C-to-V coarticulation in horizontal and vertical dimensions and its implications for phonology

In this paper, I investigate the acoustic correlates of a vowel's coarticulatory dynamics manifested in preceding and following consonants along two dimensions of the vocal tract: place of articulation and degree of constriction. Two dimensional coarticulation is not necessarily executed either concomitantly or proportionally, and the modification induced by coarticulation with a vowel in CVC structures is merely restricted to the CV portion; that is, the prevocalic consonant is modified solely in its constriction location. This is consistent with the observation that C-to-V place assimilation does not accompany consonant lenition in phonology, which suggests that phonetic nature is effectively reflected in phonological patterns.