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

is glottal during the first 50 ms. Then, there follows a period of clearly
dental friction for about 85 ms before the stop closure is reached. Given
its duration, this dental friction cannot be seen as a simple by-product of
the stop closure gesture. Rather, as in the preceding example, it seems to
be an “enhancement” of the preaspiration friction.
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Figure 4–53. Inf. BJ: […sovorðið] slott e[lla…] ‘…some sort of palace or…’
Sometimes, both sources of supralaryngeal friction—the preceding
vowel and the following stop—are present in the production of preaspiration.
One such example is given in Figure 4–53. The vowel is back and
half-open, and the stop is dental. Shortly after glottal abduction is initiated
(15–20 ms), a uvular stricture is formed. Some striations are visible,
which indicates movement in the uvula. This uvular stricture is maintained
for approximately 55 ms. Then a dental stricture is formed, and
maintained for approximately 60 ms, until a full dental closure has been
made.
Preaspiration before affricates invariably involves a period of palatal
friction similar to that after close front vowels. In some cases the friction
is short and can be seen as a by-product of the closing gesture, e.g. in the
example in Figure 4–54. In most cases, though, the friction is more
sustained, and is sometimes as long as the period of friction that occurs
after the release, as in the example in Figure 4–55. In both examples (4–
54 and 4–55), the affricate is preceded by an open or half-open central
vowel, but velar, uvular or pharyngeal friction is not produced.
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