四縣客家話音節首塞音嗓音起始時長之研究：孤立音節   全文下載

Voice Onset Time of Syllable-Initial Stops in Sixian Hakka: Isolated Syllables

本研究主要目的在於探討四縣客家話孤立音節的音節首塞音，在不同發音位置、不同後接元音、不同說話者性別及年齡等因素作用下，所產生的嗓音起始時長（Voice Onset Time,VOT）的變異，為客家話VOT在這些因素影響下建立參照標準。36位苗栗在地的客家鄉親參與本項研究，依據他們的性別、年齡不同，共分成六組。他們唸讀一組由客家話塞音[p, t, k,ph, th, kh]搭配[i, a, u]及兩個高調所形成的36個字詞，隨後並利用PRAAT進行切音與塞音VOT測量。研究結果顯示，除了性別之外，其他因素都對客語塞音的VOT達到顯著的影響。雖然性別因素並未達到統計上的顯著差異水準，但若從VOT絕對值來看，兩性之間呈現出明顯不同，這與社會語言學研究中對於兩性的觀察不謀而合。此外，本研究更特別對塞音發音位置與後接元音之間的互動關係進行深入的論述，說明元音的高低對VOT的影響大於元音的前後。總結而言，本研究的貢獻在於以較大樣本數的分析來瞭解客家話VOT及其變化，並同時為未來客家話與漢語方言或其他語言在VOT的比較上建立參照基礎，特別是對比客家話與客庄中不同國籍外籍配偶的語言。

This study investigates the “voice onset time” (VOT) variation in syllable-initial stops of Sixian Hakka in isolated syllables, according to factors including place of articulation (PoA), following vowel context, and the speakers’ age and gender. Thirty-six participants provided speech recordings. They were required to repeat a randomized list of 36 speech stimuli constructed by using 6 syllableinitial stops [p, t, k, ph, th, kh] preceding 3 corner vowels [i, u, a] in 2 high-level tones [55, 55]. A total of 3,888 samples were measured for VOT values in PRAAT. The research results showed that the factors other than gender affected the VOT production of Hakka syllable-initial stops. In accordance with observations in previous sociolinguistic studies of gender, gender differences concerning the VOT absolute values were also observed despite showing no statistically significant differences. Furthermore, the factorial interaction between the stops’ PoA and the following vowel context, which was discussed in detail, showed that vowel height has a stronger effect on VOT than vowel frontness. To conclude, this study substantially contributes to the understanding of VOT and its variation in Hakka, and to further comparisons of the VOT systems of stops between Hakka and other Chinese dialects or foreign languages, particularly for foreign spouses who immigrated to Hakka villages.