Article

Name: Palatal coarticulation in the Altai language according to ultrasound data in a dynamic aspect

Authors: Timofey V. Timkin

Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Linguistics

Abstract:

The paper explores the movement of the tongue dorsum in phonetic words of the Altai language. The data were collected using Articulate Instruments equipment and Articulate Assistant Advanced software, employing the ultrasound imaging technique. The focus was on several monosyllabic lexemes with a “plosive vowel nasal” structure. Every word was recorded three times in an isolated context. The audio recording, synchronized in time with the ultra-sound image, was segmented and annotated based on auditory and acoustic analysis in the Praat program. The statistical analysis was performed using the R programming language. The dorsum movement was represented as a series of static frames at 10 ms intervals. The time-mapping approach was used to calculate the coefficients capturing the dorsum uplift at different time intervals, with time dynamics described as a bundle of contours for each phonetic word. The point coefficient was determined based on the highest dorsum point, indicating the elevated section of the dorsum. The height coefficient was calculated as a vertical coordinate of the highest point. These coefficients were used to determine dorsum distance from the articulation center, identify vowel row and openness, and recognize basic and additional palatal or velar articulation in consonants. The study found that in soft-type words, the dorsum uplift was consistent throughout the word, resulting in palatalized consonants. In hard-type words with dorsal consonants, the dorsum raise was limited to the beginning of the following vowel and then lowered, indicating coarticulation movement. The paper describes this process in terms of structural phonology and gestural theory.

Keywords: Altai language, experimental phonetics, ultrasound imaging, coarticulation, palatality, palatalization, articulatory gestures

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