Shekgalagari laryngeal contrasts: the plosives

Abstract

This paper examines the production of Shekgalagari plosives by means of the electro-laryngograph. These plosives have hitherto only been described through impressionistic auditory methods. The laryngograph is a non-invasive device which objectively monitors vocal fold vibration during speech. Shekgalagari has traditionally been described as a three-way contrasting system, with voiced, voiceless aspirated and voiceless unaspirated stops. The study confirms this traditional description by making a detailed description of the delicate activity of the vocal fold during its articulation as well as associated acoustic activity. To further buttress the distinction in Shekgalagari stops, this article also examines whether the stops can be distinguished from each other on the basis of voice onset time (VOT), a parameter which has been very efficient in distinguishing (a series of word initial homorganic) plosive consonants in the languages of the world. The results show that VOT efficiently distinguishes between these stops in the language, confirming again the traditional description of a three-way contrast in plosive series of the language.