This paper studies the temporal structure of Inari Saami trisyllabic words with a focus on consonantal quantity distinctions at the boundary of the first and second syllable vs. the second and third syllable. We investigate whether the third syllable affects the ternary quantity distinction at the boundary of the first and second syllable and how quantity is realized at the boundary of the second and third syllable of trisyllabic words. The results are compared to earlier findings from Inari Saami disyllabic words, and to Estonian, which exhibits a ternary consonantal quantity distinction similar to Inari Saami. For the purpose of the study, the durations of all segments in trisyllabic words with different structures were measured. The results showed that while there is a three-way distinction in consonant duration (singletons, half-long geminates and long geminates) at the boundary of the first and second syllable, the distinction is binary (singletons vs. long geminates) at the boundary of the second and third syllable. These results are in line with earlier findings from Estonian.
Cite as: Türk, H., Lippus, P., Pajusalu, K., Teras, P. (2020) Temporal patterns of geminates in Inari Saami trisyllabic words. Proc. Speech Prosody 2020, 81-85, doi: 10.21437/SpeechProsody.2020-17
@inproceedings{turk20_speechprosody,
author={Helen Türk and Pärtel Lippus and Karl Pajusalu and Pire Teras},
title={{Temporal patterns of geminates in Inari Saami trisyllabic words}},
year=2020,
booktitle={Proc. Speech Prosody 2020},
pages={81--85},
doi={10.21437/SpeechProsody.2020-17}
}