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On the categorization of ejectives: data from Witsuwit'en

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2002

Richard Wright ,
Sharon Hargus  and
Katharine Davis
Richard Wright
Affiliation:
University of Washington, Seattle [email protected]
Sharon Hargus
Affiliation:
University of Washington, Seattle [email protected]
Katharine Davis
Affiliation:
Conversational Computing [email protected]
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Abstract

Results of an acoustic study of root-initial /t th t'/ for eleven speakers of Witsuwit'en (Athabaskan) are presented. Values averaged across speaker means suggest that Witsuwit'en ejectives have a brief period of creaky voice and slow rise time at vowel onset relative to the voiceless unaspirated stops. However, there is considerable inter-speaker variation in VOT and f0 perturbation, with negligible correlation between these measures, contrary to the predictions of the ejective typologies proposed by Lindau (1984) and Kingston (1985). Results of a perception study indicate that the ejective-voiceless unaspirated contrast is more difficult than the other laryngeal contrasts even for native listeners. Implications of the Witsuwit'en data for the categorization of ejectives are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Phonetic Association , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , June 2002 , pp. 43 - 77
Copyright
© 2002 International Phonetic Association

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