Vertical larynx actions and intergestural timing stability in Hausa ejectives and implosives

Area of Science:

• Linguistic Phonetics
• Speech Production
• Articulatory Phonology

Background:

• Complex consonant segments like ejectives and implosives involve intricate laryngeal and oral gestures.
• Understanding the temporal coordination of these gestures is crucial for explaining phonological contrasts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To kinematically examine vertical larynx actions and intergestural timing in multi-gesture speech segments.
• To investigate the role of timing in realizing phonological contrasts for Hausa non-pulmonic and pulmonic consonants.
• To analyze how prosodic context influences the temporal organization of speech gestures.

Main Methods:

• Utilized real-time magnetic resonance imaging (rtMRI) to capture speech production data.
• Analyzed kinematic data focusing on vertical larynx movements and oral constriction gestures.
• Quantified intergestural timing and its stability across different consonant types and prosodic contexts.

Main Results:

• Ejectives showed greater vertical larynx action magnitude than pulmonic consonants.
• Implosives and pulmonic consonants were distinguished by intergestural timing, not vertical larynx magnitude.
• Intergestural timing stability varied, with ejectives most stable, followed by implosives and pulmonic consonants.

Conclusions:

• Vertical larynx actions and their timing are key to realizing phonological contrasts in complex segments.
• Intergestural timing patterns, not just gesture magnitude, differentiate consonant types.
• Speech timing is shaped by the interaction between phonological complexes and phrasal context.