Lietuvių bendrinės kalbos nekirčiuotų balsių kiekybė

ACTA LINGUISTICA LITHUANICA XLVIII (2003), 35-47 Number of unpronounced vowels in Lithuanian common language LIDIJA KAUKĖNIENĖ Vilniaus universitetas Kauno humanitarinis fakultetas, Kaunas The article deals with the guantity of unstressed vowels in Standard Lithuanian. Attention is paid to the first and to the second post-stressed and pre-stressed vowels and their relationship to stressed vowels. 1. That the long vowels are longer than the corresponding short ones has been known for a long time. This subject has been studied, analyzed and demonstrated in Lithuanian common language (see Vaitkevičiūtė 1960: 207-217; Svecevičius 1964: 14-32; Dambrauskaité-Urbelien¢ 1967: 17-25; Pakerys, Plakunova, Urbelien¢ 1970: 27-28, 30). One of the first Lithuanian vowel counts was measured and described by Valerija Vaitkevičiūtė (1960: 207217). Her experiments showed that the length of vowels depends on accent and prefix: accented vowels are longer than unaccented ones, and strong-ends are shorter than strong-ends. Her research shows that long vowels are 1.5-2 times longer than short ones in Lithuanian common language. Bronius Svecevičius determined (1964: 17) that long accentuated vowels are 2.1–2.5 times longer than short ones. Antanas Pakerys (1982: 92-103) measured and statistically evaluated the relationship between the length of long and short vowels. His data showed that firm vowels are on average 1.7 times longer and firm consonants more than 2 times longer than the corresponding pronounced short vowels. According to Packer, the reduction in the number of voices, however, notes that in other positions there may be more pronounced signs of quantitative reduction. In general, the influence of the position of the accent on the length of Lithuanian vowels has been hardly studied, and when analyzing the differences in the quantity of pronounced and unpronunciated vowels, only one unpronunciated position has been used. Only Vaitkevičiūtė mentions (1960: 207) that the further the unpronounced vowel is from the pronounced one, the shorter it is. According to Janina Urbelienė (1967: 461), the long accentuated vowels of Lithuanian common language are even 5096 shorter than the corresponding accentuated ones. Lilija Anusienė (1984: 19), having studied the unpronounced vowels of Lithuanian, found that the short pronouns are reduced by 10%, the pronouns by 20%; long vowels are shortened the most: first pre-vowels — 5096%, second — 4096%, and second post-vowels — 40%. However, in none of the aforementioned studies of unpronounced vocalism, except for Packer's studies, experimental quantitative data have been evaluated statistically. 1.1 This article describes and statistically evaluates the number of unpronounced vowels in Lithuanian common language and compares the duration of short and corresponding long vowels in pronounced and unpronounced positions. 36 | LIDIJA KAUKĖNIENĖ Three-syllable words of Lithuanian common language selected for analysis". Average lengths of pronounced vowels are calculated from the first syllable of three-syllable words*. The following words were chosen for the research: ficus, carpet, sinus, faith, thoughtfulness, epidermis, bemol, digging, finding, bringing, helping, donor, comedian, lotus, hump, music, bushy, diesel, melting, lyric, feed, grit, bran, tepal, lake, clay, needle, ready, necessary, clover, sominis, sitting, diiminė, iikana, smoker. The words chosen for the duration of unpronounced vowels so that the examined vowel is in the following positions: first subjunctive after the short and long accented syllable®: dušinė, muzika, kilimas, didelis, dėbetas, kadamas, rasdamas, cokolis, dėmonas, robotas, gūmulas, rėbusu, sėrumu, nūzyzė, pacypė, alinė, aludės, ramūnės, nutūkęs, kokėte, vėsinis, kolitą, komodą, vaišinąs, išmoka, predator, merginų, saliūtų, motina, kūdikis, lyrika, ežeras, tabelis, torelas, adata, sūmana, husaras, karbolis, arnotas, slalomas, épusé, nephews, blue, treat, participant, hemp, hemp, creature, distant, twig, bokala, pirūtą, nutolęs, pamoté, smoking, biziiny, mediizy; the second subjunctive after the short and long accentuated syllable: sifilis, didelis, epilinį, nėšimas, kasimas, padeda, rėbusu, rėbusus, sėrumu, būčinį, ėterį, nūlinė, ėpinės, nūlinės, fizinę, virinęs, dėmoną, Opera, būdino, rėbusų, rūporų, dieselis, kūdikis, moteris, dūminės, epuses, lyrines, lopeta, samana, Jakobsonas, Sūcharovas*, amaru, ūmarus, ūdinį, avilį, diiminė, kapinés, pamote, masing, asarg, lėsalą, kalbings, tobulo, klobilo, lasino, būsenų; first prefix before a short and long accentuated syllable: ekipa, didikas, kikilis, debesis, afera, meleta, maka, panama, melasa, komoda, obojus, polonis, dykuma, rulėtė, pakyla, masyvūs, satyra, kalėda, édikas, tęstinis, tąsūkas, Zasidé, motūzė, odinis, ceziira, lagiina, atradimas, kiirinys, giminė, etapas, esybė, cemerys, banaly, arabas, aleja, moralas, bokalas, oval, uranas, pupėlė, rutulys, uodega, pasakyti, pažymėjimas, tylėnas, satanas, ūmėdė, gręžioti, gręžioja, tęsyti, tąsynės, doroti, kokybė, sūnėnas; the second preposition before a short and long accentuated syllable: quotation, guitar, idyll, cloud, melasse, team, affair, banal, pavia, koniu, lenšiukū, tąsiukū, goose, ooselė, gift, apple, lūšena, giduma, odrena, family, hearth, bird, chemerys, burning, will tell, moda, kolega, omarū, ulonū, rutina, sumanūs, dykuma, gydykla, érena, vésuma, testisentence, side, tip, animal, attention, stirrup, continuation, well, ruff, apple, cough, habit, whirlwind, gonorrhea, chocolate, honorarium. 1.2. Lithuanian words with the investigated vowels were interpreted by actors P. V. (b. 1949) and E. L. (b. 1976) of the Lithuanian State Kaunas Academic Drama Theatre. The words for the actors were presented shuffled in random order. Each of them is repeated three times. The actors were asked to read at the usual tempo of spoken language and, as far as possible, in a more neutral intonation, making small pauses between words. 1.3. Mean duration of voices measured with the program Įrodyta, kad lietuvių bendrinės kalbos tekstuose dažniausiai vartojami triskiemeniai žodžiai PRAAT 4.0.11. 1990. pp. 36–48. (in Russian) 2 Visų žodžių tartis tikrinta remiantis V. Vitkausko (2001) „Lietuvių kalbos tarties žodynu“. The length of vowels before and after the strong and weak syllables was not counted separatSu trumpuoju balsiu [5] reikiamoje pozicijoje nebuvo rasta triskiemenių žodžių, todėl balsiai tyrimui ely. take iš four syllables žodžių. 4 TOTAL VALUE OF UNPRONUNCED SCORES | 37 we are arithmetmu rezultatai apdoroti matematinės statistikos metodais: buvo skaičiuojamas trukic mean (x), standard deviation (s), coefficient of variation (v), 9596 confidence interval (+). The significance of the results was checked by the Student criterion. Statistical analysis was carried out with the program „STUDENT“ (programming language TURBO-PASCAL, v. 7.0) developed by Aleksas Girdenis. 2. The duration results are presented in tables and also graphically. TABLE 1. LITHUANIAN GENERAL LANGUAGE IN THE QUANTITY OF LONG PRONUNCIATE AND UNPRONUNCIATE BALS AND ITS STATISTICAL EVALUATION“ Position n X (ms) s(ms) v(%) 95% pasikl. Interv. Loon (ms) pronounced [i] 12 193 22 11,6 179 + 207 2 prefix [i] 23 88 27 30,3 74 + 101 11,23 >3,69 pronounced [i] 12 193 22 11,6 179 + 207 1 prefix [i] 19 106 19 17,9 97 + 115 11,57 > 3,66 pronounced [i] 12 193 22 11,6 179 + 207 1 postfix [i] 21 85 20 24,0 75 + 94 14,23 > 3,63 pronounced [i] 12 193 22 11,6 179 + 207 2 postfix [i] 16 118 16 13.4 109 + 126 10,5 > 3,71 pronounced [e] 16 229 30 13,2 210 + 249 2 prepositional [e] 19 76 25 33.3 62 + 90 14,33 > 3,73 pronounced [e’] 16 229 30 13,2 210 + 249 1 prepositional [e“] 16 104 26 25,3 88 + 120 11,04 > 3,77 pronounced [e] 16 229 30 13,2 210 + 249 1 postpositional [e’] 19 152 36 23 135 + 169 6,21 > 3,66 pronounced [e’] 16 229 30 13,2 210 + 249 2 postpositional [e’] 24 152 25 16,4 142 + 163 8,14 > 3,6 2 prepositional [e'] 27 119 25 21,1 103 + 135 11,79 > 3,75 kirčiuotas [e'] 14 246 29 11,9 229 + 263 5 The symbols in the table have the following meanings: 7 — number of measurements, X — arithmetic mean, s — standard deviation, v — coefficient of variation, p. Interv. —confidence interval, 1 —calculated value of the Student criterion, ¢_ —critical value of the Student criterion, a —significance ratio of the results. 38 | The 38th CONTINUATION OF TABLE 1 Position n X (ms) s(ms) v(%) 95% pasikl Interv. L> inch (ms) pronounced [e] 14 246 29 11,9 229 + 263 1 prefix [er] 24 122 27 21,7 111 + 133 13,38 > 3,58 pronounced [¢] 14 246 29 11,9 229 + 263 1 postfix [e"] 24 171 47 27,6 150 + 191 5,38 > 3,58 2 postfix [e] 25 142 20 14,4 133 + 150 13,06 > 3,58 pronounced [a] 12 245 35 14,3 223 + 267 2 prefix [a)] 15 78 17 22,2 68 + 87 16,27 > 3,73 pronounced [a] 12 245 35 14,3 223 + 267 1 prefix [a] 18 77 19 25.3 67 + 86 16,98 > 3,67 diacritickirčiuotas [e'] 14 246 29 11,9 229 + 263 al [a] 12 245 35 14,3 223 + 267 1 subscript [a] 23 132 39 29,7 115 + 149 8,39 > 3,61 diacritical [a’] 12 245 35 14,3 223 + 267 2 subscript [a] 22 150 27 17,8 137 + 161 8,84 > 3,63 diacritical [0°] 13 203 22 10,9 189 + 216 2 prefix [o'] 21 89 18 20,5 80 + 98 15,43 > 3,67 diacritical [0°] 13 203 22 10,9 189 + 216 1 prefix [0'] 21 99 27 27,3 86 + 111 11,71 > 3,62 diacritical [0°] 13 203 22 10,9 189 + 216 1 subscript [0] 19 107 36 33,6 90 + 124 8,52 > 3,65 diacritical [0] 13 203 22 10,9 189 + 216 2 subscript [0"] 26 101 23 22,4 92 +110 13,27 > 3,58 2 prefix [wu] 24 77 18 23,6 69 + 86 9,09 > 3,65 1 prefix [uw:] 19 103 29 27,7 89+ 117 5,90 > 3,66 kirčiuotas [u-] 15 182 47 25,6 153 + 212 kirčiuotas [u"] 15 182 47 25,6 153 + 212 39 | TABLES SECTION Position n x (ms) s(ms) v(%) 95% pasikl. 39 | TABLES SECTION Position n x (ms) s(ms) v(%) 95% pasikl. Interv. t > t pP 0.001 (ms) 1 kirčiuotas [u"] 15 182 47 25,6 153 + 212 consonant [u"] 18 133 23 17,3 121 + 144 3,88 > 3,67 2 consonant [u"] 14 128 16 12,6 119 + 137 411 >3,75 Based on the kirčiuotas [u-] 15 182 47 25,6 153 + 212 obtained quantitative data, two graphs were drawn (see Figures 1 and 2), which show that long non-consonant vowels shorten much more than short non-consonant vowels when compared with consonant vowels. 2.1.The long vowels [e'], [a’], [e"] are the most frequently pronounced (z 246 ms, 245 ms and 229 ms, respectively). As you can see, the average length of the accented vowels [e] and [a] is almost the same. The difference in the length of the centers of pronounced and unpronounced syllables is statistically significant, which is shown by the confidence intervals, which are more or less distant from the confidence intervals of pronounced vowels, and the value of the Student criterion, which is also much greater than the critical value of the Student criterion, and the significance ratio of all vowels is equal and very high 0.001. 1 PAV. QUANTITY OF LONG BALLS (CUT AND UNCUT) 170 Length of vowels (ms) 8 210 230 250 2 pre-consonant I pre-consonant pronounced I post-consonant 2 consonants 2.2 Our research has shown that the unpronounced long variants of Lithuanian language are experiencing a fairly significant quantitative reduction. Comparing the number of accentuated vowels and variants in unaccentuated positions, it became clear (see table 2) that the most reduced vowels are those in contralto syllables. In these positions, the unpronounced variants are 2-3 times shorter than the corresponding accented ones. The most shortened are the second ones 40 | LIDIJA KAUKĖNIENĖ interjections [a] and [e]. They are related to the pronounced long vowels as follows: [a'"]: [4]*=15:3,- 1; [e']: [ė'"] = 1:3. The first consonant [a'] is also very shortened, its ratio to the accent is: [a"]: [a"] = 1: 3,2. All remaining long uncrossed variantly reduced. The vowels are shortened from 1.3 to 2.2 times. In addition, the first premolars are tai prieškirtinėse pozicijose sutrumpėja 2—2,5 karto. Pokirtinėse pozicijose kiekybishorter than the first premolars, and the second premolars are shorter than the second premolars. After calculating the general average, we obtained that the second anti-intersectional variants are shortened by 2.5 times on average, and the first anti-intersectional variants by 2.1 times; first and second touch-ups: 1,6 times. After calculating the average length of all unpronunciated long vowels, we obtained the following results: the first pronoun variants of the common Lithuanian language are shortened by 59%, the second pronoun variants — by 53%; 4296 for the first and 4190 for the second. TABLE 2. LITHUANIAN GENERAL LANGUAGE LONG VOCAL RATIO IN INTERCEPTED AND UNINTERCEPTED POSITIONS’ Positions /Vowels 2Pr:K 1Pr:K 1Pk:K 2Pk:K [i]: [i] 1:22 1718 1:22 1:16 [ec]: lė] 1:3 1:22 1:15 1713 le]: [e] 1:2 1:2 1:14 151.7 [a]: [a] 1:31 1:32 1:18 1:16 [0]: [0] 122.2 1:2 1:18 1:2 [wr]: [er] 1:23 1:1,7 1:13 1:14 Average values 1:25 1521 1:16 1:16 2.3. In terms of length, the pronounced vowels are arranged in the following order: [e] < [a] < [e']< [07] < [i'] < [u']. It has already been mentioned that the quantities of [e] and [a] do not differ (¥ 246 ms, 245 ms respectively). This sequence of vowels shows that the ratio of vowel lengths almost follows the general rule: low-rising vowels are the longest, medium-rising vowels are shorter, and high-rising vowels are the shortest. Experimental studies of many languages have also shown that the sounds of each elevation are characterized by a duration, which decreases with increasing elevation (see Malmberg 1963; Lehiste 1970; Mohr 1971; Liepa 1979; Ščerba 1983). As early as 1925 6 Since we have calculated the absolute length of long vowels, i.e. we have not separately distinguished the length of the vowels before or after the strong and weak syllables, the dash above the long vowel indicates that the vowel is pronounced. ParaSyma [a"] should read: "long accentuated vowel". 2 Symbols used in the tables: K — slash position; 2 Pr —second counter-variant, 1Pr —first ETT SA ST pre-crossing variant, 1 Pk — first post-crossing variant, 2 Pk — second post-crossing variant. 41 Richard Ekblom observed that the duration of sounds in the Middle Highlands depends on the manner of articulation (Ekblom 1925: 39). Discussing the findings of many researchers who measured the length of vowels in Lithuanian common language, Pakerys, Plakunova and Urbelienė (1970: 48) stated that low-rising vowels, i.e. the broad (open) ones, usually have a longer physical length than high-rising vowels, i.e. the narrow (closed) ones. Thus, it is safe to say that this prosodic lawfulness is a universality (see Pakerys 1982: 43). Unaccented long vowels are arranged slightly differently according to their length: the first consonants —[g'] < [i'] < [e’] < [uw] < [0'] < [a']; second prefixes: [e] < [0] < [i] < [a] < [u'] < [e’]; first touching points: [e"] < [e] < [u'] < [a] < [i] < [0°]; the second interjections are [e] < [a] < [e'] <u] < [i"] < [0"]. In almost all positions, the vowel [¢] retains its position—- it is the longest, but the other vowels in the sequence change their position. The first prefix [a] has the shortest duration. This may also indicate that this voice is undergoing a significant quantitative reduction. Furthermore, the first contralto vowels [t], [i] are the longest. Only the sequence of the second postpositional long vowels almost corresponds to the universal vowel length and elevation relationship. In general, the differences in length of the unpronounced long variants are smaller than those of the pronounced ones, so they are probably more vulnerable (see Pakerys 1982: 47). TABLE 3. THE QUANTITY OF SHORT PRONUNCIATE AND UNPRONUNCIATE BALLS IN THE LITHUANIAN GENERAL Pozicija n X (ms) s(ms) v(%) 95% pasikl. t>=<t, LANGUAGE AND ITS STATISTICAL EVALUATION interv. (ms) pronounced [i] 14 75 15 19,4 66 + 83 2 prefix [i] 26 62 20 32,0 53+70 208 >t, = 204 pronounced [i] 14 75 15 19,4 66 + 83 1 prefix [i] 21 74 28 38,0 62+87 0,04 < t,,„,= 2,03 pronounced [i] 14 75 15 19,4 66 + 83 1 postfix [i] 19 70 19 26,7 61 +79 0,79 <¢,,, = 204 pronounced [i] 14 75 15 19.4 66 + 83 2 subtract [i] 24 82 27 33.1 70 = 95 093 <1t,,, = 2,04 2 pre-intersectional [e] 26 75 18 23,8 67+83 4,47 > t = 3,65 1 pre-intersectional [e] 23 96 21 21,3 87 + 105 1,69 < t,„ = 2,04 1 post-intersectional [e] 18 92 16 17,1 84+100 229>¢, = 2,05 interv. (ms) 2 subscript [e] 26 102 20 19,7 94 + 110 1,05 < f,„ =203 pronounced [a] 12 85 22 26,3 70 + 100 2 subscript [a] 26 68 15 22,6 60 + 76 2,35 > £,,„=206 pronounced [a] 12 85 22 26,3 70 + 100 1 subscript [a] 21 70 18 25,9 62 + 78 kirčiuotas [e] 13 110 27 24,2 92 + 128 2,06 >t, = 204 pronounced [a] 12 85 22 26,3 70 + 100 1 subscript [a] 27 90 21 23,2 82 +99 0,73 < f,,„ = 2,03 pronounkirčiuotas [e] 13 110 27 24,2 92 + 128 ced [2] 13 100 17 16,6 90 + 110 2 subscript [2] 16 82 22 26,6 70 + 94 2,40 > t,,„ = 206 pronounced [2] 13 100 17 16,6 90 + 110 1 prefix [2] 20 93 19 kirčiuotas [e] 13 110 27 24,2 92 + 128 20,5 85+100 045 <1, =204 pronounced [2] 13 100 17 16,6 90 + 110 1 postfix [2] 21 78 15 19,2 71 + 85 3,9 >t, 42 | CONTINUATION OF TABLE 3 LIDIJA KAUKĖNIENĖ Pozicija n X (ms) s(ms) v(%) 95% pasikl. t>=<t, = 3,62 pronounkirčiuotas [e] 13 110 27 24,2 92 + 128 ced [2] 13 100 17 16,6 90 + 110 2 postfix [2] 16 78 18 22,6 67 + 90 312> 4. =310 pronounced [u] 16 92 21 22,4 79 + 106 2 prefix [u] 20 76 18 23,4 67 + 85 2,21 > ¢,.. = 2,06 pronounced [u] 16 92 21 22,4 79 + 106 1 prefix [u] 17 90 36 39,7 71+108 023 <¢,, = 2,06 pronounced [u] 16 92 21 22,4 79 + 106 1 postfix [u] 16 75 10 13,1 70 + 81 2,57 > t,,, = 2,08 pronounced [u] 16 92 21 22.4 79 + 106 2 subtractive [u] 22 88 23 26,6 76 + 99 058 < t, =205 0.05 COMMON LANGUAGES BY VALUE OF UNPRONUNCED VOTES | 43 FIG. 2 NUMBER OF CUT (CUT AND UNCUT) VOTES 50 60 a a 1 [a] | E [u] | | 2 80 | E | = i) | And go. [>] | Z 100 | | 110 | 120 2 preškirtns 1 prekirtinis krčiuotas 1 pokirtinss 2 pokrins 3. The analysis of the IS data shows that short non-abbreviated vowels suffer much less quantitative reduction than long ones, the differences in duration are very small and statistically insignificant. Figure 2 shows that the difference in the length of pronounced and unpronounced short vowels is not as large as that of long ones. Even in those positions where we obtained statistically significant differences in duration (see Table 3), the calculated value of the Student criterion is slightly greater than the critical value of the Student criterion tume realizacijų skaičių, tas reikšmingas skirtumas iš viso išnyktų. Be to, trumpųjų and perhaps, if we increase the votes even more, much lower: 0.05 and 0.005 and only in a few positions. yra pats aukščiausias — 0,001. 3.1. The calculated ratios of the number of short vowels in pronounced and unpronounced positions showed (see table 4) that the short unpronounced variants of Lithuanian experience a very small quantitative reduction. The second consonant [e] becomes slightly shorter. Compared to the accented vowel, its ratio would be approximately: [e]: [ė] =1: 1.4. In the remaining positions, unpronounced short vowels are shortened from 1.1 to 1.2 times or the same length as the pronounced one. A slightly greater quantitative reduction of the second consonant vowels. After calculating the overall duration mean, we found that they are mean variants — about 1.1 times. RELATIONS trumpėja 1,2 karto. Nedaug tesutrumpėja ir pirmieji prieškirtiniai bei pokirtiniai IN VOCAL AND UNVOCAL POSITIONS Positions 4 LENTELĖ. LIETUVIŲ BENDRINĖS KALBOS TRUMPŲJŲ BALSIŲ KIEKYBĖS /Voices 2Pr:K 1 Pr:K 1 Pk:K 2Pk:K [i]: [i] 1:12 1:1 1:41 1:091 [e]: [¢] 1:14 1:1, 1:12 1:1,1