Abstract

This study investigates the phonetic manifestation of three types of Bengali geminates—true underlying geminates: e.g. /pat*t*a/ ‘whereabouts’, assimilated geminates: e.g. /kɔɹt*a/--> [kɔt*t*a] ‘master’, argued to be derived through total assimilation of a rhotic and a voiceless dental stop [ɹ+ t* ], and concatenated, formed by the concatenation of two identical stops across a morpheme boundary e.g. /pat* +t*e/--> [patte] 'to spread out', in order to test the competing predictions of Distinctive Feature Theory (DFT) and Articulatory Phonology (AP) using experimental techniques. DFT predicts complete phonetic neutralization across all three types, based on previous acoustic studies. AP, however, allows for incomplete neutralization in assimilated geminates and phonetic variability in concatenated geminates due to gestural overlap and morpheme boundaries, respectively. Using Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) on native Bengali speakers, this research tested detailed articulatory parameters, including tongue displacement, peak velocity, and gesture activation duration. The findings revealed significant differences between true and assimilated geminates, indicating incomplete neutralization. Specifically, evidence for traces of rhotic articulation were observed in the assimilated geminates, with a notable pattern being the higher velocity of the tongue blade for assimilation compared to true geminates. Concatenated geminates showed variability in timing compared to true geminates which also support the predictions of articulatory phonology and that the pattern is not identical to true geminates. While perceptually both assimilated and concatenated geminates may sound similar to the true geminates, also supported by acoustic study findings, the current articulatory investigation showed different phonetic manifestations. Results support the AP framework and suggest that, despite overall similar acoustic and articulatory patterning, there are some key differences which distinguish assimilated and concatenated geminates from true geminates.

Keywords

Bengali geminates, Articulatory Phonology, Electromagnetic Articulographer, Incomplete Neutralization, Bengali Stops,

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