Voice Register in Suai (Kuai): An Analysis of Perceptual and Acoustic Data

Abstract

Analyses of the perceptual and acoustic characteristics of the Register 1(ʼclearʼ) versus Register 2 (ʼbreathyʼ) distinction have been carried out on the Kuaidialect of Suai, a Mon-Khmer language. The perception results were obtainedfrom five-parameter synthesized stimuli. They showed that the primary parameterunderlying the distinction is the frequency of onset of laryngeal excitation (F0).One other parameter making a significant contribution was the open quotient. TheF0 result was confirmed by an acoustic analysis of eight pairs of natural utterancesproduced by native speakers. We conclude that the Suai language is in a stateof flux with respect to the voice registers, although the distinction has not disappeared.The perceptual data reveal mixed levels of sensitivity, and the productiondata indicate that some speakers maintain a fairly good distinction, while othersdo not. The language seems to be replacing the register distinction with a prosodicone of pitch accent, possibly as a stage leading to tonogenesis.