Lower vocal tract articulations in Mundabli: an ultrasound and acoustic study

International audience The vowel system of Mundabli (Yemne-Kimbi, Cameroon) contrasts ten plain monophthongs /i ɪe ɛ ɨ ə u ʊ o ɔ/ with six pharyngealized monophthongs /iˤ eˤ ɨˤ aˤ uˤ oˤ/ [10]. The plain vowelsinclude two sets - /i e u o/ and /ɪ ɛ ʊ ɔ/ - which resemble advanced tongue root (ATR) harmonysets, a common system in west Africa [3]. Mundabli’s inventory is of interest for two reasons:first, Mundabli’s pharyngealized vowels includes high and front vowel qualities typically notencountered due to antagonism with the goals of pharyngealization [5, 9]. Second, the LaryngealArticulator Model holds that a range of lower vocal tract articulations are produced with theinvolvement of the epilaryngeal articulator, including both pharyngealization and tongue rootretraction [6, 9]. It is unclear how speakers of Mundabli maintain contrast among the largenumber of vowels which may involve lower vocal tract activity. This study aims to clarify theacoustic and lingual-articulatory differences among the pharyngealized and plain vowels.