Experimental phonetics. Changes in the location of vowels

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2017 in the subject Speech Science / Linguistics, grade: B, University of Education, course: EXPERIMENTAL PHONETICS, language: English, abstract: The positions of individual vowels in the acoustics vowels space often change over time in languages of which Asante-Twi a dialect of Akan is not an exception. Sound changes in languages are typically associated with social factors like age, gender, social class. This study will explore the changes in the location of vowels as produced by four generational of speakers of Asante-Twi speakers. Fant (1966) also posits that since the length of the vocal track determines the overall patterns change, age and depend on gender. The current study will therefore investigate whether generational differences can affect vowel quality by comparing speakers of Asante-Twi with ages 6-14, 19-24, 40-50 and 60+.