Modelling aspects of reduction and assimilation of consonant sequences in spontaneous French speech

The following paper first presents spectrographic data of consonant sequences containing one or two consonants omitted and/or changed into another consonant when compared to a previous perception analysis. In most cases, perceptual and acoustic data are seen to strongly correspond, proving that consonants had indeed be changed, significantly reduced or deleted, mainly in a weak position, thereby preserving acoustic information crucial for lexical access, integration of prosodic structure and successful communication. Finally, tentative rules summarise the tendencies observed in reduction and assimilation patterns