Acoustic and durational characteristics of Anindilyakwa vowels

Rosey Billington, John Mansfield, Hywel Stoakes

Thursday, December 15th, 2022, 11.30am – 12pm

Abstract

Anindilyakwa, an Aboriginal language of northern Australia, has a vowel system which is unusual among Aboriginal languages, and the subject of divergent analyses. Previous research notes extensive variation in how certain vowels are produced, with observations that non-low vowels are strongly influenced by their consonant environment. There is also extensive variation in whether certain vowels are produced, leading to suggestions that these vowels are epenthetic. This study presents a first phonetic investigation of the acoustic and durational properties of Anindilyakwa vowels, with a focus on the effects of consonant place of articulation on the realisation of non-low vowels.