阿美族語言中的聲門喉音、會厭軟骨與咽喉音：台灣南島語族語言之一

A Laryngoscopic Study of Glottal and Epiglottal/Pharyngeal Stop and Continuant Articulations in Amis── an Austronesian Language of Taiwan

本文探究的是喉塞音發音的議題。當喉塞音在發音過程中，發音方式可以區隔成：(a) 聲門收縮的喉塞音 (glottal constriction)，(b) 會厭軟骨喉塞音(epiglottal constriction)，(c) 喉塞音的咽頭化 (epiglottal articulation with lingual pharyngealization) 三類，而台灣的阿美族語言中這三類發音方式都有。我們也在阿美族語言的語音體系中，把這三類發音方式歸類成合乎常理的一種語音體系。就以我們的專業素養認為南島語族諸語言中或沒有其他語言像阿美族語一樣，具有如此豐富而複雜的低喉塞音對比現象。此結論基於秀姑巒阿美族語發音人的例詞發聲，通過鼻腔進行的喉頭鏡觀察和同時進行數位的錄影，使我們能清楚看到咽腔和喉腔的細節變化。假如沒有現代化的聲學語音學喉鏡設備，探究這種發音方式是無法進行的，因為低喉在喉腔深處，很難探及，而且發音時快速移動使我們絕對無法仔細觀察與分析。

This paper argues that there are phonetic articulations describable as glottal constriction, epiglottal constriction, and epiglottal articulation with lingual pharyngealization, and that these sound types are found in the Amis language of Taiwan. We shall also show that the glottal, epiglottal, and pharyngeal locations for stop and fricative articulation form a natural class in the phonological system of Amis. To the best of our knowledge, no other language—not even within Austronesian—has such a rich and complex set of lower throat contrasts. In Amis the primary evidence comes from direct examination of the laryngeal-pharyngeal plane of a native speaker producing examples of Hsiukuluan Amis while being observed visually and recorded on digital video. Such activity would be impossible to describe without the laryngoscope, because the lower throat is difficult to access, cloaked in darkness, and rapidly moving.