Ultrasound and acoustic analysis of sibilant fricatives in preadolescents and adults

This study describes the production of sibilant fricatives /s/ and /∫/, comparing Scottish English speaking preadolescent children with adults. The materials were the sequences /əCa/ and /əCi/ produced by 15 adults and 15 children aged between 10 and 12 years old. Quantitative analyses were carried out on both spectral information and on ultrasound imaging data on tongue shape, taken from nine successive time points during the fricative. The two groups of speakers were very similar to each other in the articulatory and acoustic characteristics distinguishing the two fricatives. Age-related differences in the fricative centroid measure occurred at consonant-vowel boundaries, with lower values in the preadolescents. Within-speaker variability was mostly similar across age groups, with the exception of the fricative centroid for /∫/, which was significantly more variable in preadolescents than in adults. Throughout the consonant duration, both groups consistently differentiated between the two consonants in both the fricative centroid and in one measure of tongue shape.

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