The Assibilated Dentals in Franco-Canadian

Quebec City in the east, the dental occlusives preceding the front vowels, both slit and rounded, [i, I, y, Y] and the semi-consonants [j and q], are modified in articulation and acquire a strong assibilation. Thus, in these position, t and d are pronounced respectively [ts] and [dz]. It may be of some interest to note that with a change in the manner of articulation there occurs also a change in the place of articulation: the assibilated variant is definitely gingival.1 The palatograms presented herewith were made according to the technique described in my Physiology of French Consonant Changes. The speaker was L.B., 21 years old, the son of French-Canadian parents, born in Marieville, Quebec. He spoke Franco-Canadian exclusively in his home. He had acquired a speaking mastery of English, but not without a trace of accent. The palatograms show a reduction from actual size of two and one half to one

Linguistic Variation and Morphology · linguistics and terminology studies · History