Effect of Anticipatory Vowel-to-Vowel Coarticulation at Different Prosodic Boundaries in Chinese

In this paper, the anticipatory Vowel-to-Vowel (V-to-V) coarticulation effect in the Vowel-Consonant-Vowel (VCV) sequences at various prosodic boundaries is investigated, and it is found that trans-consonantal anticipatory coarticulation effect exists in Chinese. Coarticulatory effect is comparatively weak at stronger prosodic boundaries, as the interval between the vowels is extended and there is sufficient time for the intervening consonant to be fully realized. Coarticulatory effect at the offset point is stronger in the context of labials than of alveolar, which is in line with the DAC model. However, there is no significant effect of aspiration of the intervening consonant.