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The variability on the short vowels quality in Czech

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2018

Abstract

The paper deals with some differences on the pronunciation of vowels in the Bohemian and Moravian Czech region. The topic under the discussion is the variability of short vowels as to the open/close feature.

In general descriptions, the pronunciation of the high front vowels are mentioned after all. However, the difference seems to be more principal one.

In the Bohemian Czech, in which a relatively open articulation is common, vowels tend to centralization in the F1 / F2 space, formant frontier zones of individual vowels overlap sometimes. The Moravian Czech keeps a more closed articulation and the differences of individual vowels in the F1 / F2 space retain to be distinct.

Several charts of vowels plotted in the F1/F2 space, based on data of real pronunciation, are presented in the paper for demonstration. The aim of the paper is to bring those differences under the discussion from the point of view of the standard Czech as a homogeneous language.