Gemination in Tarifit Berber: X-RAY AND ACOUSTIC DATA

Fayssal Bouarourou (1) , Béatrice Vaxelaire (1) , Rachid Ridouane (2) , Fabrice Hirsch (1) , Rudolph Sock (1)

1 LILPA - Linguistique, Langues et Parole
2 LPP - LPP - Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie - UMR 7018

This investigation reports on gemination in Tarifit,
a variety of Berber language spoken in the North
Eastern region of Morocco. It presents results of a
simultaneous X-ray and acoustic investigation of
singleton and geminate voiced and voiceless stops in
three different word positions (initial, intervocalic,
and final.) The acoustic parameters examined show
that geminates are systematically produced with a
longer closure duration than their singleton
counterparts, regardless of the position of the
geminate stops within the word. Consonantal
gemination, however, does not affect the duration of
adjacent vowels, neither does it affect the duration of
VOT (including burst-release for voiced stops).
Concerning X-ray data, measurements obtained from
sagittal profiles show that contact-extents (maximum
value for contact) are longer for geminate consonants
than for their singleton counterparts. Interestingly,
this holds true even for voiceless stops in word-initial
position.

Mots clés: Gemination; X-ray; Acoustics; Tarifit Berber

Domaines: Linguistique

Fayssal Bouarourou, Béatrice Vaxelaire, Rachid Ridouane, Fabrice Hirsch, Rudolph Sock. Gemination in Tarifit Berber: X-RAY AND ACOUSTIC DATA. 8th International Seminar on Speech Production, 2008, France. pp.117-120. ⟨halshs-00384948⟩