The Phonetic Interpretation of the “Central Vowel” in the Tarama Variety of Miyako Ryukyuan

Abstract

This study describes the phonetic features of the “central vowel” in Miyako Ryukyuan. Previous studies have not described its phonetic details adequately, although it has been reported that the vowel has cross-linguistically unusual phonetic features such as [s]-like frication and a kind of laminal modification. This study focuses on the Tarama variety of the language, and I describe the central vowel using two instrumental techniques, namely, acoustic analysis and static palatography.

Previous studies have debated whether the vowel is central or laminal / apical, but the results reported here suggest that it has a double articulation, both alveolar (laminal) and velar (dorsal).