Timing in Italian VNC Sequences at Different Speech Rates

This study addresses the question of temporal cohesion in Italian word-medial VNC (vowel-nasal-obstruent) sequences varying in the laryngeal status of the post-nasal consonant, for two classes of obstruents distinct in terms of place and at three different speech rates. The temporal relations among the obstruent and the two preceding sonorant segments are examined, and variations in speaking tempo are shown to affect the timing pattern of different speech units in different ways. These results support a view of speech timing control in which temporal effects over constituents spanning syllable boundaries are to be combined with the effects observed over traditional syllable-sized units.