiza la ortografía del seri, que preserva distinciones críticas para la estructura del idioma.

This paper provides a constraint-based analysis of the syllable structure of onset consonant sequences in Najdi Arabic, spoken in central Saudi Arabia. Unlike Classical or Standard Arabic, Najdi is believed to allow consonant clusters in the onset. The study tested two assumptions. The first is that Najdi onset clusters result from a vowel deletion process, leading to different kinds of clusters with distinct sonority hierarchies and that these form complex onsets. The second is that Najdi inputs are different from Classical or Standard Arabic, in which there is no vowel in the underlying representation and hence no deletion occurs, resulting in simplex onsets. The paper adopted optimality theory to analyze the data, considering a phenomenon that occurs in the speech of Najdi speakers. Following this framework, constraints were utilized to demonstrate the syllable structure of the onset clusters in Najdi according to the above assumptions. The results revealed consonant sequences rather than consonant clusters, meaning the consonants were not parsed in the same syllable, agreeing with previous acoustic research.

Understanding speech in a noisy environment, as opposed to speech in quiet, becomes increasingly more difficult with increasing age. Using the quiet-aged gerbil, we studied the effects of aging on speech-in-noise processing. Specifically, behavioral vowel discrimination and the encoding of these vowels by single auditory-nerve fibers were compared, to elucidate some of the underlying mechanisms of age-related speech-in-noise perception deficits. Young-adult and quiet-aged Mongolian gerbils, of either sex, were trained to discriminate a deviant naturally-spoken vowel in a sequence of vowel standards against a speech-like background noise. In addition, we recorded responses from single auditory-nerve fibers of young-adult and quiet-aged gerbils while presenting the same speech stimuli. Behavioral vowel discrimination was not significantly affected by aging. For both young-adult and quiet-aged gerbils, the behavioral discrimination between /eː/ and /iː/ was more difficult to make than /eː/ vs /aː/ or /iː/ vs /aː/, as evidenced by longer response times and lower d' values. In young-adults, spike timing-based vowel discrimination agreed with the behavioral vowel discrimination, while in quiet-aged gerbils it did not. Paradoxically, discrimination between vowels based on temporal responses was enhanced in aged gerbils for all vowel comparisons. Representation schemes, based on the spectrum of the inter-spike interval histogram, revealed stronger encoding of both the fundamental and the lower formant frequencies in fibers of quiet-aged gerbils, but no qualitative changes in vowel encoding. Elevated thresholds in combination with a fixed stimulus level, i.e., lower sensation levels of the stimuli for old individuals, can explain the enhanced temporal coding of the vowels in noise. These results suggest that the altered auditory-nerve discrimination metrics in old gerbils may mask age-related deterioration in the central (auditory) system to the extent that behavioral vowel discrimination matches that of the young adults.

This work was conducted using the Picoscope signal extraction procedure, which revealed significant insights regarding the belian wood and its application in Gendang Melayu Sarawak (GMS) production. The amplitude of belian wood GMS signal remains constant, allowing it to sustain its timbre for a longer duration compared to durian wood GMS using the same procedure. Considering that the dimensions of the big belian (BB) and big durian (BD) GMS are almost the same, both GMS yield almost the same note, i.e. G1# (51.9 Hz). Considering that the dimensions of both the small belian (SB) and small durian (SD) GMS are almost the same, both GMS yield almost similar note, i.e. F3 (174 Hz) and E3 (164 Hz). Although both BB and BD showed consistent harmonics, BD only displays 2 harmonics. The SB and SD both display consistent harmonics. Both BB and BD showed pleasing tonal qualities. These occurred due to the closeness of the principal overtones to the consonant interval.

Arabic phonotactics significantly differ from English phonotactics in that they usually follow a framework that forbids the presence of consonant clusters in syllabic onsets. This study examines the relationship between Arabic-speaking EFL learners’ spelling accuracy and pronunciation, concentrating on the difficulties caused by consonant clusters in initial and final positions. A mixed-methods approach was employed, involving audio recordings to assess pronunciation accuracy and a spelling test to evaluate spelling performance. According to the results, words with initial consonant clusters (clusters at the beginning of a syllable, or onset) are harder to pronounce and spell than words with final consonant clusters (clusters that follow the vowel). Initial consonant clusters are considered to demand a quick transition in consonants at the start of a syllable, requiring more exact articulation. On the other hand, final clusters allow for a more progressive and straightforward articulation by involving a consonant transition following the initial vowel sound. Additionally, epenthesis may be used as a method to break up consonant clusters in L1 phonological interference, which is consistent with Arabic phonotactic patterns.

Italian has a length contrast in its series of voiced and voiceless obstruents while also presenting phonetic differences across regional varieties. Northern varieties of the language, including Veneto Italian (VI), are described as maintaining the voicing contrast but, in some cases, not the length contrast. In central and southern varieties, the opposite trend may occur. For instance, Roman Italian (RI) is reported to optionally pre-voice intervocalic voiceless singleton obstruents whilst also maintaining the length contrast for this consonant class. This study looks at the acoustic realization of selected obstruents in VI and RI and investigates (a) prevoicing patterns and (b) the effects and interactions of regional variety, gemination, and (phonological and phonetic) voicing on consonant (C) and preceding-vowel (V) durations, as well as the ratio between the two (C/V), with a focus on that particular measure. An acoustic phonetic analysis is conducted on 3703 tokens from six speakers from each variety, producing eight repetitions of 40 real CV́C(C)V and CVC(C)V́CV words embedded in carrier sentences, with /p, pp, t, tt, k, kk, b, bb, d, dd, ɡ, ɡɡ, f, ff, v, vv, t∫, tt∫, dʒ, ddʒ/ as the target intervocalic consonants. The results show that both VI and RI speakers produce geminates, yielding high C/V ratios in both varieties, although there are cross-regional differences in the realization of singletons. On the one hand, RI speakers tend to pre-voice voiceless singletons and produce overall shorter C durations and lower C/V ratios for these consonants. On the other hand, VI speakers produce longer C durations and higher C/V ratios for all voiceless singletons, triggering some overlap between the C length categories, which results in partial degemination through singleton lengthening, although only for voiceless obstruents. The implications of a trading relationship between phonetic voicing and duration of obstruents in Italian gemination are discussed.