Inter- and intra-speaker variability in the production of voiceless nasal consonants

Abstract

This study uses both acoustic and aerodynamic data to investigate variation in the realization of phonemically voiceless nasal consonants, which have been found to differ cross-linguistically. In particular, it examines the timing of voicing and oral and nasal air flow during production of voiceless nasal consonants in both word-initial and word-medial positions in Hakha Chin, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in western Burma/Myanmar. Comparing three other Tibeto-Burman languages, Bhaskararao and Ladefoged (1991) found two distinct patterns in the production of voiceless nasal consonants, which varied by language, but reported general consistency among speakers of the same language. Results of the present study show considerable variation in the realization of voiceless nasals, both between individual speakers and even between individual tokens produced by the same speaker. This high degree of variability may be linked to the relatively weak acoustic cues for place of articulation among nasal consonants in general and for voiceless nasals in particular.This study uses both acoustic and aerodynamic data to investigate variation in the realization of phonemically voiceless nasal consonants, which have been found to differ cross-linguistically. In particular, it examines the timing of voicing and oral and nasal air flow during production of voiceless nasal consonants in both word-initial and word-medial positions in Hakha Chin, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in western Burma/Myanmar. Comparing three other Tibeto-Burman languages, Bhaskararao and Ladefoged (1991) found two distinct patterns in the production of voiceless nasal consonants, which varied by language, but reported general consistency among speakers of the same language. Results of the present study show considerable variation in the realization of voiceless nasals, both between individual speakers and even between individual tokens produced by the same speaker. This high degree of variability may be linked to the relatively weak acoustic cues for place of articulation among nasal consonants in...