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http://dx.doi.org/10.9728/dcs.2012.13.3.279

An Experimental Study on the English Vowel Lengths Using the Praat Software Program  

Park, Hee-Suk (남서울대학교 영어과)
Publication Information
Journal of Digital Contents Society / v.13, no.3, 2012 , pp. 279-290 More about this Journal
Abstract
The purpose of this experimental study is to investigate and compare the vowel lengths of the English diphthongs, /eɪ/ and /aɪ/, and the front low vowel /æ/ among English-speaking natives with Korean college students using the Praat software program. To do this English sentences were uttered and recorded by twelve subjects, six Korean subjects and six English-speaking native subjects. All the subjects are female and their age ranges from 23 to 35. Acoustic features(duration) were measured from a sound spectrogram with the help of the Praat software program and analyzed through statistical analysis. Results showed that the vowel lengths of the English diphthongs and the front low vowel between native English speakers and Korean collegians were different. In the pronunciation of the diphthongs /eɪ/ and /aɪ/, Korean subjects pronounced longer than native subjects did, but the difference was not significant. However, in the pronunciation of the English front low vowel /æ/, native subjects pronounced significantly longer than Korean subjects did. From the data of the overall sum of words and vowels between the two subject groups, we were able to find out that the differences of lengths of both the three words and the two diphthongs /eɪ/ and /aɪ/ were not significant, but those of /æ/ were significant.
Keywords
Praat software program; vowel lengths; low vowel; diphthong;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 1  (Citation Analysis)
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