Acoustic evidence of a phonetics-phonology mismatch in Nuu-chah-nulth

Abstract

Measurements were made of the acoustic properties of the pharyngeal ʕ in Ahousaht Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), an endangered language spoken on Vancouver Island. One goal of the study was to test whether phonetics and phonology make the same predictions regarding the classification of ʕ. Although the phonological data largely favors an analysis of ʕ as a type of glottalized pharyngeal stop, the results of acoustic measurements suggested that it is a glottalized glide. These acoustic measurements included a comparison of the waveforms and spectrograms of ʕ to those of glottalized resonants and glottalized stops. Three types of acoustic evidence were found to support the claim that ʕ is a glottalized glide. Specifically, the timing of glottalization in ʕ was like that of a glottalized resonant, rather than a glottalized stop; in several tokens full stop closure was not achieved; and the duration of the formant transition of ʕ is more like that of a glide than a stop. This acoustic evidence helps to illustrate one example of a phonetics-phonology mismatch, and the fact that there is a mismatch supports a modular view of grammatical organization. [Work supported by SSHRCC and NSERC Grants.]