A Phonetic Study of the Consonants of Setswana and Sebirwa

言语科学在认知和生物学之间架起了差距的桥梁，研究人类语言的抽象代码在物理上实现的机制。非洲语言Settagh和Sebirwa是特别有趣的测试案例，因为据报道，它们表现出不寻常的辅音和辅音组合，其中一些被语言学理论预测为不存在。本研究项目将使用声学、感知、空气动力学和超声技术研究Settanova和Sebirwa的辅音系统。将记录不寻常的声音，以测试文献中一般描述的准确性。拟议中的研究的智力价值在于收集新的经验数据，对语言索赔将进行测试。这项研究的结果将对声音的可能库存理论、声音变化的物理发音和声学基础、语言处理的方式以及声音序列相互作用的方式在物理和认知水平上产生影响。该项目将为具有许多类型学罕见特征的语言提供新的声学和发音数据（Sethanya），以及第二个没有仪器数据可用的（Sebirwa）。这项研究将促进乔治敦大学和博茨瓦纳大学之间的合作。这项研究还将对研究生和本科生进行重要的培训，并将通过吸收几名非洲妇女担任研究人员，促进代表性不足的群体参与科学。更广泛地说，更好地理解抽象语言代码和发音器官的物理运动之间的相互作用，在任何一种语言和一般语言中，将导致更好的语言学习和教学模式，并改善语言缺陷的治疗方法。

Speech science bridges the gap between cognition and biology, investigating the mechanisms by which the abstract codes of human language are physically realized. The African languages Setswana and Sebirwa are particularly interesting test cases because they are reported to exhibit unusual consonants and consonant combinations, some of which are predicted by linguistic theory not to exist. This research project will investigate the consonant systems of Setswana and Sebirwa, using acoustic, perceptual, aerodynamic, and ultrasound techniques. The unusual sounds will be documented in order to test the accuracy of the general descriptions in the literature. The intellectual merit of the proposed research resides in the collection of new empirical data against which linguistic claims will be tested. The results of this research will have implications for theories of possible inventories of sounds, of the physical articulatory and acoustic bases of sound changes, of the way language is processed, and of the way sounds in sequence interact, both at the physical and cognitive levels.This project will provide new acoustic and articulatory data for one language with a number of typologically rare features (Setswana), and for a second for which no instrumental data is yet available (Sebirwa). The research will promote cooperation between Georgetown University and the University of Botswana. The research will also have a significant training component for both graduate and undergraduate student, and will contribute to the participation of under-represented groups in science by including several African women as researchers. More broadly, a better understanding of the interaction between the abstract speech code and the physical movements of articulators, in any one language and in languages in general, will lead to better models of language learning and teaching, and improved therapies for speech deficits.