Vowel-dependent temporal patterns of emphatic coarticulation in Saudi Hijazi Arabic

Arabic emphatic consonants are primarily cued by coarticulatory effects on adjacent vowels, yet little is known about how these effects unfold across different vowels. This study examined the temporal dynamics of emphatic coarticulation in Saudi Hijazi Arabic across three vowel contexts (/iː/, /aː/, /uː/) and two manners of articulation (stops, fricatives). The plain–emphatic contrast was robust across vowels and manners of articulation for F2 and less consistent for F1. The F2 contrast persisted longest in /aː/, followed by /uː/ and /iː/, with estimated differences also largest in /aː/. Vowel-dependent temporal dynamics further our understanding of emphatic coarticulation beyond static measurements.