Gesture overlap in Portuguese lexical and post-lexical consonant Clusters

This study focuses on the extent to which differences in the timing and overlap patterns are to be observed between lexical ([krer]) and postlexical ([k(i)rer]) clusters in European Portuguese. For the timing measurements the following three variables were analyzed: gesture overlap, plateau lag and target latency. The results showed consistently longer lags, and therefore a wider phasing in post-lexical clusters, independently of position of the cluster in the word and identity of C1. Overall, lexical and post-lexical clusters exhibited small but consistent differences in timing, suggesting that the contrast between them is still maintained.