14th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS-14)

San Francisco, CA, USA
August 1-7, 1999


CQ of Laryngeal Gestures and Settings in Wa

Justin Watkins

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK

Laryngographically (EGG) derived closed quotient (CQ) was used to trace investigate phonation types in Wa. The laryngeal activity responsible for phonation types is divided into two categories: firstly, the adjustment of laryngeal tension settings for the typically slightly tense vs. slightly lax phonation types of the suprasegmental register contrast; secondly, glottal abduction-adduction gestures causing extreme changes in CQ in the articulation of segmental /?/, /h/, and the aspiration of stops or sonorants. Neutralisation of the register contrast after initials involving a laryngeal gesture suggests that the occurence of a distinctive phonatory setting following such a gesture may be physiologically or articulatorily constrained.

Full Paper

Bibliographic reference.  Watkins, Justin (1999): "CQ of laryngeal gestures and settings in Wa", In ICPhS-14, 1017-1020.