A comparison of the acoustic characteristics of American English and Cantonese vowels

Abstract

The study compares the formant frequencies of the American English vowels [i, ε, ■, ■, u, I, U] (Peterson and Barney, 1952) and [i, ε, a, ■, u, I, U] in Cantonese (Zee, 2004). Results of the comparison show that the differences in formant values for the vowels between the two languages vary according to vowel type and gender. Between male speakers of the two languages, the differences in F-values are minimal for [i] and [■]. For [ε, u], the difference between the two groups is mainly in F2, with [ε] having a larger F2 and [u] a smaller F2 for Cantonese speakers. [■] in American English has smaller F1 and F2 than [a] in Cantonese. [I, U] occupy the position in between the level of [i, u] and level of [ε, ■] in the F1/F2 plane for American English speakers, and there is a noticeable difference in F2 between [I] and [ε] and between [U] and [■]. For Cantonese speakers, [I, U] are on the same level of [ε, ■], and the difference in F2 is minimal between [I] and [ε] and between [U] and [■]. The differences between female speakers of the two languages will also be presented.