Akoestiese ontleding van die vokale van bruin en wit jong, vroulike sprekers van Afrikaans

Abstract

In hierdie artikel word 'n akoestiese ontleding gegee van die variasiepatrone van die vokaalsisteme van twee groepe - een wit en een bruin - vroulike Afrikaanssprekendes van ongeveer twintig jaar oud. Geoordeel aan hulle algemene uitspraak, verskil hulle sodanig dat daar moontlik sprake is van twee afsonderlike aksente. Die ontleding is gebaseer op die metings van 'n volledige stel temporele en spektrale parameters, nl. die duur (of lengte) van vokale, intensiteit (totale intensiteit; intensiteit in BF1 en BF2), grondtoon, harmonisiteit-tot-geraas-verhouding en vokaalformantfrekwensies van die eerste drie vokaalformante, asook die bandwydte van F1. Die resultate ondersteun duidelik die impressionistiese oordeel dat die twee groepe twee verskillende aksente verteenwoordig. Dit is veral duidelik te sien aan 'n groter neiging tot sentralisering van die geronde agtervokale van die POT-, BOOR- en BOER-vokale van die wit groep, asook hulle baie opvallende ronding van die BAAR-vokaal. Dit blyk ook dat Bruin 'n groter geneigdheid tot ontronding van die gemerkte nonagtervokale in BUUR, BEUR en PUT toon. Die feit dat ons hier te make het met twee groepe sprekers wat homogeen is ten opsigte van sowel geslag as ouderdom, maar verskil ten opsigte van etnisiteit, stel ons in staat om die metode wat bekend is as vokaalnormalisering onder die loep te neem. Daar word deurgaans in die vakliteratuur gewys op die noodsaak van vokaalnormalisering wanneer manlike en vroulike sprekers in 'n akoestiese ondersoek na vokaaleienskappe betrokke is. Normalisering sorg vir die eliminering van fisiologiese verskille, maar met behoud van ander, belangrike verskille, soos wat hier die geval is, deurdat verskillende aksente teruggevoer kan word na die sprekers se verskillende, onderskeibare etniese afkoms. Die aanname onderliggend aan vokaalnormalisering, naamlik dat sodanige verskil in aksent behou word waar wel genormaliseer word, is aan die uitspraak van die twee groepe getoets. Dit is nog nie tevore vir Afrikaans gedoen nie; trouens, dit is na my wete ook nog nie eksplisiet en uitvoerig ten opsigte van ander tale gedoen nie. Die huidige toetsing toon wel dat die vokaalsisteemstruktuur van die twee groepe nie verskil vóór en ná normalisering nie. Hierdie resultaat dien dus ter ondersteuning van genoemde aanname. Gevolglik is daar ook nie in hierdie ondersoek genormaliseer ten opsigte van die vokale van hierdie twee groepe nie. ABSTRACT: Acoustic analysis of the vowels of coloured and white young, female speakers of Afrikaans This article is a report on an investigation into the characteristics of the Afrikaans vowels as produced by two groups of young female speakers of Afrikaans, the one group being white, the other coloured. Based on the general impression when listening to their spoken language, one is inclined to classify the two groups into two distinct varieties or accents of Afrikaans, viz. white and coloured Afrikaans. The idea of the present study was to look for support for such classification. In order to achieve this, one obviously has to have access to detailed acoustic descriptions, which was the main goal of the present project. Once such acoustic description was accomplished a precise comparison of the vowel systems of the two varieties was possible. The composition/structure in terms of ethnicity of the two groups involved in this study makes possible the testing of a vital and interesting facet of vowel normalisation. It is known that normalisation is necessary in cases where speakers of different sexes are involved. In such cases normalisation is applied for eliminating acoustic variation in vowel measurements due to physiological differences among speakers. Such physiological differences are mainly due to differences in the sizes of vocal tracts. But, at the same time, the preservation of other potentially present sociolinguistic/dialectal/cross-linguistic differences in vowel quality is very important for the purpose of finding genuine variation. The present case therefore could be of importance mainly for testing the assumption that such sociolinguistic differences - in the present case ethnic difference - will indeed be preserved despite normalisation of vowels. The methods I used to reach the descriptive goals are mostly in line with those followed in similar research endeavours, such as those of Pols et al. (1973) and Adank et al. (2004) in the case of Dutch. In the present study the speech productions of the two groups of female speakers were recorded and analysed acoustically. The readers had not been selected beforehand - they took part on a basis of availability, being students of a local university. Most of them were born and raised in the northern parts of South Africa, and classify themselves as members of the respective ethnic groups, viz. coloured and white. The only condition was that they had to be Afrikaans speakers and should experience no inhibitive problems with regard to hearing or sight. Naturally they also had to be able to read out aloud and fluently