Yugan Khanty Phonetic Features Based on the Experimental Data

The paper deals with the phonetics of Yugan idiom of Surgut Khanty. The research is a part of the project aimed at describing Surgut Khanty phonetics. The Yugan idiom has significant differences from the Tromyegan idiom described before. The analysis is based on the data collected during the expedition to the settlement Ugut in 2019. The experimental part includes 130 words list read out three times by four native speakers from different traditional settlements on the Malyi Yugan river and on the Bolshoi Yugan river. The research was conducted using experimental techniques: Praat, Emu-SDMS software. The main technique was a formant analysis that deals with resonant frequencies in vowel spectra to obtain data on articulation features. Statistical evaluations and visualization were established via R programming language. We found differences between the Malyi Yugan river and the Bol’shoi Yugan river idioms. 12 vowel phonemes were found in the Malyi Yugan idiom. Compared to the Tromyegan system the phoneme /ɔ/ (traditionally /ȯ̆/) is absent. It was replaced by /ɛ/ (traditionally /ȧ̆/) or /o/ (traditionally /ŏ/). The phoneme u̇ described in previous literature on the topic disappeared and was replaced by /iː/. The Bolshoi Yugan vowel system includes these phonemes and also diphthongs [ui], [ɔɛ]. They appear after [k] where etimological u̇, ȯ̆ used to be. They probably are the realizations of the phonemes /iː/, /ɛ/ in the position after labialized k, which has become a phoneme. Non-initial [w] is reported to be specific Jugan feature and appears to have parallels in Tromyegan idiom too. It is an evidence for the rearranging of the Surgut idioms. In this pronunciation type /w/ is realized as a labial approximant in an initial position and after not-rounded vowels in a non-final position. After not-rounded vowels in a final position it comes as an initial-voiced fricative evoking preceding vowel diphthongization. After rounded vowels it is labiovelar [γʷ] or non-syllabic [ʊ] (before consonants). This pronunciation type is similar to the Tromyegan type, but it differs from the Pim type where /w/ comes as a labial approximant consistently. The disappearance of labial fricatives is a new phenomenon which has not been described properly. Territorial and social factors for this process are given. The Malyi Yugan speakers use lateral fricatives /ł/, /ʎ̥/ and the Bolshoi Yugan speakers replace it by /t/, /c͡c̦/. In the settlement Ugut where Bolshoi and Malyi Yugan natives contact in Russian-spoken environment both variants are used with t-pronunciation evaluated by speakers as new and declining from the ‘'right’ speech.

The rhythms of rhythm

The low frequency (LF) spectral analysis or ‘rhythm spectrum’ approach to the quantitative analysis and comparison of speech rhythms is extended beyond syllable or word rhythms to ‘rhetorical rhythms’ in read-aloud narratives, in a selection of exploratory scenarios, with the aim of developing a unified theory of speech rhythms. Current methodologies in the field are first discussed, then the choice of data is motivated and the modulation-theoretic rhythm spectrum and rhythm spectrogram approach is applied to the amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM) of speech. New concepts of rhythm formant, rhythm spectrogram and rhythm formant trajectory are introduced in the Rhythm Formant Theory (RFT) framework with its associated methodology Rhythm Formant Analysis (RFA) in order to capture second order regularities in the temporal variation of rhythms. The interaction of AM and FM rhythm factors is explored, contrasting English with Mandarin Chinese. The LF rhythm spectrogram is introduced in order to recover temporal information about long-term rhythms, and to investigate the configurative function of rhythm. The trajectory of highest magnitude frequencies through the component spectra of the LF spectrogram is extracted and applied in classifying readings in different languages and individual speaking styles using distance-based hierarchical clustering, and the existence of long-term second order ‘rhythms of rhythm’ in long narratives is shown. In the conclusion, pointers are given to the extension of this exploratory RFT rhythm approach for future quantitative confirmatory investigations.

Comparing acoustic analyses of speech data collected remotely

Face-to-face speech data collection has been next to impossible globally due to COVID-19 restrictions. To address this problem, simultaneous recordings of three repetitions of the cardinal vowels were made using a Zoom H6 Handy Recorder with external microphone (henceforth H6) and compared with two alternatives accessible to potential participants at home: the Zoom meeting application (henceforth Zoom) and two lossless mobile phone applications (Awesome Voice Recorder, and Recorder; henceforth Phone). F0 was tracked accurately by all devices; however, for formant analysis (F1, F2, F3) Phone performed better than Zoom, i.e. more similarly to H6. Zoom recordings also exhibited unexpected drops in intensity. The results suggest that lossless format phone recordings present a viable option for at least some phonetic studies.

Comparing acoustic analyses of speech data collected remotely

Face-to-face speech data collection has been next to impossible globally due to COVID-19 restrictions. To address this problem, simultaneous recordings of three repetitions of the cardinal vowels were made using a Zoom H6 Handy Recorder with external microphone (henceforth H6) and compared with two alternatives accessible to potential participants at home: the Zoom meeting application (henceforth Zoom) and two lossless mobile phone applications (Awesome Voice Recorder, and Recorder; henceforth Phone). F0 was tracked accurately by all devices; however, for formant analysis (F1, F2, F3) Phone performed better than Zoom, i.e. more similarly to H6. Zoom recordings also exhibited unexpected drops in intensity. The results suggest that lossless format phone recordings present a viable option for at least some phonetic studies.

Lifting the Lid on the Queen’s Upper-Crust Received Pronunciation

This acoustic analysis of Queen Elizabeth’s speech in her Christmas broadcasts from 1995 to 1999 investigates whether her dialect becomes less Upper-Crust Received Pronunciation, and more Standard Southern British (SSB), after the Princess of Wales died in 1997; whether there is a correlation with this change in speech style; and the need to increase the popularity of the British Monarchy which declined in the aftermath. A formant analysis of the Queen’s TRAP [æ], STRUT [ʌ] and the happy-tensing [ɪː] vowels was conducted in Praat. The results are discussed on their own but also contrasted with those reported in Harrington et al. (2000), and Harrington (2006). This study concludes that although the Queen’s speech underwent variation around the time of the Princess of Wales’s death, the variation had started in the months prior to the accident.