The voiceless nasal consonants in the Naukan language

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Open Access Open Access
Restricted Access Access granted
Restricted Access Subscription Access

Abstract

This paper examines the acoustic properties of the voiceless nasal consonants [n̥ ], [m ̥ ] and [ŋ̊ ] in the Naukan language. An analysis of the scientific literature on voiceless nasal consonants in the languages of the world was carried out within the study, as well as a descriptive statistical analysis of data based on a phonetic questionnaire recorded during fieldwork in 2024. Data analysis includes the comparison of the duration of voiceless and voiced nasal consonants as a whole, voiceless components of voiceless nasal consonants, and determining the noise level of target segments using the ZCR parameter. The results of the analysis showed both the differences between the target sounds and the dependence of some parameters on the context. In the conclusion, the arguments are discussed in the context of determining the phonemic status of voiceless nasal consonants in the Naukan language.

Full Text

Restricted Access

About the authors

Еlena М. Budyanskaya

Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: budyanskaya.lena@gmail.com

Junior Researcher

Russian Federation, 1 Bld. 1 Bolshoy Kislovsky Lane, Moscow, 125009

Darya О. Zhornik

Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: daria.zhornik@yandex.ru

Researcher

Russian Federation, 1 Bld. 1 Bolshoy Kislovsky Lane, Moscow, 125009

Тimofey V. Kornev

Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: t.kornev@iling-ran.ru

Junior Researcher

Russian Federation, 1 Bld. 1 Bolshoy Kislovsky Lane, Moscow, 125009

References

  1. Dantsuji, M. A Study on Voiceless Nasals in Burmese. Studia phonologica. 1984, No. 18, pp. 1–14.
  2. Ford, C., Tucker, B., Ono, T. Voiceless nasals in the Ikema dialect of Miyako Ryukyuan. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 2022, No. 53(3), pp. 694–711.
  3. Ohala, J., Ohala, M. The phonetics of nasal phonology: Theorems and data. Phonetics and Phonology. 1993, No. 5, pp. 225–249.
  4. Bhaskararao, P., Ladefoged, P. Two types of voiceless nasals. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 1991, No. 21, pp. 80–88.
  5. Jessen, M., Pétursson, M. Voiceless Nasal Phonemes in Icelandic. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 1998, No. 28, pp. 43–53.
  6. Árnason, K. The phonology of Icelandic and Faroese. Oxford: OUP, 2011.
  7. Rögnvaldsson, E. A Short Overview of the Icelandic Sound System Pronunciation Variants and Phonetic Transcription. Grammatek; SÍM, 2020.
  8. Bombien, L. Voicing alterations in Icelandic sonorants – a photoglottographicand acoustic analysis. Arbeitsberichte des Instituts für Phonetik und digitale Sprachverarbeitung der Universität Kiel. 2006, No. 37, pp. 63–82.
  9. Menovshchikov, G.A. Grammatika yazyka aziatskih eskimosov: Fonetika, morfologiya imennyh chastej rechi [Grammar of the Language of the Asian Eskimos: Phonetics, Morphology of Nominal Parts of Speech]. Leningrad: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Leningrad Branch), 1962. (In Russ.)
  10. Krauss, M. St. Lawrence Island Eskimo phonology and orthography. Linguistics. 1975, Vol. 13, Issue 152, pp. 39–72.
  11. Nagai, K. A morphological study of St. Lawrence Island Yupik: Three topics on referentiality. Doctoral dissertation. Graduate School of Letters; Kyoto University, 2004.
  12. Jacobson, S. Practical Grammar of the St. Lawrence Island. Siberian Yupik Eskimo Language. Alaska Native Language Center, 2001.
  13. de Reusse, W. Siberian Yupik Eskimo and its contacts with Chukchi. Ed. W. Miller. Studies in Indigenous Languages of the Americas, 1994.
  14. Miyaoka, O. A grammar of Central Alaskan Yupik (CAY). Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, 2012.
  15. Leer, J. Classroom Grammar of Koniag Alutiiq, Kodiak Island Dialect. Vol. 1. Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1990.
  16. Counceller, A., Leer, J. The Alutiiq orthography: Kodiak dialect. Kodiak, Alaska: Alutiiq Heritage Foundation, 2012.
  17. Menovshchikov, G.A. Yazyk sirenikskih eskimosov: Fonetika, ocherk morfologii, teksty i slovar [The Language of the Sirenik Eskimos: Phonetics, an Essay on Morphology, Texts and a Dictionary]. Leningrad: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1964. (In Russ.)
  18. Menovshchikov, G.A. Yazyk eskimosov Beringova proliva [The Language of the Eskimos of the Bering Strait]. Leningrad: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1980. (In Russ.)
  19. Golovko, E.V. Aleutskij yazyk. Yazyki mira. Paleoaziatskie yazyki [The Aleut Language. Languages of the World. Paleoasiatic Languages]. Moscow, 1997, pp. 101–116. (In Russ.)
  20. Bergsland, K. Aleut Grammar: Unangam Tunuganaan Achixaasix̂. Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 1997.
  21. Menovshchikov, G.A. Yazyk naukanskih eskimosov [The Language of the Naukan Eskimos]. Leningrad: Nauka Publishing House (Leningrad Branch), 1975. (In Russ.)
  22. Golovko, E.V., Dobrieva, E.A., Jacobson, S. Krauss, M. Slovar yazyka naukanskih eskimosov [Dictionary of the Language of the Naukan Eskimos]. Ed. S. Jacobson. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center Publ., 2004.
  23. Stewart, J., Kohlberger, M. Earbuds: A method for measuring nasality in the field. Language Documentation and Conservation. 2017, No. 11, pp. 49–80.
  24. Boersma, P., Weenink, D. Praat: doing phonetics by computer. 2024. URL: http://www.praat.org/
  25. Mudrak, O.A. Eskimosskij etimologikon [Eskimo Etymologicon]. Moscow: MGPU; Languages of the peoples of the world; THESAURUS Publ., 2011. (In Russ.)
  26. Bogoraz, V.G. Materialy dlya izucheniya yazyka aziatskih eskimosov [Materials for Studying the Language of the Asian Eskimos]. Zhivaya Starina. Vyp. II–III [Living Antiquity. Issues II–III]. St. Petersburg: Printing House of the Ministry of Railways, 1909, pp. 1–13. (In Russ.)

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
Download
2. Fig. 1. Spectrogram and intensity contours of air flows recorded at the mouth (blue line) and at the nose (red line) for the word qiqm̥iʁaq ‘dog’

Download (258KB)
Indexing metadata

Copyright (c) 2025 Russian Academy of Sciences