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

In Figure 4–50 (in which the same speaker produces another instance
of the same word) the friction noise begins as glottal, then becomes
uvular and the whole latter part of the friction noise is produced as a
uvular trill. The uvular striations are clearly visible in the spectrogram.
Since this friction has nothing to do with the stop’s place of articulation,
one can possibly attribute it to the maximal constriction in the vowel.
One could also see this friction as an “enhancement” of the weaker
glottal friction.
In Figure 4–51, the vowel is followed by an approximately 40 ms
period of aspiration, with no apparent supralaryngeal constriction. Then,
a velar constriction is formed and maintained for about 60 ms. The velar
constriction could be attributed to the stop’s place of articulation, but
bearing in mind the previous examples of the production of vatn, in
which uvular friction was produced, this account may be too simplistic.
Possibly, one should attribute this friction to the combined effect of the
vocalic environment and the stop’s place of articulation. It should also be
noted that the duration of the velar constriction in this example makes it
unreasonable to see it as merely a by-product of the closure gesture.
f h
Figure 4–52. Inf. BJ: […sovorðnum] flottum [geviri…] ‘…such fine
antlers…’
In Figure 4–52, a sequence of a half-open, back, rounded vowel and
a dental stop is produced, so again, we can separate the friction associated
with the vowel from that associated with the stop. The friction noise
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