VOWELS IN STANDARD AUSTRIAN GERMAN - Acoustics ...

Sylvia Moosmüller
an example of a monotonous change of formant frequencies. The period in question is
put between the two cursors in the spectrogram window. The position “0” in the
waveform zoom window refers to the left cursor in the spectrogram. The period in
question does not enter the analysis. Vowel – semivowel, semivowel – vowel, and
vowel – vowel 35 sequences were not analyzed for the same reason as put forward for
vowel – liquid sequences.
From the vowels selected for analysis, F1, F2, F3, F0, and duration measurements
have been performed. Depending on the duration of the vowel, the measurement
procedure described above rendered 20 – 150 measurements per vowel. This data was
exported for further statistical analysis. Except where otherwise mentioned, the formant
frequency contour of the whole vowel was analysed (i.e., transitions enter into the mean
values). This method was chosen because vowels, especially when short, often expose
no steady state portion. Therefore, an analysis relying solely on the steady state portion
or the vowel midpoint would not produce reliable results. Figure 2.4 gives an example
of a vowel with no steady state portion for F1 and F2: formants monotonously move
from the bilabial plosive to the velar plosive (see also Chapter 5). The vowel in question
is displayed between the two cursors in the spectrogram window. The waveform zoom
window and the amplitude spectrum window refer to the right cursor position in the
spectrogram.
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For an analysis of quasi-homorganic vowel – vowel sequences in Austrian German see
Moosmüller (1999).
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