Prenasalised voiceless stops in Ngkolmpu

Abstract

Ngkolmpu (Yam, Papuan) has phonetic prenasalised voiceless stops as phonemic segments. Phonetically, these are characterised by a period of nasalisation which ceases before the release of the consonant. This is followed by a period of clear voicelessness before the commencement of voicing again in the following segment. The voice onset time of prenasalised stops is comparable to those of standard voiceless stops. Phonemically, these are single segments which contrast with voiceless stops at each place of articulation. We can see from phonotactic evidence that these are single segments. Segments of this type are a typological rarity in the worlds languages which is expected given the complexity of the articulatory gestures required to produce. Show more