Phonatory and articulatory characteristics related to the duration and voicing of 'sokuon' and geminate consonants

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02707
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Fujimoto Masako 早稲田大学, 人間科学学術院, その他(招聘研究員) (30392541)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 前川 喜久雄 大学共同利用機関法人人間文化研究機構国立国語研究所, 音声言語研究領域, 教授 (20173693) ; 船津 誠也 県立広島大学, 公私立大学の部局等(広島キャンパス), 准教授 (30275383)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 促音 / 子音 / 調音 / 発声 / MRI

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study clarified some of the phonetic and articulatory features of ‘sokuon’ in the standard Japanese, Kumamoto dialect, and Ikema dialect of Southern Ryukyuan in Miyakojima Island. Voiced sokuon in the standard Japanese tended to be unvoiced, and the airflow patterns of voiced and unvoiced sokuon were similar. The duration of the voicing of the voiced sokuon of the Kumamoto dialect was longer on average than the standard Japanese, and the difference due to utterance was large. The voiced sokuon of the Ikema dialect continued to be voiced throughout the consonant, and, word-initially, accompanied by long pre-voicing. Correspondingly, MRI showed a significant enlargement of the pharynx during the voiced sokuon. It was suggested that long-lasting vocal fold vibration may be achieved by the articulatory adjustment at the pharynx. Pharyngeal enlargement was also seen in the Kumamoto dialect, but to a lesser extent than in the Ikema dialect.

Free Research Field

人文科学　言語学　音声学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

有声促音や無声促音，語頭促音など標準語にないタイプの促音の音響的特徴と，それらをもたらす調音調節との対応の一端が明らかにできた。また標準語の促音が無声化した場合の声門開大パタンを例示できた。これらはMRIやAirflow，ハイスピードカメラ，PGGなどの機器を用いた検討により初めて明らかにできるものである。これらの知見が日本語の方言学に限らず，一般言語学，音声学，音韻論に与える示唆は少なくないと思われる。