Vowel intensity in read Japanese

Abstract

The peak intensity values of vowels in several CV moras were studied, using a passage of news-broadcasting read by a professional male speaker. Several factors operate in determining vowel intensity.(1) Grammatical function of the word in which the vowel is located: the most significant and consistent difference is higher intensities for nouns than verbs; however, vowels in reduced nouns with more functional roles (such as /ka/in “no-naka-de” ‹in the›) show verb-like intensities.(2) Phrasal or sentential position of the mora: the vowel intensity is higher at the beginning and lower near the end.(3) Position within the word and word length: vowels in the first three moras of a noun are relatively high in intensity, while those near the end of a long compound noun (12th and later) are extremely low.(4) Vowels in particles and verb inflections are high in intensity when there is a strong continuation to the following word or phrase.(5) Accent patterns generally do not play a significant role; however, certain articulatory sequences produce a dramatic intensity difference between accented and non-accented vowels in the first mora of a word.