Stop-Lateral Clusters in French and Spanish: Articulatory Timing Differences and Synchronic Patterns

While both French and Spanish have complex onsets, the languages differ in the variety and distribution of clusters allowed as well as in the realization of voiced stops. The present study examines the effects of C1 voicing, place of articulation, and language on the production of word-initial /pl bl kl gl/ using a combination of electropalatographic (C1 and C2 linguopalatal contact and timing) and acoustic measures (duration and relative intensity) from 4 French and 7 Spanish speakers. Certain between-language similarities and differences in the effects of voicing and place on intergestural timing were observed. In particular, (1) both languages showed more overlap in clusters where C1 was velar rather than labial; (2) the effect of voicing (more overlap in clusters with a voiced C1) was restricted to French; and (3) lateral duration was unaffected by C1 place or voicing, while C1 duration was strongly affected by stress and voicing in Spanish alone given the approximantization of voiced stops. These results contribute to a better understanding of the general mechanisms and language-specific patterns of intergestural coordination in onset clusters and add to the growing body of articulatory work on these complex structures in Romance languages.