Instrumental investigation of some Scottish Gaelic consonants

Abstract

This thesis discusses the results of the instrumental investigation of some of the more interesting aspects of, Scottish Gaelic atop and sonorant consonants. It considers and attempts to illuminate some old phonetic problem areas, such as the nature of aspiration and sonority. It also considers the relationship of secondary articulation to primary articulation, and their relative importance.

CHAPTER 1 gives a general overview of the place of' Gaelic in Scotland: where and by whom it is spoken; its domains of usage , and its history.

CHAPTER II describes the four primary informants (two speakers from Lewis and two from Harris), the type of data used, and the instrumental techniques employed. Extensive samples of the instrumental results are given throughout the thesis.

CHAPTER III discusses the stop consonant phoneme systems and their phonetic realtsations in several island and mainland dialects as described by previous investigators,

CHAPTER IV describes the primary place of articulation of the stops based on palatographic evidence.

CHAPTER V describes the manner of production of the stops based on kynographic (airflow and larynx vibration) and speotrographic (acoustic) information. Special attention in given to aspiration, particularly preaspiration. General phonetic theories of aspiration are reconsidered in the light of the data.

CHAPTER VI comperes the sonorant consonants of various dialects according to previous descriptions. , CHAPTER VII describes the results of palatographic investigation of the primary place of articulation of the sonorant consonants.

CHAPTER VIII considers kynographic, speotrographic, and intensity information about the sonorant consonants in terms of sonority theory. It also considers the relative importance of secondary and primary articulation in distinguishing among the sonorants.