An acoustic and articulatory study of rhotic and rhotic-nasal vowels of Kalasha

Abstract

Kalasha, an endangered Dardic language (Indo-Aryan), is described as having series of retroflex and retroflex-nasal vowels, each with five contrasting vowel qualities. This study provides the first articulatory description of these vowels using lingual ultrasound imaging, showing that the vowels described as retroflex are produced not with tongue tip retroflexion but with bunching of the tongue body. Relative to their non-rhotic counterparts, these rhotic vowels are produced with more retracted tongue root and tongue blade, and they exhibit tongue dorsum concavity, much like bunched rhotic vowels in other languages. The five-way quality contrast between rhotic vowels is achieved using lip rounding as well as differences in tongue dorsum height, backness, and tongue root retraction. The lingual differences are reduced in comparison to the non-rhotic vowels, as they are constrained by the articulatory gestures used to achieve rhoticity.