Glottalization of Taiwan Min checked tones

Abstract

This study explores the glottalization of Taiwan Min checked tones 3 and 5 with a CV [ptkʔ] syllable structure. Electroglottography (EGG) supplements acoustic data on disyllabic words with checked tones collected from 40 speakers from five dialect regions. The results indicated that a final coda can be realized as a full oral/glottal stop closure, an energy dip at vowel's end, an aperiodic voicing at vowel's end, or a coda deletion. Over 80% of /ʔ/ codas and less than 20% of /ptk/ codas were deleted. The undeleted /ptk/ codas were more likely to be produced with a full stop closure among tone 3 and sandhi tones. Glottal contact quotient (CQ_H) distinguished tones 3 and 5 from unchecked tones 31 and 51, respectively. In sandhi positions, the vowels of tone [5] /3/ were produced with a longer CQ_H, lower H1*-A3* and a higher Cepstral Peak Prominence (CPP), suggesting a longer close phase, a more abrupt glottal closure and more periodic voicing than tone [3] /5/. In juncture position, coda deletion and the merging of H1*-A1*, H1*-A3* and A1*-A2* of tones [3] /3/ and [5] /5/ suggest a sound change among checked tones.