Acoustic and laryngeal correlates of word stress in the Gilyak language

an experimental phonetic study of Gilaki native speakers (four in the first stage of the study and three in the second one) was conducted as a part of a complex study of acoustic and articulatory markers of stressed syllable nuclei in Iranian languages. A studio microphone and an elecroglottograph were used to record the speech flow. Speech information was recorded synchronously in two channels: an intonogram – a reflection of the microphone signal, and a glottogram – an electronic analogue of data from the glottograph. Quantitative indicators of acoustic and laryngeal characteristics of vowels in stressed and unstressed phonetic positions were obtained using Praat, converted into relative units and normalized using the z-score method. Statistical processing was held in IBM SPSS Statistics package using a multivariate general linear model. The main role in marking Gilaki stressed syllable is played by duration (Т) with such integral parameters that are calculated on the basis of the envelope curves’ area. Pitch (F0) and intensity (I) also increase in the stressed syllable, but these factors appear statistically insignificant. Moreover, the laryngeal parameter of vertical larynx fluctuation’s amplitude (VLPamp) correlates with Gilaki stress.

Gilaki, glottograph, stress, pitch, intensity, duration, larynx, vertical larynx position