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，它是爱尔兰所有人使用的语言。今天，大约有7万到14万人（占爱尔兰人口的1.5%到3%）仍然把它作为一种社区语言使用。尽管政府大力支持，它仍然处于濒危状态。记录爱尔兰语的特性是一件紧迫的事情，无论是为了后代还是为了爱尔兰语教学的目的。今天，有更多的人把爱尔兰语作为第二语言来学习，而不是作为第一语言来学习，包括在美国的人，那里的许多人都有爱尔兰血统。这些说第二语言的人可以代表这门语言的未来。在这种情况下，对于说英语的人来说，爱尔兰语发音系统最困难的特征可能是它的腭化对比。爱尔兰语的每个辅音都有两种变体，一种是腭化的——包括抬高和向前的辅助舌头手势，另一种是velalized的——包括抬高和向后的辅助舌头手势。由于英语的严重影响，这种舌化对比本身在年轻人的讲话中，甚至在讲爱尔兰语的社区中，都处于濒危状态。作为一种更普遍的语言特征，舌化在世界上的语言中并不常见，而且很容易理解。然而，爱尔兰语腭化和velarization的产生从未用成像技术记录过，即使在研究得更好的具有腭化的语言（如俄语）中，这种技术也没有得到充分的记录。除了爱尔兰语之外，对舌化对比产生的研究将有助于理解为什么语言会因为所讨论的辅音的身份（例如，[p]与[t]），它在音节中的位置或围绕它的元音等因素而失去声音之间的对比。它还将提供有关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有关腭化和velalized辅音产生的数据。超声成像提供了舌体形状和运动的直接信息，对舌化和舌化的理解至关重要。研究人员还将在超声录像的同时录制嘴唇运动的视频和音频。数据将从所有三个主要的爱尔兰方言地区（阿尔斯特，康纳特和明斯特）收集。爱尔兰的参与者将是为RTÉ Radió na Gaeltachta（国家广播公司的爱尔兰媒体广播电台）工作的专业播音员。在讲话者基数迅速下降的背景下，这些参与者都被认为是他们方言的典范讲话者。由于他们的职业，他们能够自如地使用声音技术，并能在录音时说话。舌体和嘴唇的形状将从视频中提取出来，并通过统计方法进行平均。这些数据将为研究上述音节位置、辅音同一性等对舌化对比的影响，以及说话人保持对比和协调手势的策略提供基础。研究人员还将编制一个庞大的网络库，其中包含发音时舌体和嘴唇的图像。这个资源库将为音韵学家和语音学家提供宝贵的资源，他们的目标是深入了解爱尔兰语或其他语言中涉及腭化和velarization的发音对比；它也将作为一个有用的帮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.