Problemi di rappresentazione fonetica, fonologica e grafematica nel turritano o sassarese

This paper examines eight phonetic features of the Turritan or Sassarese language (Sardinia): 1) lateral fricatives as outcomes of L/R/S + T/D clusters; 2) velar or palatal fricatives as outcomes of L/R/S + K/G clusters; 3) heterophonic segments consisting of [i] and a strengthened bilabial or labiodental consonant as outcomes of L/R/S + M/P/B/F/V clusters; 4) articulation and duration of dental affricates /ʦ, ʣ/; 5) convergence or divergence in the outcomes of -T- and -LL-; 6) vocalic or consonantal articulation of unstressed /i/ and /u/ between a consonant and a vowel; 7) articulation, duration, and phonology of taps and trills; 8) duration and phonology of geminate consonants. This study is based on oral data collected from eight speakers (four men and four women aged 63 to 84), evenly distributed across four investigation sites (the Turritan-speaking municipalities of Sassari, Porto Torres, Sorso, and Stintino). Approximately 200 carefully selected words, along with several minutes of spontaneous dialogic speech, were analysed. The oral data were subjected to articulatory, auditory, acoustic, and functional analysis. The results are compared with findings from previous studies. For each feature examined, a phonemic, phonetic, and graphemic representation is proposed.