Acoustic Analysis of Kachchi Vowel Sounds: A Descriptive Study of Kachchi Vowels

Abstract

Kachchi is one of the six dialects of Sindhi spoken widely in India and in the Sindh region of Pakistan. This study aims to analyze the acoustic realization of ten Kachchi vowel sounds. The study is based on ten Kachchi words from ten native Kachchi speakers residing in Sindh, Pakistan. A total of (10×10×3=300) voice samples were analyzed, each recording had all ten Kachchi words recorded by native Kachchi speakers. Each word had three utterances. The data consist of ten Kachchi-Sindhi vowels /i:/, /ɑ/, /ɔ/, /u/, /e/, /ɛ/, /o/, /ɪ/, /ə/, and /ʊ/, were recorded by ten native Kachchi speakers (5 males and 5 females). For the collection of data, convenience sampling was done. Four parameters were considered for the acoustic analysis of Kachchi-Sindhi vowels i.e., vowel quality (F1-F2), fundamental frequency (F0), duration, and stop closure. Vowel quality, durational values of vowels, and stop closures are acoustically described in the study. The acoustic examination further revealed that F0 value was relatively higher amongst females than males. Finally, vowel quality (F1-F2) was analyzed and vowel space of Kachchi-Sindhi vowel sounds was formed. Among the two stop consonants, voiced alveolar /d/ had the highest durational value than voiceless velar /k/.