Publication ｜Sophia Linguistica
Shigeko Shinohara , Qandeel Hussain
The Ryukyuan languages spoken in Ryukyu Islands of Japan are known to have
typologically rare word-initial geminates. However, the phonetic aspects of Ryukyuan
languages are still scarcely documented in the literature. The current study investigates
the acoustic correlates of manner, place, voicing, and length in word-initial obstruents of
endangered Ikema Miyako Ryukyuan, using a wide range of temporal and non-temporal
measures (duration, F0, intensity, F1, and F2). The results showed that duration is the most
reliable acoustic correlate for the classification of manner, voicing, and length contrasts of
word-initial obstruents. F1 contributed to the classification of manner and voicing whereas
intensity additionally distinguished the length contrasts. The overall findings indicated that
Ikema speakers can use a combination of temporal and non-temporal acoustic correlates to
tease apart the subtle consonantal distinctions. The findings of the current study will help
inform the phonetic and phonological typology of Ryukyuan languages and will further
contribute to the studies of speech production in endangered languages.
