A Spectral Analysis of Stop Bursts in Pitjantjatjara

This study examines stop burst spectra for the three coronal stops of Pitjantjatjara: /t/, /ʈ/ and /c/. It is shown that the two apical consonants /t/ and /ʈ/ have a broad, high-energy spectral peak in the region of 1-5 kHz, with the drop-off in energy occurring at a lower frequency for /ʈ/ as compared to /t/. The laminal /c/ has a much flatter spectrum in comparison to the apicals. However, greater differences emerge when vowel context is considered: whereas both of the apicals show a significant downward shift in spectral peak when preceding /u/, only the retroflex /ʈ/ is also affected in the context of /i/, with a narrowing of the spectral peak in comparison to the /a/ context. The lamino-alveopalatal /c/ is by far the most affected by a following /u/, with a narrow, high-energy spectral peak around 3 kHz in this vowel context, compared to a much flatter spectrum in the context of /i/ and /a/.