KUPPL
The University of Kansas
15 Blake Hall
Lawrence, KS 66045-3129
Phone: 785-864-3414
Fax: 785-864-5724
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Language and Speech
1989, 32(3), 221 - 248
THE ACOUSTIC
VOWEL SPACE OF MODERN GREEK AND GERMAN
Allard Jongman,
Marios Fourakis and Joan A. Sereno
| The spectral characteristics
of vowels in Modern Greek and German were examined. Four speakers of Modern
Greek and three speakers of German produced four repetitions of words containing
each vowel of their native language. Measurements of the fundamental frequency
and the first three formants were made for each vowel token. These measurements
were then transformed into log frequency ratios and plotted as points in
the three-dimensional auditory-perceptual space proposed by Miller (1989).
Each vowel token was thus represented by one point, and the points corresponding
to each vowel category were enclosed in three-dimensional target zones.
For the present corpus, these zones differentiate the five vowels of Modern
Greek with 100% accuracy, and the fourteen vowels of German with 94% accuracy.
Implications for the distribution of common vowels across languages as a
function of vowel density are discussed. |
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