An Acoustic Study of Sangesari Vowels
Date
2024-05-31
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Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
This thesis presents the first instrumental study of vowels in Sangesari, a Northwestern Iranian language spoken in Sangesar, Semnan province, Iran, and examines the phonetic characteristics and sociolinguistic factors affecting the articulation of Sangesari vowels. Utilizing minimal or near-minimal pair analysis, acoustic phonetic methods, linear mixed effects regression models, and generalized additive mixed models, this research aims to identify monophthong and vowel sequence inventories, based on their formant frequencies, trajectories, and overall vowel duration. This analysis is grounded in a comprehensive collection of words, representing all possible vowel sounds identified in previous studies, across initial, medial, and final positions. Previous researchers shared /i/, /e/, /a/, /u/, /ʊ/, /o/, and /ɒ/ in their vowel inventories, though they utilized different symbols for some vowels. Some researchers also listed /ə͜ʊ/ and /e͜i/ as Sangesari vowel sequences. This study's findings confirm the presence of /i/, /e/, /ə/, /a/, /u/, /ʊ/, /o/, and /ɒ/ as Sangesari monophthongs and /ə͜ʊ/ as a vowel sequence. Additionally, it introduces /u͜i/ as a Sangesari vowel sequence which was not mentioned in any of the previous studies. The findings of this thesis suggest a near-merger between /u/ and /ʊ/. Additionally, it reveals that male speakers produce monophthongs with lower F1 and F2 frequencies, while speakers with lower socioeconomic status produce monophthongs with higher F2 frequencies, indicating that male speakers tend to have a higher and more retracted tongue body position, whereas those with lower socioeconomic status tend to have a more fronted tongue body position.
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Keywords
Acoustic, vowels, Sangesari, formant frequency, monophthong, vowel sequence
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Linguistics
Program
Linguistics