Articulation Timing and Orthographical Representation of Consonant Gemination in Sinhala

Abstract

Consonant gemination, in general, has two major aspects: either lengthening or doubling the pronunciation of the consonant. This study mainly focuses on articulation and orthography in Sinhala, the two parts of the language where consonant gemination occurs. It examines the pronunciation time ratios of 16 pairs of singleton and geminated Sinhala consonants in order to analyze the relationship that exists between their articulation and orthography. The research problem was stated as ‘what relationship is disclosed by the articulation time ratios and orthography of consonant gemination in Sinhala’. To answer it, the articulation timings of the singleton and geminated consonants were measured with the ratios between them being calculated. Then, as the second step, the ratios and the orthographic symbolization were compared and contrasted. A group of ten adult participants contributed to the data: five males and five females. Praat.exe was the main technical instrument used to measure pronunciation timings. The data revealed that the ratios lie between a minimum of 1:1.6 and a maximum of 1:2.4 times. Therefore, consonant gemination in Sinhala is a lengthening process. Moreover, the alpha-syllabic writing system ignores the length ratios of the geminated consonants.