Distinctive vowel length: duration vs. spectrum in Thai.
| Number | 722 |
|---|---|
| Year | 1990 |
| Drawer | 13 |
| Entry Date | 04/17/2000 |
| Authors | Abramson, A. S., & Ren, N. |
| Contact | |
| Publication | Journal of Phonetics, 18, 79-92 |
| url | http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Reprints/HL0722.pdf |
| Abstract | A phonological distinction of length in the vowels or consonants of a language would lead one to expect that the underlying mechanism is control of the relative durations of the articulations for the segments in contrast. In languages with distinctive vowel length, however, at least some of the pairs of short & long counterparts are heard to have somewhat different vowel qualities, as well as differences in length. Earlier acoustic & perceptual work on the vowel system of Central Thai has shown that relative duration is a sufficient & powerful separator of short & long vowels. As short vowels in parts of the vowel space are somewhat more open, a study is made of how much of the perceptual burden is borne by the relative durations of the vocalic stretches & how much by the spectrum, which is the major acoustic correlate of vowel quality. Original short vowels are incrementally lengthened & original long vowels in minimal pairs of words embedded in carrier sentences are shortened, thus preserving the spectral differences between the two members of each pair. Native speakers (N = 50) identified the stimuli in a number of recorded randomizations. Relative duration was once again the dominant cue, although the category boundary for each vowel pair was influenced by spectral differences. There also seems to be some effect of the timing of the context. |
| Notes |
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