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Production and perception of sibilant fricatives: Shona data*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2009

Anthony Bladon
Affiliation:
Phonetics Laboratory, University of Oxford, 37/41 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JF, U.K.
Christopher Clark
Affiliation:
Phonetics Laboratory, University of Oxford, 37/41 Wellington Square, Oxford 0X1 2JF, U.K.
Katrina Mickey
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, School of Oriental and African Studies, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HT, U.K.

Extract

This research began out of two overlapping motives. First, we have been observing what have impressionistically been termed ‘whistling’ fricatives in Shona (and also, though not reported here, in another language, Jibbali); we felt that there was room for a fuller analysis of some aspects of their production characteristics. Second, sibilance in general offers plenty of scope for what Delattre called the ‘quest of the Holy Grail’ in phonetics: the search for features of relevance to perception. More background to both the production and the perception issues will be given as we proceed.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Journal of the International Phonetic Association 1987

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