VOWELS IN STANDARD AUSTRIAN GERMAN - Acoustics ...
VOWELS IN STANDARD AUSTRIAN GERMAN - Acoustics ...
VOWELS IN STANDARD AUSTRIAN GERMAN - Acoustics ...
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Sylvia Moosmüller<br />
Pouplier et al. (2004) found initial genioglossus posterior (GGP) compression for<br />
all “tense” vowels 71 , whereas for the “lax” vowels, immediate GGP expansion could be<br />
observed. They conclude:<br />
“The estimation of genioglossus activity revealed the most consistent difference pattern<br />
across vowels […]. Genioglossus posterior showed a consistent difference in that for the lax<br />
vowel, there was an immediate expansion movement, while the tense vowel either showed<br />
no change or compression, notably without corresponding expansion in the tongue tip […].<br />
The consistent differences that could be observed for the vowels across the entire utterance<br />
are consistent with the hypothesis that the tenseness opposition is not so much realized at the<br />
maximum constriction but rather lies in the entire motion sequence into and out of the<br />
vowel.” (Pouplier et al. 2004: 53)<br />
This finding would imply that the main difference between “tense” and “lax” vowels<br />
lies in the onset of the vowel. It has been stated above that Pouplier et al. (2004) also<br />
found differences in the tongue-palate distance, except for the fact that these differences<br />
were neutralized for the pairs [i] – [ç] and [u] – [ï]. For this reason, tongue-palate<br />
distance was discarded as a discriminatory parameter. However, from a phonological<br />
point of view, neutralization of these vowel pairs is possible. Therefore, it could in the<br />
same way be the case that GGP activity and tongue-palate distance form the articulatory<br />
correlate for the opposition [± tense], and that tongue-palate distance loses its<br />
discriminatory ability for the vowel pairs [i] – [ç] and [u] – [ï]. Consequently, for these<br />
pairs, differences should only be apparent in the onset of the vowel. However, according<br />
to the results presented in Pouplier et al. (2004), the pair [y] – [Y] does not follow this<br />
development. It has to be emphasized that tongue-palate distances heavily depend on<br />
the shape of the palate (Perkell 1997, Brunner et al. 2005). Therefore, the tongue-palate<br />
distances have to be individually adjusted in order to obtain the desired acoustic output.<br />
These individual differences in tongue-palate distances have also been observed by<br />
Pouplier et al. (2004).<br />
literature:<br />
To summarize, the following articulatory correlates can be obtained from the<br />
� [± ATR]: can be excluded for Germanic languages.<br />
71 Results on the pair /ë – ê/ are not reported.<br />
80