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Acoustic Phonetic Analysis of the Southern Dialects of English: Texas Speech

Caroline Story, Dr. Augustine Agwuele

Department of Anthropology, Texas State University

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Preface

Part of a larger study factoring for residency

  • Urban v.s. Rural
  • Inland v.s. Lowland

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What kind of accent do I have?

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Vowel Quadrilateral

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Monophthongization

Diphthong

as in “mice”

Monophthong

as in “mass”

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a

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/’æksɛnt/

A result of language exposure, oral posture,

and carried by vowels

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Introduction

The theory of language change

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Abstract

Goals

Understand the pattern through which the Texas accent is shifting as a function of generation.

Methodology

  • Representative Vowels
  • Sentence Construction
  • Data Collection
  • Acoustic Analysis
  • Comparative Graphing

Results

A present, ongoing shift in the Texas accent speech pattern.

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Methodology

[i, ɪ, eɪ, aɪ, oʊ]

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2

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[i]

[ɪ]

[eɪ]

[aɪ]

[oʊ]

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Participants

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M20

M57

F22

F58

Sex

Male

Male

Female

Female

Age

20

57

22

58

Place of Origin

Midland

Houston

Houston

Austin

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Results

Acoustic phonetic analysis

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3

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Vowel frequency deviations = Perceptive difference

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The F1 rule- the lower the tongue and jaw position, the higher the frequency produced.

The F2 rule- the more front the tongue is placed, the higher the frequency produced.

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F2

F1

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Figure 3.1: Plot of observed average F1 and F2 values relative to older male (M57) and younger male (M20) corresponding vowel frequencies.

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Figure 3.2: Plot of observed average F1 and F2 values relative to older female (F58) and younger female (F22) corresponding vowel frequencies.

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Figure 3.3: Summary plot of comparative older (50+) and younger (25-) resulting values.

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50+ 25-

ɪ

ɪ

i

i

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Discussion &�Conclusion

Y’all’s accent is changing

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There is clear evidence to propose an ongoing, generational shift in the speech pattern representative of the Texas accent.

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Implications

Patterns of change

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Factors that influence change

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Culture

External Exposure

Individual Attitudes

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Thank you!

Any questions ?

You can also find me at

  • carolinestory@txstate.edu

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References

  • Aschmann, Rick. North American English Dialects, Based on Pronunciation Patterns. 2018. https://aschmann.net/AmEng/
  • Agwuele, Augustine and Sussman, Harvey. CV Coarticulation in Yoruba- A Tonal Language. 2010.
  • Ladefoged, Peter and Johnson, Keith. A Course in Phonetics. 7th ed., Cengage Learning, 2015.

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