Can i [F W]eed you some [F J]ood? The role of subphonemic cues in word recognition

A study that was conducted to examine the role of subphonemic cues in word recognition is presented. Researchers agree that coarticulation is the result of the vocal tract producing gestures in 'real time' by transitioning instantaneously from one target configuration to the next. When it comes to the degree, role and function of coarticulation, however, conflicting theories and findings abound. The goal of this study is to find out if and to what extent coarticulatory properties have an impact on spoken word recognition. A female adult speaker of Canadian English produced each word three times. One of the tokens was chosen to prepare the spliced stimulus items. The most important finding for our purposes is that of the phonological mapping negativity (PMN). The PMN, a negative-going component (N280) that peaks around the 200-300 ms range, is elicited by a phonological mismatch between the expected and heard onset of a target. The PMN has been understood to be sensitive to phonological processing.