Collaborative Research: An Ultrasound Investigation of Irish Palatalization

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Abstract

Irish Gaelic, a Celtic language, was the language spoken by all of Ireland before English colonization, famine, emigration, and social pressures caused it to become endangered. Today it is still spoken as a community language by perhaps 70,000 to 140,000 people (between 1.5% and 3% of the population of Ireland). Despite strong governmental support, it remains endangered. Documenting the properties of Irish is a matter of urgency, both for posterity and for the purposes of teaching Irish. Today there are many more people learning Irish as a second language than as a first language, including people in the United States, where many are of Irish heritage. Such second language speakers could represent the future of the language. In this context, perhaps the most difficult feature of the Irish sound system for English speakers to learn is its palatalization contrast. Every consonant of Irish comes in two varieties, one that is palatalized - involving a supplementary tongue gesture of raising and fronting, and one that is velarized - involving a supplementary tongue gesture of raising and backing. This palatalization contrast itself is endangered and waning in the speech of younger speakers, even in Irish speaking communities, because of the heavy influence of English. As a linguistic feature more generally, palatalization is uncommon across the world's languages and of interest to understand. Yet the production of Irish palatalization and velarization has never been documented with imaging technology, and it is inadequately documented with such technology even in better-studied languages having palatalization, such as Russian. Beyond Irish, an investigation of the production of a palatalization contrast will aid in understanding why languages lose contrasts between sounds depending on things like the identity of the consonant in question (e.g., [p] vs. [t]), its position in a syllable, or the vowels that surround it. It will also provide information about how speakers coordinate rapidly shifting speech gestures and what strategies they use to maintain contrasts. The researchers will gather data on the production of palatalized and velarized consonants using a portable ultrasound device. Ultrasound imaging provides direct information about tongue body shape and movement, crucial to an understanding of palatalization and velarization. The researchers will also record video of lip movement, and audio, simultaneously with the ultrasound video. Data will be gathered from all three major dialect regions of Irish (Ulster, Connacht, and Munster). The Irish participants will be professional broadcasters who work for RTÉ Radió na Gaeltachta, (the national broadcaster's Irish medium radio station). In a context in which the speaker base is rapidly declining, these participants are all considered exemplary speakers of their dialect. Because of their occupation, they are comfortable with sound technology and with speaking while being recorded. The shape of the tongue body, and of the lips, will be extracted from video and averaged by statistical means. This data will be the basis for studying the effects on the palatalization contrast of syllable position, consonant identity, etc., discussed above, as well as speaker strategies for maintaining contrast and coordinating gestures. The researchers will also compile a substantial web repository of images of the tongue body and lips during palatalized and velarized consonants. This repository will constitute a valuable resource to phonologists and phoneticians who aim to develop a deeper understanding of articulatory contrasts involving palatalization and velarization in Irish or in other languages; it will also serve as a useful aid to students learning Irish as a second language. In addition, the project will strengthen domestic and international scientific collaborations and will provide important training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students in linguistics.