Abstract:

The Norwegian quantity system exhibits two main rhyme types; V[long]C[short] and V[short]C[long]. In addition, the two rhyme types may contain both voiced and voiceless consonants. Preaspiration is a scarce phenomenon in the world's languages, but it is found in varying degrees in Norwegian dialects. A pilot study showed no preaspiration in rhymes containing voiced consonants. Acoustical evidence is presented as documentation for the presence of preaspiration in the production of Norwegian rhymes containing voiceless consonants. Through looking at preaspiration as a relative value of overall rhyme duration, it is shown that preaspiration is significantly greater in V[short]C[long,voiceless] rhymes compared to V[long]C[short,voiceless] rhymes. Thus preaspiration may be considered a cue to V[short]C[long,voiceless] rhymes in Norwegian. A gender difference was noted as female speakers exhibited more preaspiration than male speakers in V[short]C[long,voiceless] rhymes, perhaps due to breathier voice qualities among females. It is assumed that preaspiration in Norwegian has diminished through the development from Old Norse into modern Norwegian, and a perception study shows that preaspiration holds no perceptual value in today's spoken Norwegian. The Norwegian quantity system is compared to the Icelandic quantity system, which resembles Old Norse. The Norwegian dialect used in the study is the Tronder dialect.