Peter Ladefoged: A phonetic study of West African languages: an auditory- instrumental survey. (West African Language Monograph Series, 1.) xix, 74 pp., 16 plates. Cambridge: University Press in association with the West African Languages Survey, 1964. 18s.

1966 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 430-432
Author(s):  
J. Carnochan
Keyword(s):  
West African ◽  
African Language ◽  
The West ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Monograph Series ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Phonetic Study

scholarly journals A phonetic study of the tongue root contrast in Buriat and Ewen

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Hijo Kang ◽  
Seongyeon Ko
Keyword(s):  
West African ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Spectral Slope ◽  
The West ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Acoustic Correlates ◽  
Distinct Features ◽  
Phonetic Study

Compared to the relatively well-studied West-African languages, there have been rare acoustic studies on the tongue root contrast in Altaic languages. This study analyzes the seven/eight vowel phonemes of Buriat/Ewen to find the acoustic correlates of the contrast in Altaic languages. The results show that F1 (height) and the normalized A1-A2 (spectral slope) are the most reliable acoustic cues. However, in Buriat, the normalized A1-A2 was higher in retracted vowels than in their advanced counterparts, which is the opposite of the findings in the West-African ATR languages. This may support the idea of differentiating ATR and RTR as two distinct features.

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