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New high-speed, ultrasound imaging could change how linguists describe "click languages."
New high-speed, ultrasound imaging of the human tongue potentially could change how linguists describe 'click languages' and help speech scientists understand the physics of speech production. Here, Ouma Hannie Koerant, a speaker of N|uu, a severely endangered click language spoken by fewer than 10 people in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, prepares to have her mouth and tongue imaged as she pronounces N|uu words. The ultrasound stabilization headset anchors an ultrasound probe in the same spot under her chin throughout the recording session.
Credit: Johanna Brugman, Cornell University, and Bonny Sands, Northern Arizona University.
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Related story: Classifying "Clicks"