Milli mála - 01.01.2010, Blaðsíða 296

The difference in the results for nasal versus lateral release may
be simply due to the fact that the two types of plosives have a very
different place of closure. With the nasal release, the compressed
air escapes through the nasal passage, which is opened by the low-
ering of the soft palate. The lateral release, on the other hand, is
achieved by lowering one or both sides of the tongue to allow the
air to escape, causing plosion followed by a friction, while the
tongue-tip maintains its alveolar contact.16 Thus, the lateral release
is closer to alveolar plosive [t], as it has oral plosion and alveolar
contact. In contrast, the plosion for the nasal release is made nasal-
ly, not orally. The lateral release [t1] is evidently perceived as a
more disruptive sound than [tn], giving test subjects the impression
that it requires an insertion, in a way [tn] does not.
Table 4.a Choice of pronunciation for names that contain a lateral release [t1].
When the individual names in Table 4.b are considered, some trends
become apparent. Table 4.a shows four cases in which Japanese sub-
jects did not choose insertion /#/. Table 4.b reveals that all of these
concern the two names, Páll and Þorkell, where the lateral release
comes in word final position. If we exclude the three names, Þorkell,
Páll, and Karl, which have the lateral release in the final position, the
preference is still divided, but the tendency among Icelandic subjects
to choose either /to/ or /Q/, or both, grows stronger. a stronger ten-
dency among Japanese subjects to in sert both /Q/ and /to/ appears as
well. The sound [t1] does not exist in Japanese and in order to pro-
nounce it according to Japan ese phonological rules, one of three pos-
sibilities exists: to insert a vowel between [t] and [l], to change the
sound into a geminate /Q/, or to omit [t], in order to avoid a conso-
nant cluster. When the sound occurs in word-final position, a vowel
such as [u] must be added after [l], as Japanese words cannot end with
TranSLITEraTIng ICELanDIC naMES InTO JaPanESE …
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16 alfred C. gimson, An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English, London: Edward
arnold, 1989, pp. 159–160.
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1st year 2nd year 1st & 2nd year Japanese
/#/ 10 7 17 4
/to/ 16 18 34 8
/Q/ 25 (12) 11 (37) 36 14
/Qto/ 21 (12) 11 (33) 32 25
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"#$%&!'(#!
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