Collaborative Research: An Ultrasound Investigation of Irish Palatalization

爱尔兰盖尔语是一种凯尔特语，在英国殖民、饥荒、移民和社会压力使其濒临灭绝之前，它是所有爱尔兰人所说的语言。今天，它仍然是一种社区语言，大约有70，000到140，000人（占爱尔兰人口的1.5%到3%）。尽管政府大力支持，但它仍然处于危险之中。记录爱尔兰语的属性是一个紧迫的问题，无论是为了后代还是为了教授爱尔兰语。今天，有更多的人学习爱尔兰语作为第二语言，而不是作为第一语言，包括在美国的人，其中许多人是爱尔兰血统。这样的第二语言使用者可以代表语言的未来。在这种情况下，对于英语使用者来说，爱尔兰语音系统最难学习的特征可能是其腭化对比。爱尔兰语的每一个辅音都有两种变体，一种是腭化的--包括一个提高和向前的补充舌头手势，另一种是软腭化的--包括一个提高和向后的补充舌头手势。由于英语的巨大影响，这种腭化对比本身在年轻人的讲话中受到威胁，甚至在爱尔兰语社区也是如此。作为一种更普遍的语言特征，腭化在世界语言中并不常见，也是一个值得研究的问题。然而，爱尔兰语腭化和软腭化的产生从来没有被成像技术记录过，即使在研究得更好的语言中，如俄语，也没有充分的记录。除了爱尔兰语之外，对腭化对比产生的调查将有助于理解为什么语言会失去声音之间的对比，这取决于诸如辅音的身份（例如，[p]vs. [t]），它在音节中的位置，或者它周围的元音。它还将提供说话者如何协调快速变化的语音手势以及他们使用什么策略来保持对比的信息。研究人员将使用便携式超声设备收集腭化和软腭化辅音产生的数据。超声成像提供了关于舌体形状和运动的直接信息，这对于理解腭化和软腭化至关重要。研究人员还将记录嘴唇运动的视频和音频，同时记录超声视频。数据将从爱尔兰的所有三个主要方言地区（阿尔斯特、康诺特和明斯特）收集。爱尔兰的参与者将是为爱尔兰广播电台（国家广播公司的爱尔兰媒体广播电台）工作的专业广播员。在说话者基础迅速下降的背景下，这些参与者都被认为是其方言的模范说话者。由于他们的职业，他们对声音技术和录音时的讲话感到舒适。舌体和嘴唇的形状将从视频中提取并通过统计手段进行平均。这些数据将为研究音节位置、辅音同一性等因素对腭化对比的影响奠定基础，以及用于保持对比度和协调手势的说话者策略。研究人员还将编制一个大量的网络存储库，其中包含腭化和软腭化辅音时舌体和嘴唇的图像。这个库将构成一个宝贵的资源，语音学家和语音学家谁的目标是发展一个更深入的了解发音对比，涉及腭化和软腭化在爱尔兰或其他语言，它也将作为一个有用的援助，学生学习爱尔兰语作为第二语言。 此外，该项目将加强国内和国际科学合作，并将为语言学研究生和本科生提供重要的培训机会。

Irish Gaelic, a Celtic language, was the language spoken by all of Ireland before English colonization, famine, emigration, and social pressures caused it to become endangered. Today it is still spoken as a community language by perhaps 70,000 to 140,000 people (between 1.5% and 3% of the population of Ireland). Despite strong governmental support, it remains endangered. Documenting the properties of Irish is a matter of urgency, both for posterity and for the purposes of teaching Irish. Today there are many more people learning Irish as a second language than as a first language, including people in the United States, where many are of Irish heritage. Such second language speakers could represent the future of the language. In this context, perhaps the most difficult feature of the Irish sound system for English speakers to learn is its palatalization contrast. Every consonant of Irish comes in two varieties, one that is palatalized - involving a supplementary tongue gesture of raising and fronting, and one that is velarized - involving a supplementary tongue gesture of raising and backing. This palatalization contrast itself is endangered and waning in the speech of younger speakers, even in Irish speaking communities, because of the heavy influence of English. As a linguistic feature more generally, palatalization is uncommon across the world's languages and of interest to understand. Yet the production of Irish palatalization and velarization has never been documented with imaging technology, and it is inadequately documented with such technology even in better-studied languages having palatalization, such as Russian. Beyond Irish, an investigation of the production of a palatalization contrast will aid in understanding why languages lose contrasts between sounds depending on things like the identity of the consonant in question (e.g., [p] vs. [t]), its position in a syllable, or the vowels that surround it. It will also provide information about how speakers coordinate rapidly shifting speech gestures and what strategies they use to maintain contrasts.The researchers will gather data on the production of palatalized and velarized consonants using a portable ultrasound device. Ultrasound imaging provides direct information about tongue body shape and movement, crucial to an understanding of palatalization and velarization. The researchers will also record video of lip movement, and audio, simultaneously with the ultrasound video. Data will be gathered from all three major dialect regions of Irish (Ulster, Connacht, and Munster). The Irish participants will be professional broadcasters who work for RTÉ Radió na Gaeltachta, (the national broadcaster's Irish medium radio station). In a context in which the speaker base is rapidly declining, these participants are all considered exemplary speakers of their dialect. Because of their occupation, they are comfortable with sound technology and with speaking while being recorded. The shape of the tongue body, and of the lips, will be extracted from video and averaged by statistical means. This data will be the basis for studying the effects on the palatalization contrast of syllable position, consonant identity, etc., discussed above, as well as speaker strategies for maintaining contrast and coordinating gestures. The researchers will also compile a substantial web repository of images of the tongue body and lips during palatalized and velarized consonants. This repository will constitute a valuable resource to phonologists and phoneticians who aim to develop a deeper understanding of articulatory contrasts involving palatalization and velarization in Irish or in other languages; it will also serve as a useful aid to students learning Irish as a second language. In addition, the project will strengthen domestic and international scientific collaborations and will provide important training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students in linguistics.