A comparison of intergestural patterns in deaf and hearing adult speakers: implications from an acoustic analysis of disyllables.

Coarticulation studies in speech of deaf individuals have so far focused on intrasyllabic patterning of various consonant-vowel sequences. In this study, both inter- and intrasyllabic patterning were examined in disyllables /symbol see text #CVC/ and the effects of phonetic context, speaking rate, and segment type were explored. Systematic observation of F2 and durational measurements in disyllables minimally contrasting in vocalic ([i], [u,][a]) and in consonant ([b], [d]) context, respectively, was made at selected locations in the disyllable, in order to relate inferences about articulatory adjustments with their temporal coordinates. Results indicated that intervocalic coarticulation across hearing and deaf speakers varied as a function of the phonetic composition of disyllables (b_b or d_d). The deaf speakers showed reduced intervocalic coarticulation for bilabial but not for alveolar disyllables compared to the hearing speakers. Furthermore, they showed less marked consonant influences on the schwa and stressed vowel of disyllables compared to the hearing controls. Rate effects were minimal and did not alter the coarticulatory patterns observed across hearing status. The above findings modify the conclusions drawn from previous studies and suggest that the speech of deaf and hearing speakers is guided by different gestural organization.