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Comparison of vowel space of male speakers of Croatian, Serbian and Slovenian language

Commonly the vowel system of RP Croatian is described with five cardinal vowels in terms of IPA vowel space (Varošanec-Škarić, 2010). Usually it is perceived that the vowel system of Serbian language is more open than Croatian. Further on, Slovenian corner vowels /i, u, a/ are less “ideal” than vowel chart of Croatian corner vowels (Tivadar, 2003) or according to Toporičič (2000) they are described as “ideal”. Although Slovenian linguists disagree in the number of standard vowels (from 8 (Toporišič, 1975) to 9 (Jurgec, 2005)) we compared 8 vowels. Naturally, Slovenian vowel system is different from Croatian and Serbian. However, contrastive analysis commonly compare vowels of different languages. For example, Srebot-Rejec (1988) compares Slovenian and English vowels, Tivadar (2003) Slovenian and Croatian, Sudimac (2016) compares Serbian with vowels of British English. Jovičić (1999) presents detailed description of the articulation and chart of vowel space F1 – F2 for five Serbian vowels respectively for male and female speech based on spectral analysis. However, author doesn`t give precise formant values. Although there are several previous research on formant values for Croatian language (Škarić, 1991, Bakran and Stamenković (1990), Varošanec-Škarić (2010) and also for Slovenian language (e.g. Lehiste 1961, Toporišič 1975, 2000 ; Ozbič 1998, Tivadar 2003, Jurgec 2005) because of the different number of speakers, different methods and number of measured formants, the goal of this research was to conduct an analysis on similar corpora and to determine similarity or differences in the vowel pronunciation for three similar languages. Pragmatically, the goal was to compare average formant values (F1, F2, F3) for Croatian RP based on previous research of Varošanec-Škarić and Pavić (2015) which was the reference for the other comparisons (e.g. with Croatian dialects or similar Slavic languages). Method Formant values of F1, F2, F3 (mean, min, max, S.D. in Hz) for all three languages were measured in speech samples of native speakers. Speakers (N= 42, age median 22) read the same (Croatian and Serbian) or very similar (Slovenian) declarative sentences with two syllabic “target” words at the end of each sentence. Twenty words for each vowel were then analyzed in Praat (Boersma and Weenink, 2015 ; Ver. 6.0.14). Considering the fact that all three vowel system are without diphthongs, formant values were measured in one stabile point of the stressed vowel of the target word. To achieve more reliable results and because of possible formant overlapping, visual inspection was conducted and if needed hand corrections were made. Having in mind that Slovenian language has 8 vowels it was considered to choose the words in the same phonological environment as in Croatian and Serbian language. Three expert listeners (native speakers) verified the pronunciation for the RP Croatian, Slovenian and Serbian and 14 young male speakers were chosen for the analysis. Speakers were recorded in the capitals of three countries with the same recording equipment in the period of 2015 and beginning of 2017. Results were statistically tested using ANOVA (single and two factor analysis). Results and discussion Comparison of Croatian and Serbian language. Results have showed that F1 values are statistically significantly higher for vowel [a] for Croatian speakers (704.86: 632.72 Hz ; p<0.0001) which means that they are more open in Croatian. Further on, F1 was lower for [i] (295, 12: 322, 06 Hz) and [u] (344, 1: 391, 02 Hz ; p<0.0001) which means that they are more close in Croatian than in Serbian. Differences of F1 for vowel [e] were not statistically significant although the value was somewhat lower in Serbian language. F2 values are significantly higher in Croatian for the following vowels: [i] (2177.19: 2063.41 Hz) and [e] (1811.21: 1725.51 Hz) (p<0.0001) which means they are more front in Croatian language. Significant difference in the values of F1 and F2 for vowel [u] (p<0.0001) and F3 (p= 0, 01) reveal more back pronunciation in Croatian language. It is interesting to notice that average values of F3 for all vowels are lower in Croatian language and significantly lower for [e] and [u] (p=0.01) which shows that the vocal tract is somewhat longer in the pronunciation of Croatian vowels. Results partly confirm the hypothesis that some Croatian vowels are more closed in Croatian: significantly for [i] and [u] and insignificantly for [e]. However, it is surprising that the vowel [a] is significantly more open in Croatian then in Serbian language. And it is confirmed that vowels [i] and [e] are significantly more front in Croatian language. Comparison of Croatian and Slovenian language. Based on the results it can be claimed that the pronunciation of Slovenian vowel [a] is more closed and more front than Croatian vowel [a] which is, based on acoustic analysis the most central and most open vowel Croatian vowel. Further on, results have showed that Croatian [i] is more front while Slovenian [i] is more lax pronounced. Croatian [u] is more rounded (lower F2) than Slovenian which is more centrally pronounced. However, even more significant is the difference between Slovenian closed [e] and Croatian [e] for all three formants (F1, F2, F3 ; p <0, 0001) i.e. Slovenian closed [e] is more close and more front than Croatian [e]. It was interesting to notice that Slovenian open ɛ is different from Croatian [e] only for F3 values (p = 0, 001) which means that they differ in the length of vocal tract (longer in Croatian pronunciation) ; Croatian [e] is slightly closer and more front. Further on, Slovenian open /o/ ɔ has significantly lower F2 compared to Croatian [o] (p <0, 0001), F3 of Slovenian ɔ is significantly higher (p = 0, 001). It can be concluded that Slovenian ɔ is more back and less rounded than Croatian [o]. Pronunciation of Slovenian close [o] is more closed compared to Croatian [o] because F1 is significantly lower (480: 511 Hz ; p <0, 0001). The differences between vowel spaces between three languages (RP varieties) are shown in Fig. 1. Considering the fact that we analyzed the same age group of male speakers in which such differences in vowel pronunciation were not expected, results can be useful in the context of analyzing the differences between Croatian, Serbian and Slovenian language.

vowel space, Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian, male, formants

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