2008/04/02

McDonough, J. & Johnson, K. (1997). Tamil Liquids: An investigation into the basis of the contrast among five liquids in a dialect of Tamil. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 27, 1-26.-351.

Presentation: Sarah

Summary: Angela

In this study, the authors' main goal was to see how the most controversial liquid sound (which here is identified as a retroflex central approximant [ɻ]) in Brahmin, a dialect of Tamil, could be classified. In order to do so, the authors had to compare this controversial liquid to that of the other four well-established liquids; namely, the plain rhotic (the alveolar flap [ɾ]) and lateral (The denti-alveolar lateral [l]), and their counterparts: the retroflex rhotic (the retroflex flap [ɽ]) and lateral (the retroflex lateral [ɭ]), respectively. Altogether, these five liquids of Brahmin were studied by articulatory, acoustic, and perceptual means. In terms of articulation, the dynamic and static movements of the tongue were investigated by means of electropalatography (EPG) and palatography, respectively. The results showed that the alveolar flap [ɾ] and the The denti-alveolar lateral [l] seemed to be more static in that their place of articulation was more limited to the front part of the mouth. On the other hand, the retroflex flap [ɽ] and the retroflex lateral [ɭ] were more dynamic in that when trying to articulate these sounds, the tongue would move from a more back position to a more front position. Interestingly; however, though the retroflex central approximant [ɻ] is identified as a retroflex, it does not behave like the other retroflex with regards to movement. That is, instead of moving from the palate to the front, it stays at the palate all the way through. The findings of the acoustic measurements showed that F₃ was an important cue for discrimination these liquids. Finally, the findings of the perceptual test showed that whether listeners could distinguish between the sounds being tested largely depended on the listeners' language background. That is, when the sound tested did not occurred in the dialect the listeners belonged to, the listeners would inevitably fail to identify the sound from other similar sounds in their dialect.