Preaspiration in the Nordic Languages: Synchronic and Diachronic ...

and Tórshavn Faroese data were elicited using map-tasks (Anderson et
al. 1991). The materials for the Swedish Northern Gräsö and Western
Åland dialects were obtained from the SOFI 1 archives (see section
4.1.1.2), which contain, among other things, collections of recordings of
Swedish dialects. These two sets of data are described in more detail
below.
In addition to the map-task and SOFI data, read speech data for six
Gräsö subjects were analysed. These data come from the SWEDIA database
(Bruce et al. 1999). A further description is given in section 4.5.4.
Lastly, read speech data for one Western Åland subject were recorded
and analysed. These data are described in section 4.6.3.1.
4.1.1.1 Map-task data — CSw and Tórshavn Faroese
The map task data for CSw were recorded in a sound-treated room at
the phonetics lab at Stockholm University. These data are thus free of
room echo. The Faroese data were recorded on location in the Faroes,
where a sound-treated room was not available. Therefore, the Faroese
data contain moderate levels of room echo. This affects the analysis of
voicing in stops, particularly with regard to voice offset in preaspiration.
Apart from the recording location, all aspects of the recordings for
the two languages were identical. Spontaneous speech interaction between
the subjects was elicited using map-tasks. The same map-tasks
were used for both languages. For each language, four subjects were recorded.
The subjects were recorded in pairs (while engaged in a maptask)
on separate channels. To reduce overlap between channels, the subjects
were placed facing away from one another, at a distance of approximately
2 metres. The data were recorded on a Technics SV 260 A DAT
recorder, using Sennheiser MKE2 microphones. The microphones were
mounted on a headset so that they were placed approximately 2.5 cm out
and to the side of the corner of the subject’s mouth. The CSw map-task
data were transliterated and word-labelled by the author. The Faroese
map task data were transliterated and word-labelled by a native Faroese
speaker 2 . Segmentation of the relevant stop data was carried out by the
1 Språk- och folkminnesinstitutet.
2 A student of Faroese language and literature at the University of the Faroes.
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