An acoustic study of fricatives in Temirgoy Adyghe

This paper presents an acoustic study of voiceless fricatives in the Temirgoy dialect of the Adyghe language (North West Caucasian, Circassian). The Circassian languages are well-known for their large consonant inventories. Using data gathered on a field trip to the Caucasus, the analysis focusses on three acoustic properties: centre of gravity, standard deviation and general slope pattern. Results show that while most fricative pairs can be reliably distinguished via centre of gravity alone, the spectral characteristics of some pairs (most notably /S, Sj/, /ŝw, Xw/ and /è, X(w)/) are highly similar. For the typologically rare closed postalveolar fricatives /ŝ, ŝw/, both centre of gravity and standard deviation were found to be decisive acoustic cues.