VOWELS IN STANDARD AUSTRIAN GERMAN - Acoustics ...
VOWELS IN STANDARD AUSTRIAN GERMAN - Acoustics ...
VOWELS IN STANDARD AUSTRIAN GERMAN - Acoustics ...
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211<br />
Vowels in Standard Austrian German<br />
Figure 6.13 and the following figures read as follows. The results of each speaker are<br />
presented in a separate column. The main columns are further subdivided, where the<br />
leftmost crossbar stands for the relative position of a given formant of primary stressed<br />
vowels, the middle crossbar for the relative position of a given formant of secondary<br />
stressed vowels, and the rightmost crossbar for the relative position of a given formant<br />
of unstressed vowels. The row for each formant is again further subdivided, the highest<br />
crossbar denoting a higher formant frequency position relative to the middle and the<br />
lowest crossbars, and the lowest crossbar a lower formant frequency position relative to<br />
the middle and higher crossbars. The figure gives information about stress-dependent<br />
direction of change, but no information about absolute formant frequency values.<br />
Figure 6.13 demonstrates that for the vowel /A/, F1 plays a dominant role in the<br />
indication of stress: all speakers, except speaker sp126, expose the highest F1 values in<br />
primary stressed vowels and the lowest F1 values in unstressed positions. F1 values of<br />
secondary stressed vowels are in between. The results are not as straightforward for F2<br />
and F3. Moreover, speakers deal differently with the way stress is expressed. The<br />
speakers sp180, sp129, and sp127 do not differentiate secondary stressed /A/ from<br />
unstressed /A/. Speaker sp012 does not differentiate primary stressed from secondary<br />
stressed /A/. The speakers sp082 and sp126 differentiate all three stresses with means of<br />
F2 and F3. It can be concluded from these data that secondary stress is expressed by all<br />
speakers, predominantly by means of changing F1 (i.e. adjusting the degree of lip<br />
opening).<br />
In spontaneous speech, three speakers (sp127, sp129, and sp180) do not<br />
differentiate primary stressed /A/ from secondary stressed /A/, whilst the others<br />
differentiate primary from secondary stress, either by F1 (speakers sp012 and sp127) or<br />
F3 (speaker 082). Unstressed /A/ is differentiated by all speakers. Although three<br />
speakers still indicate secondary stress, it has to be noted that the discriminatory<br />
strength is decreased insofar as only one formant is used for discrimination.