The Unstressed Vowel Reduction of Galician

This study investigates the unstressed reduction process of Galician. In particular, we wondered about: (1) the specific mechanisms involved, (2) whether there are different degrees of reduction, depending on the word-stress position, or whether reduction applies categorically to all unstressed vowe...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Aguete Cajiao, Alba
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repositorio:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/170022
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/170022
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Vowel reduction process
Vowel duration
Galician vowel system
Gallego
Speech Acoustics
5799 Otras Especialidades Lingüísticas
5705.05 Fonética
acústica del habla
Descripción
Sumario:This study investigates the unstressed reduction process of Galician. In particular, we wondered about: (1) the specific mechanisms involved, (2) whether there are different degrees of reduction, depending on the word-stress position, or whether reduction applies categorically to all unstressed vowels, (3) whether it depends on the duration, and (4) whether it is a mechanical process. In order to answer those questions, an experimental acoustic study with semi-spontaneous speech from six young Galician-native women was conducted. The results were analyzed by applying individual linear mixed-effects models for each vowel. The results show that two different mechanisms are involved in the reduction process, namely raising and centralization, and conclude that, in Galician, this process does not depend on the duration of the segment, and, thus, it is controlled by the grammar of the language.