Vowel System Research Articles

Sonority across Languages:

His paper presents a contrastive perspective on the front monophthongs in Spanish and English. Applying the quantitative contrastive method designed and used in the researchers’ earlier works of 2015 and 2019, we highlight the contrast between Spanish and English front monophthongs from a zonal frame of reference in the oral tact, and proceed to offer insight about the comparative levels of learner stress and difficulty that English speaking learners of Spanish and Spanish speaking learners of English as a foreign language will probably experience while attaining accuracy in the acquisition of their target vowel systems. The facts that English and Spanish front monophthongs are more different than similar (71.43: 28.57) and the acquisition workload is greater (80:50) for Spanish speaking learners of English have been established in this study. In addition, English speaking learners of Spanish will need to generate a greater degree (80:50) of substratum counter influence than Spanish speaking learners of English for the accurate acquisition of their target vowels. Although both types of learners can transfer an equal number of vowel sounds from their L1 inventories, the ratio is not the same (20:50) and the study indicates that English speaking learners of Spanish in general will probably experience a slightly greater degree of articulatory stress in attaining perfection in the pronunciation of the target system.

Phonetic Development of an L2 Vowel System and Tandem Drift in the L1: A Residence Abroad and L1 Re-Immersion Study.

This study analyzes the production of native (L1) and foreign (L2) vowels by 42 L1 English learners of French (ELoF) at the start and end of a 6-month residence abroad (RA) in a French-speaking country. Data are also reported from a delayed post-test, which takes place 10 months after a subsection of participants (n = 27) return to the L1 English environment. Results reveal systemic phonetic drift in ELoF's L1 English vowels over the RA, and this accompanies the phonetic development occurring in the participants' L2 French vowel system, a phenomenon we label "tandem drift." This L1-L2 link is also supported by interspeaker variation: the individuals whose L2 French vowels shift the most are also the participants who exhibit the most substantial L1 phonetic drift in the same direction. Results for the L1 re-immersion time point suggest a partial-but not complete-reversal of phonetic drift, whereas no reversal of the L2 gains made over the RA is apparent. Nevertheless, at the individual level, the learners whose L2 gains reverse the most upon L1 re-immersion are also most likely to exhibit reverse phonetic drift in their L1. Overall, these findings indicate a relationship between L2 speech learning and L1 phonetic drift, which we argue is driven by the global phonetic properties of both L2 and L1 becoming linked at a representational level. Although these representations appear malleable, it is clear that recent changes are not guaranteed to reverse despite substantial re-exposure to L1 input. Implications for the distinction between drift and attrition are discussed.

Phonological and acoustic properties of ATR in the vowel system of Akebu (Kwa)

AbstractThis study examines phonological and phonetic properties of ATR contrasts in the vowel system of Akebu (Kwa). The sum of descriptive evidence, including vowel harmony, vowel distribution in non-harmonising contexts, vowel reduction and typological and etymological considerations, indicates a rare vowel inventory with an ATR contrast in front/back vowels but a height contrast in the three redundantly [−ATR] central vowels /ᵻ, ə, a/. This analysis was checked against four common acoustic metrics of ATR: F1 and F2 frequencies, spectral slope and F1 bandwidth size (B1). As expected, the results for the last three metrics were variable across speakers and vowel types, and are therefore inconclusive. The results for F1 were consistent but do not distinguish between ATR and vowel height. Two results nonetheless suggest the [−ATR] status of central vowels: they occupy the same belt of F1 frequencies and show the same position of observed-over-predicted B1 values as front and back [−ATR] vowels.

The effect of listener dialect experience on generalization of a novel vowel shift

When adapting to novel dialects, listeners rely on the systematicity of novel variants across vowel categories, even when only part of the novel vowel system is presented. I examined how a listener’s dialect experience with components of a novel front lax vowel shift impacts perceptual adaptation and generalization. Three listener groups were exposed to different portions of a novel English dialect with front lax vowel backing. Listener groups varied in their dialect experience: Westerners were experienced with /ɪ ɛ æ/ backing in the California Vowel Shift, Southerners were experienced with parallel movements of /ɪ ɛ/ in the Southern Vowel Shift, and New Englanders were minimally experienced with parallel front lax vowel shifts. Listeners were exposed to either no front lax vowels, /ɪ/, /ɪ æ/, or /ɪ ɛ æ/. Then, listeners completed a lexical decision task for items with /ɪ ɛ æ/, requiring variable amounts of adaptation and generalization by condition. Westerners and New Englanders endorsed more words in the /ɪ æ/ exposure condition than in the /ɪ/ exposure condition, but Southerners endorsed fewer. Southerners’ unfamiliarity with /æ/ shifting may have inhibited adaptation and generalization. A listener’s dialect experience can affect perceptual adaptation to and generalization of a novel dialect.

Centralized vowels in Muduga

AbstractProto-Dravidian had a system of ten vowels consisting of five qualities (i, e, a, o, u), each with short and long counterparts. Some South Dravidian languages have expanded systems with innovative vowels that are described as centralized or retroflex. However, the phonetic nature of the vowels, and the list of languages that have them, remain poorly described. We present evidence that Muduga, a South Dravidian language of Kerala, is among the languages with expanded vowel systems. It has five innovative vowel qualities, three of which can be considered phonemic. Historical-comparative evidence indicates that the new qualities result from: (i) retraction of front vowels before retroflex consonants and alveolar /r/; and (ii) fronting of back vowels before alveolar and palatal consonants (except /r/ and /j/). Loss of conditioning consonants in some contexts has led to emergent contrasts. Acoustic phonetic analysis of two male speakers suggests that the new vowels are centralized along the front-back axis, but not retroflex or rhotacized. We compare these results to related developments in other South Dravidian languages and discuss correlations between retroflexion and retraction that motivate the observed patterns.

CONTRASTIVE PHONOLOGICAL FEATURES OF SINGLISH ON SELECTED YOUTUBE VIDEOS

The present study is intended to investigate the contrasting phonological features of Singlish with the specific aim of finding out how the pronunciation of vowels in Singlish differs from Standard English and the potential factors influencing the Singlish vowel pronunciation. Five YouTube videos containing 19 targeted words uttered by three Singlish speakers became the data source. The auditory analysis method was used to find distinctive vowels between Singlish and Standard English. The descriptive qualitative method was then used to determine the factors influencing the Singlish phonological differences. The results show that Singlish speakers tended to change the /ə/ to /ɜː/, not be able to distinguish the /ə/ and /e/ and have no rules in long and short vowel systems. All these differences are likely a result of contact language situations in Singapore that has been in place for years.

Proto-Chadic reconstruction and Afroasiatic vowel system typology

Abstract The reconstruction of the Proto-Chadic (PC) vowel system has hitherto been considered impossible. Proposals covered one (*a), two (*a, *ə), three (*a, *i, *u) and four (*a, *ə, *i, *u) vowels. The one-vowel solution gains support by evidence from mainly the languages of the Central Chadic branch, together with the notion of palatalisation and labialisation prosodies, which create particular ‘colourings’ for vowels and consonants in phonetic surface realisations and have been discovered to operate in all branches of the family, but to very different extent. Based on new insights into the phonological history of Central Chadic (Wolff 2022, forthcoming), at variance with Gravina (2014), and referring back to a typology of Chadic vowel systems suggested by Schuh (2017), we can now tentatively delineate the development from a minimal vowel inventory */a/, *[ə] in PC to vowel systems of between one and 15 (short and long) phonemic vowels in modern Chadic languages. Diachronic vowel-system typology in Chadic allows a critical review of received wisdom concerning vowel systems elsewhere in Afroasiatic, potentially touching on issues pertaining to the internal sub-classification of the phylum. At least the vowel system of Tashelhiyt (Berber) corresponds in essential details to the PC minimal vowel system, a non-trivial observation that raises questions concerning genetic heritage, language contact, and/or areal innovation.

Contact and Innovation in New Englishes: Ethnic Neutrality in Namibianfaceandgoat

This study examines acoustic data from Namibian English to gain insights into how substrates may impact the formation of New Englishes. To this end, the study singles out the Namibian English vowels face and goat, following the assumption that they could be realized as either diphthongs or monophthongs depending on which Namibian language the speaker has as a native language. Based on a sample of face and goat vowels elicited together with their equivalents in several Namibian languages, the study shows that influence from Namibian native languages in face-goat realizations is more likely among the members of the demographically dominant ethnolinguistic group, as well as among men in general. Another significant finding is that, irrespective of the vowel systems of their native languages, specific ethnolinguistic groups tend to converge with the monophthongizing face-goat variants encountered in the demographically dominant ethnolinguistic group. The study’s general conclusion is that New Englishes can develop ethnically neutral varieties whose emergence seems to follow the general principles of new-dialect formation.

On the Nature of Proto-Oceanic *o in Southern Vanuatu (and Beyond)

The languages of Southern Vanuatu are unusual among Oceanic languages in that the default reflex of Proto-Oceanic *o is front or central and unrounded, and not back and rounded. Loan phonology also suggests that /o/ was a fairly late development in Southern Vanuatu languages. While front vowels condition "palatalization" of *t in all Southern Vanuatu languages (and of *l in some), *o also conditions palatalization in some words (though not in others). Similar but not identical developments occur in some North Central Vanuatu languages and in the Western Oceanic language Mbula. This leads into an attempt to redefine the vowel system of Proto-Oceanic, suggesting that it was not in fact the five-vowel system /*i *e *a *o *u/ currently accepted. The latter is the system that emerged in various branches after the breakup of Proto-Oceanic. The evidence indicates that Proto-Oceanic itself retained Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ə. Depending on the chronology of the changes Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ay > Proto-Oceanic *e and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *aw > Proto-Oceanic *o, the Proto-Oceanic system was probably one of /*i *ə *a *o *u/, /*i *e *ə *a *u/, or / *i *e *ə *a *o *u/.

모음체계의 보편성과 유형에 대한 재고

This work aims to revisit universals and typology of vowel systems in natural language. In general, the universals of a vowel system are evaluated by four criteria: the size of the vowel inventory of the language, the nature of constitutional entities of the vowel system, the phonetic features of the vowels, and the distribution of vowels in the vowel space. However, there are languages that are evaluated more correctly when other standards are applied. In this paper, we considered some examples of such languages. Furthermore, in terms of vowel typology, there are vowel systems that cannot be properly approached with a standard view. How to analyze such vowel systems is also discussed. In addition, we discussed the vowel space from a new perspective.

Palatalisation can be quantity-sensitive: Dorsal Fricative Assimilation in Liverpool English

This paper shows that the Liverpool English dorsal fricative, derived through the lenition of /k/, is subject to place of articulation assimilation, driven by the preceding vowel. This is similar to the vowel-driven aspects of typical perseverative Dorsal Fricative Assimilation (a type of palatalisation), as found, for example, in the Germanich-Laut~ach-Lautalternation, where (among other things) a preceding front high or mid vowel is followed by the front dorsal [ç], and other vowels are followed by a back dorsal. However, the majority Liverpool English pattern differs from previously described cases of Dorsal Fricative Assimilation in that [ç] only occurs followinglongfront high vowels, while a back dorsal remains after their short congeners. This type of quantity-sensitive pattern in assimilation has not been reported before. We use Centre of Gravity measurements to investigate this pattern of place assimilation, and argue for the use of an innovative normalisation technique for consonant measurements, based on measurements of /k/ aspiration in a linear regression model. We thus both expand the taxonomy of what is known to be possible in phonology and also provide new detail in the description of Liverpool English (including a proposal for the featural analysis of its vowel system).

Dialect levelling and Cockney diphthong shift reversal in South East England: the case of the Debden Estate

This article explores an instance of dialect levelling in South East England, the reversal of Cockney diphthong shift. We trace this reversal through an apparent-time analysis of 52 speakers from Debden, a community in Essex with East London heritage. Dynamic vowel analyses of word-list and passage data suggests a reversal of the diphthong shift towards SSBE targets which has occurred most abruptly in those born after 1992 potentially as a result of increased social mobility in this generation. We compare the results in Debden to previous findings in the south-eastern towns of Milton Keynes and Reading where apparent-time change was also observed away from a shifted vowel system and towards SSBE targets (Kerswill & Williams 2000, 2005). In diverse areas of South East England, a common process of levelling towards the pan-regional standard is present which is not occurring exclusively as a result of dialect contact or face-to-face interaction. Nonetheless, each community exhibits a distinct trajectory and timing of language change which can be attributed to different patterns of movement and resettlement and, in particular, access to social mobility and the retention of community networks.

When internal reconstruction goes further: proposing the vowel system of Pre-Khroskyabs through examining bound state apophony

Abstract This paper proposes an internal reconstruction of the vowel system of Pre-Khroskyabs by analysing bound state apophony in modern Siyuewu Khroskyabs. While most modern Khroskyabs dialects do not exhibit sufficient variations of bound state apophony, Siyuewu Khroskyabs is conservative in this regard. The internal reconstruction deals with the different reflexes between final and non-final vowels in modern Khroskyabs dialects, and postulates a unified origin for them, by hypothesising two series of vowels, velarised and plain. Velarisation in Pre-Khroskyabs is then compared with uvularisation in Tangut, showing regular correspondences between the two. This work demonstrates that velarisation is an important feature that can be reconstructed back to Proto-Gyalrongic, and that it helps us in understanding Trans-Himalayan historical linguistics. Additionally, it can be seen through this paper that internal reconstruction is an indispensable procedure in reconstructing the history of a language, as a significant portion of vocalic contrasts cannot be reconstructed by cross-linguistic comparisons alone.

Vowel harmony in Laz Turkish: a case study in language contact and language change

Abstract Laz Turkish (LT) is a nonstandard variety of Turkish mainly spoken in the North East of Turkey. LT emerged due to language contact between Turkish (Turkic) and Laz (Kartvelian). Laz has a smaller vowel system compared to Turkish and this has impacted the vowel harmony (VH) system in LT. In contrast to ST, which has a productive VH system, LT has only partially productive VH. Based on a corpus of fieldwork data collected in Rize, Turkey, this study investigates how LT displays partial harmony. The results show that (i) /ɯ, y, œ/ are rare in LT, and ST /ɯ, y, œ/ correspond to /i, u, o/ in LT respectively, (ii) open syllables in LT tend to have /i/ compared to closed syllables which tend to occur with /u/, and (iii) the smaller vowel system has led to disharmony with respect to preceding vowels, but /i u o/ still trigger harmony on following vowels, so VH does not peter out across the word.

Perceptual Categorization of Hñäñho-Specific Vowel Contrasts by Hñäñho Heritage Speakers in Mexico

For a large proportion of Mexican Indigenous speakers, it is common for the use of their native languages to shift across generations towards Spanish, the majority language in Mexico. This specific population can be defined as heritage speakers (HS) of their indigenous language, since many of them are Spanish-dominant bilinguals with a strong connection to their minority native language and culture, both of which they might only maintain in their family home where they were raised. The present study investigates the perceptual sensitivity of HS of Santiago Mexquititlán Otomi (Hñäñho) towards sounds of their native language to examine if these HS can accurately categorize Hñäñho vowels or whether their categorization is influenced by their dominant Spanish vowel system. Twelve Hñäñho HS (HHS) and twelve Mexican Spanish monolinguals (MSM) listened to the Hñäñho-specific vowel contrasts /a – ɔ/ and /ɔ – o/ and categorized them among the vowels of their respective mother tongue. Our results indicate that HHS correctly categorize vowels /a/ and /o/, which exist in both Hñäñho and Spanish, but do not accurately categorize the Hñäñho-specific vowel /ɔ/. Moreover, HHS and MSM showed similar patterns in terms of the proportion of /ɔ/ categorized as either /a/ and /o/. These results have implications for the maintenance of language-specific vowel contrasts and the vowel system of a minority language, such as Hñäñho, in the context of language shift towards Spanish in Mexico.

Structural Variability Shows Power-Law Based Organization of Vowel Systems.

Speech sounds are an essential vehicle of information exchange and meaning expression in approximately 7,000 spoken languages in the world. What functional constraints and evolutionary mechanisms lie behind linguistic diversity of sound systems is under ongoing debate; in particular, it remains conflicting whether there exists any universal relationship between these constraints despite of diverse sounds systems cross-linguistically. Here, we conducted cross-linguistic typological and phylogenetic analyses to address the characteristics of constraints on linguistic diversity of vowel systems. First, the typological analysis revealed a power-law based dependence between the global structural dispersion and the local focalization of vowel systems and validated that such dependence was independent of geographic region, language family, and linguistic affiliation. Second, the phylogenetic analysis further illustrated that the observed dependence resulted from correlated evolutions of these two structural properties, which proceeded in an adaptive process. These results provide empirical evidence that self-organization mechanisms helped shape vowel systems and common functional constraints took effect on the evolution of vowel systems in the world’s languages.

Perception of English vowel contrasts by Acehnese-Indonesian bilingual learners of English

Previous studies have reported that second language (L2) learners filter non-native L2 sounds through their existing native or first language (L1) sounds when learning L2 sounds. The degree of similarity between L1 and L2 sounds can predict the ease of acquisition of non-native L2 sounds. In the context of English language learning in Indonesia, most learners are likely to speak two languages before they learn English at school; Acehnese is not wituout any exception. As a result, they have larger phonemic inventories to rely on when learning English sounds. This study seeks to investigate how Acehnese-Indonesian bilinguals perceive five sets of vowel contrast in English (i.e., /ɪ/ - /iː/, /æ/ - /ɛ/, /ʌ/ - /ɑː/, /ʊ/ - /uː/, and /ɑː/ - /ɔː/). A special focus is given to their perception of English vowel contrasts that are new, similar, and identical to Acehnese and Indonesian vowels. A group of 31 high school students (N=31) from an Islamic boarding school in Aceh participated in this study. An AX test comprising repetition and minimal pairs of English vowel contrasts in CVC word contexts was randomly presented to the students. The data were analyzed by comparing the means of each vowel pair followed by a general linear model statistical analysis and interpreted based on speech perception and production models. The findings indicate that the Acehnese-Indonesian bilinguals discriminate the vowel pairs /æ/ - /ɜː/ and /ɑː/ - /ɔː/ better than the /ɪ/ - /iː/, /ʌ/ - /ɑː/ and /ɑː/ - /ɔː/ pairs. The vowel pairs in which both vowels are novel to Acehnese and Indonesian were moderately discriminated compared to the pairs in which one vowel is similar in both Acehnese and Indonesian. It can be said that students perceived pairs with one vowel similar to Acehnese-Indonesian better than pairs with both vowels or one vowel novel in Acehnese and Indonesian. The findings reported in the paper are expected to inform pedagogic practices, particularly in the development of materials for the teaching of English pronunciation. English teachers in Aceh may incorporate Acehnese words that have similar sounds to English while emphasizing the novel sounds which are absent from the Acehnese vowel system.

КЫРГЫЗ ТИЛИНДЕГИ ҮНДҮҮЛӨР СИСТЕМАСЫНЫН ТАРЫХЫ (Молдо Нияздын (1823-1896) кол жазмаларынын негизинде)

This article examines the history of the Kyrgyz vowel system based on the manuscripts of Moldo Niyaz, who lived 200 years ago. One of the main features of the vowel system is the data on ancient long vowels, which have not been studied in detail to date. Words with ancient vowels in the text were identified by the comparative historical method of linguistics with variants of other Turkic languages in which ancient long vowels were preserved. In accordance with the requirements of the study of manuscripts, the lines of each word in the text, a page of the original and electronic text were shown. Example: чуу 15(24/32). The use of diphthongs from the phonetic features of the ichkilich dialect (one of Kyrgyz dialect), the preservation of words from the phonetic features of the ancient Turkic language, the first syllable of which is open and the second syllable of which ends in a narrow vowel, add to the number of vowel systems in the text. The change of vowels in the text is the result of the fall of consonants, the effect of consonants on vowels, vowels in the accepted words, changes in the phonetic features of the Kyrgyz language.

Vowel allophony in Ness Gaelic: Phonetic and phonological patterns of laxing and retraction

The vowel system of the dialect of Scottish Gaelic spoken in Ness, Lewis differs from that of other dialects in several important ways. In particular, several vowels display patterns of allophony that have not been investigated instrumentally and, in some cases, have not been reported before for Scottish Gaelic. This paper documents the Ness system in detail, focusing in particular on the tense–lax opposition in /i e/ and retraction of /a(ː)/ next to velarised consonants. The results of a traditional linguistic fieldwork study are presented first, followed by a detailed acoustic study of nine speakers. The acoustic reality of these allophonic patterns, reflected in F1 and F2 values, is verified statistically using LME modelling. Bimodality in the distribution of tokens in acoustic space, confirmed statistically with Hartigan’s Dip Test, is taken as evidence for the existence of discrete phonological categories (Bermúdez-Otero & Trousdale 2011). It is found that speakers vary as to whether these allophonic oppositions are restricted to the phonetic grammar, or have undergone stabilisation and advanced into the categorical phonology (Bermúdez-Otero 2007, 2015). It is observed that laxing of /i e/ in Ness Gaelic occurs in exactly those contexts where there is a direct transition between the vowel and a following supra-glottal consonant. It is therefore proposed that this tense–lax opposition is grounded in conflicting strategies of contrast enhancement, whereby laxing increases the perceptual distinctiveness of a following consonant by allowing for more distinctive formant transitions, at the expense of the distinctiveness of the vowel itself (Storme 2019).

“PRIMER BOOK FOR VOTYAK CHILDREN OF THE SARAPUL DISTRICTˮ: GRAPHIC, SPELLING, AND PHONETIC FEATURES

The article describes the vowel and consonant features of the “Primer book for Votyak children of the Sarapul districtˮ (1913). It is practically impossible to consider the phonetic isoglosses of this written record without taking into account its graphic and spelling system; therefore, the article also pays special attention to the graphics and orthography of the source material. The phonetic features are described by comparing the vowel and consonant system of the primer with the vowel and consonant system of the modern Udmurt literary language, adding, whenever available, correspondences from the dialect dictionary by Y. Wichmann [Wichmann 1987], the materials for which were collected at the end of the 19th century. Furthermore, corresponding modern forms from the audio dictionaries based on 2013 field data are also indicated. Such a comparison makes it possible to try to determine the archaic or innovative nature of each identified feature. The analysis shows that most of the phonetic features of the primer, both innovative and archaic, are characteristic of modern dialects of the Southern dialect zone. It follows that this record was most likely written in one of the dialects located on the border of the Middle and Central-Southern dialects of the Udmurt language, i. e. its present-day counterpart would be the dialect of the northern part of the Malopurginsky district of the Udmurt Republic. However, it turns out to be difficult to locate it more precisely at the moment as, unfortunately, this area is described by dialectologists rather poorly today.