Spectral characteristics of the Lithuanian vowels: some preliminary results of a new experimental research

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ENThe present article is a description of some preliminary results of a new experimental research: the main spectral characteristics and duration of the contemporary Standard Lithuanian vowels /i, ɛ, ɑ, ɔ, u, iː, eː, æː, ɑː, ɔː, uː/ (sounds of uniform articulation) pronounced in zero context /#V#/ by two native Lithuanian male informants are reviewed. Reviewing interrelations between Lithuanian vowels, the mean data of this study is compared with the data of some previous research. The general tendencies of the relations between Lithuanian long and short vowels pronounced in isolation are compared to the tendencies of the relations between corresponding Latvian sounds /i, e, æ, ɑ, ɔ, u, iː, eː, æː, ɑː, ɔː, uː/ (also pronounced in isolation). Experimental research on the spectral features and duration of vowels has shown that members of each pair of the Lithuanian short and long vowels differ both in quantity and especially in quality. The mean results taken for both Lithuanian speakers illustrate the similar tendencies that in general correspond to those acquired in other studies: in Lithuanian, according to the position of the tongue high-timbre vowels [iː], [eː], [æː], [i], [ɛ] produced in zero context should be treated as front, while low-timbre vowels [ɑː], [ɔː], [uː], [ɑ], [ɔ], [u] are back ones. According to the vertical movement of the tongue [iː], [uː], [i], [u] are high, close vowels, and [æː], [ɑː], [ɛ], [ɑ] should be regarded as being low, open vowels. Vowels [eː], [ɔː] and [ɔ] are mid sounds. Whereas, in comparison to the Lithuanian vowel data, in Standard Latvian the quality difference of long and corresponding short vowels produced in zero context is quite small.As for the duration of the Latvian short and long monophthongs, the mean quantity ratio is very similar to the corresponding results of Standard Lithuanian: the ratio of the isolated short vs. long vowels is approx. 1 : 2.2 both in Latvian and in Lithuanian. Keywords: Standard Lithuanian, vowels, spectral characteristics, acoustic features, duration, Standard Latvian.