Tamil is unusual among the world’s languages in that some of its dialects have five contrasting liquids. This paper focuses on the characterization of these sounds in terms of articulatory geometry and kinematics, as well as their articulatory-acoustic relations. This study illustrates the use of multiple techniques—static palatography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and magnetometry (EMMA)—for investigating both static and dynamic articulatory characteristics using a single native speaker of Tamil. Dialectal merger and neutralization phenomena exhibited by the liquids of Tamil are discussed. Comparisons of English /ɹ/ and /l/ with Tamil provide evidence for generality in underlying mechanisms of rhotic and lateral production. The articulatory data justify the postulation of a class of rhotics and a class of laterals in Tamil, but do not provide evidence in favor of a larger class of liquids. Such a superclass appears to have largely an acoustic basis.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
October 1999
October 01 1999
Geometry, kinematics, and acoustics of Tamil liquid consonants Available to Purchase
Shrikanth Narayanan;
Shrikanth Narayanan
AT&T Labs—Research, 180 Park Avenue, Florham Park, New Jersey 07932-0971
Search for other works by this author on:
Dani Byrd;
Dani Byrd
Haskins Laboratories, 270 Crown Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06511
Search for other works by this author on:
Abigail Kaun
Abigail Kaun
Department of Linguistics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520
Search for other works by this author on:
Shrikanth Narayanan
AT&T Labs—Research, 180 Park Avenue, Florham Park, New Jersey 07932-0971
Dani Byrd
Haskins Laboratories, 270 Crown Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06511
Abigail Kaun
Department of Linguistics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 106, 1993–2007 (1999)
Article history
Received:
December 10 1997
Accepted:
May 15 1999
Citation
Shrikanth Narayanan, Dani Byrd, Abigail Kaun; Geometry, kinematics, and acoustics of Tamil liquid consonants. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 October 1999; 106 (4): 1993–2007. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.427946
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
Variation in global and intonational pitch settings among black and white speakers of Southern American English
Aini Li, Ruaridh Purse, et al.
Climatic and economic fluctuations revealed by decadal ocean soundscapes
Vanessa M. ZoBell, Natalie Posdaljian, et al.
The contribution of speech rate, rhythm, and intonation to perceived non-nativeness in a speaker's native language
Ulrich Reubold, Robert Mayr, et al.
Related Content
Articulatory data for a five-way liquid contrast: 3D ultrasound of Marathi
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. (May 2017)
A preliminary ultrasound study of Nepali lingual articulations
Proc. Mtgs. Acoust. (May 2013)
Observation of personal characteristics of lingual articulation by use of electro‐palatography
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. (August 2005)
Integration of three‐dimensional and pressure sensitive palatography for speech production study
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. (February 1999)
Palato‐lingual contact patterns during Korean obstruent production; lax, aspirated and forced
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. (April 2005)