Acoustic Properties of Consonant Sequences in Conversational French Speech

The current paper analyses spectrographic data of two-consonant sequences with one or both consonants identified, omitted or changed into another consonant, with one or two features identified or with no feature identified, when compared to an earlier perception analysis. Perceptual and acoustic data mostly correspond, proving that consonants had indeed been changed, significantly reduced or deleted, mainly in coda position and in non-final phrase syllables, thereby preserving acoustic information crucial for lexical access, integration of prosodic structure and successful communication.