Real-time intelligibility affects the realization of French word-final schwa

Speech variation has been hypothesized to reflect both speaker-internal influences of lexical access on production and adaptive modifications to make words more intelligible to the listener. The current study considers cate-gorical and gradient variation in the production of word-final schwa in French as explained by lexical access processes, phonological, and/or listener-oriented influences on speech production, while controlling for other factors. To that end, native French speakers completed two laborator y production tasks. In Experiment 1, speakers produced 32 monosyllabic words varying in lexical frequency in a word list production task with no listener feedback. In Experiment 2, speakers produced the same words to an interlocutor while completing a map task varying listener comprehension success across trials: in hal f the trials, the words are correctly perceived by the interlocutor; in half, there is misunderstanding. Results reveal that speakers are more likely to produce word-final schw a when there is explicit pressu r e to be intelligible to the interlocutor. Also, when schwa is produced, it is longer preceding a consonant-initial word . Taken together, findings suggest that there are both phonological and clarity-oriented influences on word-final schw a realization in French.