Acoustical Analysis of Pakistani English Speech Produced by Sindhi English Second Language Learners
Keywords:
English, Sindhi, Vowel duration, Fundamental frequency Vowel qualityAbstract
The English language is widely spoken all around the world and is commonly regarded as the global lingua franca. The current paper aims to explore the acoustic properties of L2 English vowels, uttered by six Pakistani ESL learners residing in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The paper examines L2 English vowels (monophthongs) i.e., /ᴂ/, /e/, /ɑ/, /ɜ/, /i:/, /ɪ/, /u:/, /ʊ/, /ɒ/, /ʌ/, /ɔ/, and /ə/ in minimal pairs. A total of (12×12×6=864) voice samples were analyzed in Praat Speech Processing Tool. Each recording had one vowel minimal pair. Each pair was uttered thrice by the speaker. The samples were recorded by the speakers through a mobile phone recorder without any background sound or echo. The data collection was done through convenience sampling. The paper considered four parameters for the acoustic analysis of English vowels i.e., F0 (fundamental frequency), F1 and F2 (vowel quality), and duration. Vowel quality, durational value, and the fundamental frequency of voice are acoustically described in the study. The study has classified 12 English monophthongs into two groups of short and long vowels based on their durational values i.e., /e/, /ɜ/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/, /ʌ/, and /ə/ as the short English vowel sounds and /ᴂ/, /ɑ/, /i:/, /u:/, /ɒ/, and /ɔ/ as long vowel sounds. The study further found that the F0 of all long vowels was high except for vowel /ɑ/ while all the short vowels have low F0 value except /ɜ/. Finally, vowel space of L2 English vowels was developed.
References
Abbasi, A. M, Channa, M. A, Lakhani, H. Y, Khan, A. (2022). Instrumental study of speech variability of English back-rounded vowels between English and Karachiites Pinglish. Pakistan Journal of Languages and Translation Studies 10 (2), 40-60.
Abbasi, A. M, Channa, M. A. (2020). Phonetics and cognitive linguistics in Pakistani English (Pinglish). LINCOM Academic Publisher in Germany. Retrieved from http://www.lincom.eu/.
Abbasi, A. M, Pathan, H and Channa, M A. (2018) Experimental phonetics and phonology in Indo-Aryan & European languages. Journal of Language and Cultural Education, 6(3) 21-52. https://doi.org/10.2478/jolace-2018-0023
Abbasi, A., Channa, M., Memon, M., John, S., Ahmed, I., & Kumar, K. (2018). Acoustic Characteristics of Pakistani English Vowel Sounds. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8(5), 27. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v8n5p27
Abbasi, A.M., Channa, M.A., John, S., Memon, M.A., & Ahmed, R. (2018). An Acoustic Investigation of Pakistani and American English Vowels. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8, 115. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v8n4p115
Abbasi, A.M., Memon, M.A., Channa, M.A., & John, S. (2018). Awareness of L2 American English Word Stress: Implications for Teaching Speakers of Indo-Aryan Languages. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8, 101. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v8n3p101
Abbasi, A. M., Channa, M. A., Kakepoto, I., Ali, R., & Mehmood, M. (2017). A perceptual study of phonological variations in Pakistani English. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8(2), 92. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v8n2p92
Abbasi, A. M. (2017). The stress pattern of Sindhi and English. LINCOM Academic Publisher.
Abbasi, A. M. (2017). Speech variation in Pakistani vs. Singaporean English. Journal
of Social Sciences & Media Studies 1(1), 36-49.
Abbasi, A. M., & Hussain, S. (2015). Phonetic analysis of lexical stress in Sindhi. Sindh University Research Journal-SURJ (Science Series) 47(4), 749-756.
Abbasi, A. M., & Hussain, S. (2015). The role of pitch between stress and intonation in Sindhi. Annual Research Journal of English Language Forum, 17, 9-24.
Abbasi, A. M., & Kimball, A. (2014). Word stress in Sindhi and English: Implications for learners of English. In the poster session presented at the meeting of the Sixth Annual Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education (SLATE) Graduate Research Symposium. Department of linguistics & foreign languages, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA.
Abbasi, A. M. (2012). A phonetic-acoustic study of Sindhi-accented English for better English pronunciation. International Journal of Social Sciences & Education, 2(2),146-157.
Abbasi, A. M., & Hussain, S. (2012). Syllable structure and syllabification in Sindhi English loanwords. International Journal of Researchers, 1(4), 120-134.
Abbasi, A. M. (2010). The production of English consonants. Germany. VDM Verlag Dr. Muller. Retrieved from www.amazon.com.
Abbasi, A. M. (2012). A phonetic-acoustic study of Sindhi-accented English for better English pronunciation. International Journal of Social Science & Education 2(2), 146-157.
Abbasi, A. M., Channa, M. A., John, S., Memon, M. A., & Anwar, R. (2018). An Acoustic Investigation of Pakistani and American English Vowels. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8(4), 115-121. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v8n4p115
Abbasi, A. M., Channa, M. A., Memon, M. A., John, S., Ahmed, I., & Kamlesh. (2018). Acoustic Characteristics of Pakistani English Vowel Sounds. International Journal of English linguistics, 8(5), 27-34.
Abbasi, A. M., Pathan, H., & Channa, M. A. (2018). Experimental phonetics and phonology in Indo-Aryan & European languages. Journal of Language and Cultural Education, 6(3), 21-52.
Allana, G.A. (2009). Sindhi phonetics (2nd ed.). Hyderabad, Pakistan: Sindhi Language Authority.
Chen, M. (1970). Vowel length variation as a function of the voicing of the consonant environment. Phonetica, 22, 129-159.
Chen, Y., M. Robb, H. Gilbert, and J. Lerman, (2001). Vowel production by Mandarin speakers of English. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 15, 427–440.
Connor, O. J. D. (1980). Better English pronunciation, (2nd ed.), U.K, CUP International sales department, the Edinburgh building, Cambridge CM2 2RU
Deterding, D. (2003). An instrumental study of the monophthong vowels of Singapore English. English worldwide, 24(1), 1-16.
Gordon, M. (2004). A phonological and phonetic study of word-level stress in Chickasaw. International Journal of American Linguistics, 70, 1-32.
Hillenbrand, J., Getty, L. A., Clark, M. J., & Wheeler, K. (1995). Acoustic characteristics of American English vowels. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 97(5), 3099-3111
Jones, D. (1976). An outline of English phonetics, (9th, ed.). Cambridge University Press. London.
Kahane, J. C. (1978). A morphological study of the human prepubertal and pubertal larynx. American Journal of Anatomy, 151(1), 11-19.
Keerio, A., Channa, N., Mitra, B., Young, R., & Chatwin, C. (2014). Acoustics of isolated vowel sounds of Sindhi. Sindh University Research Journal-SURJ (Science Series), 46(4).
Ladefoged, P. (1993). A course in phonetics (3 ed.). Harcourt College Publishers, New York.
Ladefoged, P. (2001). Vowels and consonants, an introduction to the sounds of languages. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Lubker, J., McAllister, R., & Lindblom, B. (1977). Vowel fundamental frequency and tongue height. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 62(S1), S16-S17.
Mahar, J. A., & Memon, G. Q. (2009). Phonology for Sindhi Letter-to-Sound Conversion. Journal of Information & Communication Technology (JICT), 3(1), 10.
Maxwell, O., & Fletcher, J. (2009). Acoustic and durational properties of Indian English vowels. World Englishes, 28(1), 52-69.
Moore, B. C. J. (2003). An introduction to the psychology of hearing, 5th ed. Emerald Group Publishing. China.
Ogden, R. (2009). An introduction to English phonetics. UK: Edinburgh University Press.
Parsons, T. W. (1987). Voice and speech processing: McGraw-Hill series in electrical engineering/Communications and signal processing.
Pépiot, E. (2014, May). Male and female speech: a study of mean f0, f0 range, phonation type and speech rate in Parisian French and American English speakers, Speech Prosody, 7, 305-309.
Petersen, N. R. (1978). Intrinsic fundamental frequency of Danish vowels. Journal of Phonetics, 6(3), 177-189.
Peterson, G. E., & Barney, H. L. (1952). Control methods used in the study of the vowels. The Journal of the acoustical society of America, 24(2), 175-184.
Pfitzinger, H. R. (2003). Acoustic correlates of the IPA vowel diagram. Proc. of the XVth Int. Congress of Phonetic Sciences, 2, 1441-1444.
Raphael, L. J., Borden, G. J., & Harris, K. S. (2007). Speech science primer: Physiology, acoustics, and perception of speech. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Roach, P, (2009). English Phonetics and Phonology, 4th Edition. 18-19
Roach, P. (2004). British English: Received pronunciation. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34(2), 239-245.
Sheikh, Q. A. (2012). An analysis of the vowel sounds of Pakistani English. Bulletin of Education and Research, 34(1), 1-18.
Wang, H., & Van Heuven, V. J. (2006). Acoustical analysis of English vowels produced by Chinese, Dutch, and American speakers. Linguistics in the Netherlands 2006, 237-248.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Dr. Abdul Malik Abbasi, Ms. Hamna Younus Lakhani, Ms. Ahlam Khan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
