Affricate contrasts in Déline Slavey

Abstract

Dene or North Slavey is a Dene (Athabaskan) language with nine affricates: /ts, tsʰ, ts’, t∫, t∫ʰ, t∫’, tɬ, tɬʰ, and tɬ’/. This paper provides a first investigation into the acoustics of these sounds using ~2000 tokens from eight speakers from Deline, NT, Canada. Within the lateral series, [tɬ] was found to be realized in a number of ways including [tɬ], [tɬl], [tl], and [tɬɮ], with phonetic voicing to varying degrees in the release. In contrast, [tɬʰ] was generally produced with a brief period of aspiration following the frication portion of the affricate, while ejectives were often followed by a brief period of silence between the frication and the vowel onset. COG measurements of [tɬ] (from the voiceless portion of the release) were lower than the alveolar and post-alveolar affricates, averaging 3500 Hz (s.d. = 2175 Hz). However, COG variation across and within speakers and words suggests varying place of articulation. Place of articulation may be less crucial to the identification of these sounds than...