The articulation of lexical palatalization in Scottish Gaelic

Abstract

Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig, henceforth SG) exhibits a rich system of consonant mutation, which is mostly governed by its morphology (Ladefoged et al. 1998; Gillies 2002; Stewart 2004). For instance, bàta “boat” changes to [v] when the word undergoes morphological inflection—e.g., a bhàta “his boat”, in which the sound spelled bh is pronounced as [v]. Using ultrasound imaging, the present study investigates palatalization in SG, which is considered as one of lexicalized consonant mutation types. Experimental data was collected in Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, a college on the Isle of Skye. Preliminary results show a clear sign of palatalization across different consonant types in palatalization environments (i.e., when morphologically conditioned), represented by higher tongue contours in the front region of tongue. While the articulatory distinction between plain and palatalized consonants is significant, different syllabic positions (i.e., word-initial vs. -final palatalization) often yield individualized patterns.