Vowel variability and dispersion in Brazilian Portuguese and British English: a case study
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2016 |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | por eng |
Título da fonte: | Alfa (São José do Rio Preto. Online) |
Texto Completo: | https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/alfa/article/view/7119 |
Resumo: | This paper aims at studying the effect of vowel inventory size on acoustic vowel space in languages with different size inventories: Portuguese with seven oral vowels and English with eleven. Based on the Dispersion Theory, this study analyzes acoustically vowel variability and dispersion in those two languages. Contrary to the theoretical predictions, in our data, the phonetic realization of English vowels is less precise and presents greater variability than those of the smaller system (Portuguese). As to vowel dispersion and acoustic space area, contrary to predictions, our Portuguese vowels are more dispersed, occupying more extreme positions in the vowel space, covering a greater acoustic area than those of English. Our results are aligned to other researches that fail to find empirical proof for the predictions proposed by the Dispersion Theory. We advance another interpretation for the facts. We hypothesize the vowel systems of English and Portuguese are somehow unstable now; however, the Dispersion Theory fails to capture such facts as it is based on categorical phonemes disregarding variable allophones. Probably, a theoretical approach that takes languages as dynamic and complex systems (ELLIS; LARSEN-FREEMAN, 2009) could offer stronger evidence to understand these facts. Such approach will be undertaken in the future. |
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Vowel variability and dispersion in Brazilian Portuguese and British English: a case studyVariabilidade e dispersão vocálica em Português Brasileiro e Inglês Britânico: um estudo de casoVowel variabilityVowel dispersionAcoustic analysisVariabilidade vocálicaDispersão vocálicaAnálise acústicaThis paper aims at studying the effect of vowel inventory size on acoustic vowel space in languages with different size inventories: Portuguese with seven oral vowels and English with eleven. Based on the Dispersion Theory, this study analyzes acoustically vowel variability and dispersion in those two languages. Contrary to the theoretical predictions, in our data, the phonetic realization of English vowels is less precise and presents greater variability than those of the smaller system (Portuguese). As to vowel dispersion and acoustic space area, contrary to predictions, our Portuguese vowels are more dispersed, occupying more extreme positions in the vowel space, covering a greater acoustic area than those of English. Our results are aligned to other researches that fail to find empirical proof for the predictions proposed by the Dispersion Theory. We advance another interpretation for the facts. We hypothesize the vowel systems of English and Portuguese are somehow unstable now; however, the Dispersion Theory fails to capture such facts as it is based on categorical phonemes disregarding variable allophones. Probably, a theoretical approach that takes languages as dynamic and complex systems (ELLIS; LARSEN-FREEMAN, 2009) could offer stronger evidence to understand these facts. Such approach will be undertaken in the future.Este artigo objetiva discutir o efeito do tamanho do inventário no espaço acústico de línguas com inventários vocálicos de tamanhos diferentes: português com sete e inglês com onze vogais orais. Partindo das predições da Teoria de Dispersão Vocálica, este estudo analisa acusticamente a variabilidade e dispersão vocálica nessas duas línguas. Contrariamente ao previsto pela teoria sobre a variabilidade vocálica, em nossos dados, a realização fonética das vogais do sistema vocálico maior (inglês) é menos precisa e apresenta maior variabilidade que as do português. Quanto à dispersão vocálica, também contrariando o previsto, as vogais do português estão mais dispersas e periféricas cobrindo uma área acústica maior que as do inglês. Nossos resultados estão em consonância com trabalhos que questionam a comprovação empírica das predições da Teoria de Dispersão. Nosso avanço é quanto à interpretação dos fatos. Levanta-se a hipótese que os sistemas vocálicos do inglês e português estejam parcialmente instáveis atualmente, entretanto, a Teoria de Dispersão não captura esses fatos por estar mais pautada em fonemas estanques que em alofones variáveis. Possivelmente, uma abordagem teórica que entenda as línguas como sistemas dinâmicos e complexos (ELLIS; LARSENFREEMAN, 2009) ofereça elementos mais sólidos para a compreensão dos fatos apresentados. Tal proposta será fomentada futuramente.UNESP2016-04-25info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttps://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/alfa/article/view/711910.1590/1981-5794-1604-8ALFA: Revista de Linguística; v. 60 n. 1 (2016)1981-5794reponame:Alfa (São José do Rio Preto. Online)instname:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)instacron:UNESPporenghttps://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/alfa/article/view/7119/5720https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/alfa/article/view/7119/5728Copyright (c) 2016 ALFA: Revista de Linguísticainfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessMarusso, Adriana Silvia2016-04-28T20:02:25Zoai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/7119Revistahttp://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_serial&pid=1981-5794&lng=pt&nrm=isoPUBhttps://old.scielo.br/oai/scielo-oai.phpalfa@unesp.br1981-57940002-5216opendoar:2016-04-28T20:02:25Alfa (São José do Rio Preto. Online) - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)false |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Vowel variability and dispersion in Brazilian Portuguese and British English: a case study Variabilidade e dispersão vocálica em Português Brasileiro e Inglês Britânico: um estudo de caso |
title |
Vowel variability and dispersion in Brazilian Portuguese and British English: a case study |
spellingShingle |
Vowel variability and dispersion in Brazilian Portuguese and British English: a case study Marusso, Adriana Silvia Vowel variability Vowel dispersion Acoustic analysis Variabilidade vocálica Dispersão vocálica Análise acústica |
title_short |
Vowel variability and dispersion in Brazilian Portuguese and British English: a case study |
title_full |
Vowel variability and dispersion in Brazilian Portuguese and British English: a case study |
title_fullStr |
Vowel variability and dispersion in Brazilian Portuguese and British English: a case study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Vowel variability and dispersion in Brazilian Portuguese and British English: a case study |
title_sort |
Vowel variability and dispersion in Brazilian Portuguese and British English: a case study |
author |
Marusso, Adriana Silvia |
author_facet |
Marusso, Adriana Silvia |
author_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Marusso, Adriana Silvia |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Vowel variability Vowel dispersion Acoustic analysis Variabilidade vocálica Dispersão vocálica Análise acústica |
topic |
Vowel variability Vowel dispersion Acoustic analysis Variabilidade vocálica Dispersão vocálica Análise acústica |
description |
This paper aims at studying the effect of vowel inventory size on acoustic vowel space in languages with different size inventories: Portuguese with seven oral vowels and English with eleven. Based on the Dispersion Theory, this study analyzes acoustically vowel variability and dispersion in those two languages. Contrary to the theoretical predictions, in our data, the phonetic realization of English vowels is less precise and presents greater variability than those of the smaller system (Portuguese). As to vowel dispersion and acoustic space area, contrary to predictions, our Portuguese vowels are more dispersed, occupying more extreme positions in the vowel space, covering a greater acoustic area than those of English. Our results are aligned to other researches that fail to find empirical proof for the predictions proposed by the Dispersion Theory. We advance another interpretation for the facts. We hypothesize the vowel systems of English and Portuguese are somehow unstable now; however, the Dispersion Theory fails to capture such facts as it is based on categorical phonemes disregarding variable allophones. Probably, a theoretical approach that takes languages as dynamic and complex systems (ELLIS; LARSEN-FREEMAN, 2009) could offer stronger evidence to understand these facts. Such approach will be undertaken in the future. |
publishDate |
2016 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2016-04-25 |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/alfa/article/view/7119 10.1590/1981-5794-1604-8 |
url |
https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/alfa/article/view/7119 |
identifier_str_mv |
10.1590/1981-5794-1604-8 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
por eng |
language |
por eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/alfa/article/view/7119/5720 https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/alfa/article/view/7119/5728 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2016 ALFA: Revista de Linguística info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2016 ALFA: Revista de Linguística |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
UNESP |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
UNESP |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
ALFA: Revista de Linguística; v. 60 n. 1 (2016) 1981-5794 reponame:Alfa (São José do Rio Preto. Online) instname:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) instacron:UNESP |
instname_str |
Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) |
instacron_str |
UNESP |
institution |
UNESP |
reponame_str |
Alfa (São José do Rio Preto. Online) |
collection |
Alfa (São José do Rio Preto. Online) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Alfa (São José do Rio Preto. Online) - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
alfa@unesp.br |
_version_ |
1800214377010298880 |