Articulatory-Acoustical Relationship in Cantonese Vowels

Abstract

This paper investigates the articulatory–acoustical relationship in the production of the Cantonese long point vowels [iː uː aː] in CV syllables and shortened equivalents [i u a] in checked CVC syllables, through an analysis of the tongue positions and corresponding formant frequencies for the vowels. The articulatory and acoustical data from four Cantonese speakers, two male and two female, show that: (i) the shortened high vowels [i] and [u], relative to the long [iː] and [uː], undergo formant undershoot in the acoustical vowel space and [u] also undergoes target reduction in the articulatory vowel space, and (ii) the effect of shortened vowel duration is not observed in the low [a]. The data on the articulatory–acoustical relationship show that: (i) the levels of sensitivity of F1 and F2 to the variations in tongue displacement are low in each of the vowels [iː uː aː] and [i u a], suggesting that the Cantonese point vowels are quantal, and (ii) the sensitivity of the formant frequencies is lower to the...