Articulatory peculiarities of the Baraba-Tatar phoneme о /ʊ̇/ (on MRI data)

Abstract

The paper aims to describe the articulatory traits of the Baraba-Tatar phoneme o /ʊ̇/ by the somatic methods. The method used is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Eighteen Barabian tomograms comprising o-type articulation have been described and analyzed according to the technique adopted in the V. M. Nadelyayev’s Laboratory of Experimental-Phonetic Researches (Institute of Philology SB RAS). The text provides only general observations and conclusions, with a full description of all tomograms given in three tables. The experimentalphonetic analysis of the Baraba-Tatar tomograms of the vowel o allowed the author to draw several conclusions. There is a variability of the o-type tunings in Barabian, the most typical being the central-back narrow labialized ejective realization. Though it is very narrow and is phonetically transcribed as /ʊ̇/, it is acoustically perceived as o. While producing the sound o, the oral and pharyngeal cavities become very small, producing the effect of tension. Additional narrowing occurs between the soft palate and the tongue back as well as between the upper teeth and the lower lip, thus preventing the airflow from free release. The lip position is also unusual: instead of protruding forward, the upper lip moves back, tightly covering the upper teeth to produce an interesting acoustic effect. To sum up, further investigation of all vocal system units of Baraba-Tatar is needed to draw ultimate conclusions about the typological belonging of the language under consideration.