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Extending the vowel space: New phonetic data from languages of Cameroon

Matt Faytak

University of Buffalo

Lattimore 201

This talk explores “extensions” to the vowel space along consonant-like lines of articulation. The position of the tongue dorsum is canonically held to determine vowel quality in general. Given accepted models of the lower vocal tract and its intrinsic involvement in the production of some vowels, we could also expect other articulators such as the tongue tip and lips to act as the primary determinants of some vowel qualities in a less canonical fashion. Drawing on newly collected acoustic, video, and ultrasound data from under-described languages of northwestern Cameroon, I present two case studies demonstrating both the consonant-like involvement of the lower vocal tract in the vowels of Mundabli and of the tongue front and lips in the vowels of Lus.

These data suggest consonant-like non-dorsal place as a possible (if not canonical) vowel feature. The data also shed light on the position of another possible feature, namely the supralaryngeal frication of the so-called “fricative vowels”, which the Lus non-dorsal vowels exemplify due to their resemblance to consonantal fricatives such as [z] and [v]. I link the presence of frication in non-dorsal vowels to the presence of a phonemically contrast with an otherwise acoustically similar dorsal vowel (i.e. in terms of formant frequencies): frication is observed in non-dorsal vowels which contrast with a dorsal vowel (such as Kom or Koshin), but not languages where the non-dorsal vowel is allophonic (such as Lus). This suggests that frication is a secondary cue in non-dorsal vowels which may be enhanced to support the more important contrast in place.