Geminates vs. Singleton Stops in Berber: An Acoustic, Fiberscopic and Photoglottographic Study

This article examines the oral and glottal adjustments, as well as their coordination, during the production of singleton and geminate voiceless stops in Berber using fiberscopy, photoglottography and acoustic analyses. Acoustically, closure duration of geminates is longer than singletons. VOT, on the other hand, does not contribute to the distinction of length. At the glottal level, voiceless stops are realized with a glottal opening covering both the closure portion and the aspiration portion. Geminates and singletons differ in terms of timing and size of glottal opening. Geminates have a larger and longer glottal opening than singletons. The interval between peak glottal opening and oral release is significantly higher for geminates than for single stops.