Preaspiration in intervocalic /k/ vs. /g/ in Norwegian

This paper investigates the possible contribution of preaspiration to the realization of intervocalic velar stops in Norwegian. A group of 24 native speakers was recorded producing sentence-embedded disyllables containing intervocalic /k/ vs. /g/. Segment durations were established and the data collected were used to investigate three different alternatives concerning the realization of preaspiration: (1) Preaspiration is part of the vowel. (2) Preaspiration is part of the consonant. (3) Preaspiration is a segment in its own right. Results of correlation analyses investigating the three hypotheses seemed to rule out alternatives (1) and (2) and to favor the status of preaspiration as an independent segment. It is speculated that preaspiration may be considered to be an additional feature reinforcing the voiced-voiceless distinction.