Vowel Quality Effects on Fundamental Frequency in Ghanaian English

Abstract

This study presents some more evidence from Ghanaian English for the existence of Intrinsic Fundamental Frequency IF0 in both the front vowels and back vowels, which may differ other English varieties. Data was recorded from five male and five female speakers of Ghanaian English who spoke English test words in ‘hVd’ phonetic environments in a carrier sentence: ‘say ----- again’ into PRAAT software with the help of a head-mounted Shure microphone. Extracted F0, F1 and F2 values of the vowels were taken from onset to offset. The IF0 values were calculated by subtracting the F0 of the low vowel from that of the high vowels and this was done for each vowel from the onset to the offset where pitch drops steadily in the words used. The IF0 of the speakers were compared with IF0 of other English varieties in the literature. The analysis indicated positive IF0 in both high and low pitch sections of the front vowels although there is a reduction in the IF0 values for the female speakers. The back vowels for the females on the other hand, showed positive IF0 values at the low pitch sections of the vowels indicating no neutralization of IF0 unlike what happens in the front vowels for the same group of speakers. In the front vowels, the male speakers showed a reduction of IF0 in mid pitch regions but at the low pitch regions there is neutralization of the IF0. There is however, no neutralization of IF0 in the low pitch regions for the back vowels. The study concludes that although there is the presence of IF0 in Ghanaian English, neutralization of the phenomenon in low pitch is not consistent in the front and back vowels for male and female speakers.