The majority of previous studies on nasal coarticulation in French find an inversely proportionate relationship between vowel opening and nasality, such that high vowels are the most nasalized, sometimes exceeding 50% nasality. However, it has been unclear whether this is a mechanical or controlled property of French, given the typically short duration of high vowels in natural speech, as well as the aerodynamic and acoustic factors rendering them more susceptible to spontaneous nasalization. This study uses nasometric data to quantify progressive and regressive nasalization in 20 Northern Metropolitan French speakers as a function of vowel height. Furthermore, the relationship between degree of nasal coupling and overall vowel duration serves as a proxy for distinguishing mechanical from controlled nasalization, in the spirit of Solé (1992, 2007). This study finds evidence that high vowel nasalization in French is mechanical in pre-nasal position, but controlled in post-nasal position. Meanwhile, nasalization of mid and low vowels is blocked in pre-nasal position but, at most, mechanical in post-nasal position. In consequence, French appears to block nasalization in otherwise lexically impossible positions (*ṼN), while passively allowing, though not actively requiring, nasalizing in positions where conflation is possible (both NṼ and NV being permitted in the lexicon).

中文翻译：

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法语元音高度和鼻音发音的音韵学研究

大多数以前关于法语鼻音发音的研究发现元音开口和鼻音之间存在反比关系，因此高元音鼻音化程度最高，有时超过 50% 的鼻音。然而，鉴于自然语音中高元音的持续时间通常较短，以及空气动力学和声学因素使它们更容易自发鼻化，目前尚不清楚这是法语的机械特性还是受控特性。本研究使用鼻音测量数据来量化 20 名北方都市法语使用者的渐进和后退鼻化，作为元音高度的函数。此外，本着 Solé (1992, 2007) 的精神，鼻音耦合程度和总元音持续时间之间的关系可作为区分机械鼻化和控制鼻化的代表。这项研究发现证据表明法语中的高元音鼻化在鼻前位置是机械的，但在鼻后位置是受控制的。同时，中元音和低元音的鼻化在前鼻位被阻止，但在后鼻位最多是机械的。因此，法语似乎阻止了在其他词汇上不可能的位置（*ṼN）的鼻化，同时被动地允许，尽管不是主动要求，在可能合并的位置（词汇中允许 NṼ 和 NV）进行鼻化。