Comparative study of voice onset time in English word-initial stop consonants produced by Uzbek and American speakers of English
The purpose of this study is to shed light on a comparative study of Voice Onset Time (VOT) values produced by Uzbek speakers of English and native speakers of American English. The study aimed to determine significant differences in terms of the VOT value in pronunciation of voiced and voiceless...
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Main Authors: | , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2021
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Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18044/1/44842-167719-1-PB.pdf http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18044/ https://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1423 |
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Summary: | The purpose of this study is to shed light on a comparative study of Voice Onset Time (VOT) values produced by
Uzbek speakers of English and native speakers of American English. The study aimed to determine significant
differences in terms of the VOT value in pronunciation of voiced and voiceless stop consonants in word-initial
positions. Scholarly sources on the comparative study of Uzbek and English phonetics suggest that most of the
Uzbek stop consonants possess similar qualities to those of English stop sounds (Abduazizov 1992; Yusupov 2013).
A descriptive comparison of Uzbek and English consonants demonstrates the difference between the two
languages in isolated forms rather than in speech. This study is motivated by the fact that little is known about
recent studies on the instrumental comparative study of English plosives produced by Uzbek speakers of American
English. In addition, so far, no studies have been carried out in VOT analysis of English sounds produced by
Uzbek speakers. The research was conducted through voice recording and analyses of data collected from Uzbek
speakers and American native speakers. Recordings of 3240 overall tokens were collected and analyzed using
Praat phonetic software. The mean VOT values obtained from both subject groups have been compared and
statistically tested using the Independent Samples t-test. The research findings show that Uzbek subjects’ and
American native subjects’ VOT values differ significantly. However, there are a few words (9 out of 52) where
the differences in the VOT values of the two subject groups are not statistically significant. The research presents
implications for teaching pronunciation of English plosive sounds in word-initial positions where a stop
consonant followed by a vowel sound to Uzbek speakers of English by taking into account the periodic
measurement of consonants. In addition, there are implications for future research that might explore other
features of VOT produced by Uzbek language speakers. |
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