Laryngeal adjustments in Japanese voiceless sound production

Abstract

As part of a series of investigations on the production of sequences of unvoiced sounds in different languages, the current experiment was conducted using the combined techniques of photoelectric glottography, fiberoptics, and electromyography. Particular attention was paid to devoiced vowel production in various voiceless consonantal environments including geminates. The movement data show that the glottal opening gesture during a voiceless sequence containing a devoiced vowel is characterized by a monomodal pattern, unless the vowel occurs between voiceless fricatives. The results also suggest that the velocity and size of the glottal opening gesture vary according to the nature of the adjacent voiceless obstruents. The speed of the opening phase is slow when a stop precedes the vowel, and fast when a fricative precedes it. The peak glottal opening during the devoiced vowel is larger when a fricative either precedes or follows it, and smaller when the vowel is surrounded on both sides by single or geminated stops. [Work supported by NINCDS and BRSG.]