VOWELS IN STANDARD AUSTRIAN GERMAN - Acoustics ...

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Vowels in Standard Austrian German
(but only if it can be accepted that widening the degree of constriction eases
articulation). Table 4.40 presents the feature matrix of the vowels of Standard Austrian
German elaborated from the acoustic analysis:
/i/ /ç/ /y/ /Y/ /e/ /E/ /ë/ /ê/ /A/ /o/ /O/ /u/ /ï/
constricted + – + – + – + – + + – + –
open – + – + – + – + + – + – +
round – – + + – – + + – + + + +
front + + + + + + + + – – – – –
lower pharyngeal – – – – – – – – + – – – –
velar – – – – – – – – – – – + +
pre-palatal + + + + – – – – – – – – –
Table 4.40: Feature matrix of the vowels assumed for Standard Austrian German.
Although the degree of lip opening is more relevant, the feature [±constricted] is not
discarded, since some speaker-specific differences could be observed in how the
relevant oppositions are handled. Some speakers maintain a difference in constriction
degree (e.g. speaker sp127 discriminates the /e/ – vowels only with respect to F2 in
unstressed positions in spontaneous speech). For the /u/ – vowels, lip protrusion might
also be of relevance. For the /y/ – vowels, F3 might become dominant, pointing to a
difference in larynx height. Therefore, from the most formal speaking task to the most
informal speaking task, several phonological processes might apply, and these might as
well be speaker-specific.