Past Event

Using Electropalatography to Understand Russian Palatalization

Dr. Jane Hacking
Department Chair, Languages & Literature; Associate Professor, Russian Section
(University of Utah)

Electropalatography (EPG) is a means of measuring the timing and points of contact between the tongue and palate during speech. The subject wears a retainer-like device (i.e., “pseudopalate) that is fitted with sensors/electrodes connected to a computer. Specialized software captures data from the pseudopalate and displays it visually on the screen in real time. Researchers can save recording sessions to both a sound file and an excel spreadsheet for further analysis. In the current research project, we are using EPG to collect data on how native speakers of Russian and learners of Russian articulate the crucial contrast between palatalized and unpalatalized consonants. There are twelve such consonantal pairs in Russian. For example, the words for ‘mother’ matj and ‘checkmate’ mat are differentiated by their final consonant: palatalized /tj/ for ‘mother’ and unpalatalized /t/ for ‘checkmate’. This poses a challenge for English speaking learners of Russian since no such contrasting pairs exist in English, and previous research has shown that the contrast is difficult for them to produce reliably (Hacking 2011). In this talk I outline our study methodology, present some preliminary data on native speaker productions of the contrast between palatalized and unpalatalized consonants, and suggest possible implications for Russian language pedagogy.