Articulatory and acoustic correlates of pharyngealization and pharyngealization spread in Cairene Arabic: A real-time magnetic resonance imaging study

Pharyngealized speech sounds in Arabic are articulated with a secondary posterior constriction and a lowered tongue body. This articulatory configuration spreads to adjacent and neighboring segments and has the acoustic consequence of lowering F2 in affected vowels. This study demonstrates that real-time Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rtMRI) can be successfully used to examine the role of (1) vowel length and (2) direction of spread in the extent of the articulatory modifications that occur in the segments to which pharyngealization spreads. Parallel acoustic measurements are also acquired to examine and compare the extent of modifications in formant frequencies. Results from both articulatory and acoustic data demonstrate that the extent of pharyngealization spread significantly varies with respect to these two factors.