Acoustic Correlates of Word-Initial Obstruents of the Ikema Dialect of Miyako Ryukyuan

Résumé En

The Ryukyuan languages spoken in Ryukyu Islands of Japan are known to have typologically rare word-initial geminates. However, the phonetic aspects of Ryukyuan languages are still scarcely documented in the literature. The current study investigates the acoustic correlates of manner, place, voicing, and length in word-initial obstruents of endangered Ikema Miyako Ryukyuan, using a wide range of temporal and non-temporal measures (duration, F0, intensity, F1, and F2). The results showed that duration is the most reliable acoustic correlate for the classification of manner, voicing, and length contrasts of word-initial obstruents. F1 contributed to the classification of manner and voicing whereas intensity additionally distinguished the length contrasts. The overall findings indicated that Ikema speakers can use a combination of temporal and non-temporal acoustic correlates to tease apart the subtle consonantal distinctions. The findings of the current study will help inform the phonetic and phonological typology of Ryukyuan languages and will further contribute to the studies of speech production in endangered languages.