VOWELS IN STANDARD AUSTRIAN GERMAN - Acoustics ...

Sylvia Moosmüller
Figure 6.16 reveals that in every case, primary stressed vowels have a higher F1 than
unstressed vowels. However, secondary stressed vowels are not between primary
stressed and unstressed vowels. They expose either the same or higher values than the
primary stressed vowels. For the time being, no interpretation can be offered for these
results.
Secondary stress is either indicated by F2 (by speaker sp129, sp082, sp127), or by
combining all three formants. Speaker sp012 distinguishes primary and secondary stress
from unstressed vowels via F1 and F2, and primary stress from secondary stress and
unstressed vowels via F2. Speaker sp126 distinguishes primary and secondary stress
from unstressed vowels by F1. Speaker sp180 distinguishes primary and secondary
stress from unstressed vowels in a rather unorthodox way by raising F3 as compared to
primary and unstressed vowels, and by distinguishing unstressed vowels from primary
and secondary stress by F1 and F2.
In spontaneous speech, again, three speakers produced a sufficient number of
items for statistical analysis. The speakers sp126 and sp180 did not distinguish primary
from secondary stress. Speaker sp129 distinguished primary from secondary stress via a
higher F1 for secondary stressed vowels, and secondary stressed vowels from
unstressed vowels via a higher F1 and a higher F2 for the secondary stressed vowels.
6.6.3.5. The vowel /e/
Sufficient items were only available in the spontaneous speech of two speakers. Speaker
sp180 exposed no differences between primary and secondary stress, speaker sp129
distinguished primary from secondary stressed vowels via a higher F1 for the secondary
stressed vowels, and the secondary stressed vowels from the unstressed vowels via a
higher F2 for the secondary stressed vowels.
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