Description and Classification of Balti Consonant Stop Sounds

Abstract

The study aims to describe and classify consonant stop sounds of the Balti language, which is spoken in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. In order to describe and classify these sounds, 120 words were selected from literature written in the Balti language. A purposive sample of 20 Balti speakers from 16 to 35 years of age, who were studying in various degree programs at Government College for Boys, Model Town, Lahore and University of Management and Technology, Lahore, was selected to record possible Balti consonant stop sounds. The physical features of each consonant stop sound were carried through the software package for speech analysis in phonetics. The study reveals that there are 15 consonant stop sounds in the Balti language. The study helps document the Balti language, which follows mostly a verbal tradition like many other languages of the region.