Abstract

Nama (a variety of Khoekhoegowab), is a Khoe (Khoisan) language of Namibia. Nama uses an extensive segmental inventory, including click consonants contrasting in four places and five manners of articulation [1]. Click production in Khoisan languages has been examined using palatography [2, 3, 4], X-ray [4], and ultrasound [5, 6]; however, the phonetic characterization of different clicks produced at the same place of articulation is still a matter of debate [1, 6]. A limitation of ultrasound and palatography–the main methods used to study clicks–is that they do not provide information beyond the tongue and palate. The goal of this study is to investigate the global behaviour of the vocal tract during click production in more detail, to better understand the nature of lingual consonant contrasts.

Date

2014

Authors

Michael Proctor, Yinghua Zhu, Adam Lammert, Asterios Toutios, Bonny Sands, Shrikanth Narayanan

Conference

Australasian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology (15th: 2014)