АКУСТИЧНИ ОСОБЕНОСТИ НА МЕКИ ВЕЛАРНИ СЪГЛАСНИ ОТ ИЗТОЧНОБЪЛГАРСКИ И ЗАПАДНОБЪЛГАРСКИ ТИП / ACOUSTIC FEATURES OF THE SOFT VELAR CONSONANTS OF THE EASTERN BULGARIAN AND THE WESTERN BULGARIAN TYPE

Abstract

This pilot study discusses the results of the measurement of the acoustic properties of the soft velar plosives [gj] [kj] of the eastern Bulgarian and the western Bulgarian types of articulation in CVC isolated syllables in comparison with the properties of the hard velar plosives [g] and [k] before the vowel [a] and the front vowel [ɛ]. According to the Bulgarian phonetic literature velar consonants preceding front vowels are realized as allophones of the hard consonants, whose articulation and acoustic features are very similar to those of their soft correlates. For the purposes of this study, we chose several acoustic parameters – consonant duration, formant transition duration (F2), F2 onset and F2 offset (Hz), F3 onset and F3 offset (Hz) – and measured them with the Praat software. The main goal is to establish the degree of differentiation between the eastern Bulgarian and the western Bulgarian articulation with respect to velar plosives. The results show that the F2 transition duration is a distinctive feature that sets apart the eastern and the western types of articulation, as well as hard and soft velar plosives. The type of F3 transition can also be considered as a differrentiator between soft and hard velar plosives. The consonant duration could hardly serve to distinguish between the two types of articulation but is relevant for the differentiation of voiced vs. voiceless plosives. Keywords: velar plosives, soft consonants, acoustic measures, Bulgarian, western articulation, eastern articulation