LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 10 : 4 April 2010
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         K. Karunakaran, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.

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An Acoustic Analysis of Glottal Fricative [h] at Word Medial and Final Positions:
A Comparison between Regular and Non-regular Urdu Speakers of Pakistan

Azhar Pervaiz, M.Phil., Ph.D. Candidate
Tahir Ghafoor Malik, M.Phil., Ph.D. Candidate

Abstract

In this paper, the acoustic properties of voiceless glottal fricative [h] in Urdu language are analyzed and compared between regular and non-regular Urdu speakers. Regular Urdu speakers imply those speakers whose L1 is Urdu; whereas non-regular Urdu speakers imply those whose L1 is Pashto and/or Punjabi.

Data relating to [h] at word medial and word final position are taken in carrier phrases of both regular and non-regular Urdu speakers. Data of ten speakers were taken and analyzed through PRAAT and it was found that the regular Urdu speakers have longer duration while closing an Urdu word at /h/ sound than non-regular Urdu speakers and none of the speakers shows any sign of [h] at word final position. The paper also shows that the duration of [h] sound at word medial position of regular Urdu speakers is longer than the duration of [h] sound of non-regular Urdu speakers.

1. Introduction

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and one of the state languages of India and has more than 60 million first language speakers and more than 100 million total speakers in more than 20 countries (Gordon 2005). Urdu Language has only one glottal fricative, i.e. [h] which is voiceless. In a voiced sound the vocal folds are closed together and vibrating but in a voiceless sound they are pulled apart. This position will produce a completely voiceless sound if there is little or no air flow through the glottis as in the case of voiceless fricative. But if there is considerable air flow as in h- like sound, the vocal folds will set vibrating while remaining apart. They can still vibrate but at the same time a great deal of air passes out through the glottis.

In English /h/ is somewhat like the voiceless counterpart of the surrounding sounds. At the beginning of a sentence /h/ is like a voiceless vowel, but /h/ can also occur between vowels in words or phrases like "behind the head". As you move from one vowel through /h/ to another, the articulatory movement is continuous and the /h/ is signaled by a weakening of the sound which may not even result in a completely voiceless sound (Ladefoged, 2001:56).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

The Influence of First Language Grammar (L1) on the English Language (L2) Writing of Tamil School Students: A Case Study from Malaysia | Economic Hardship and Emotional Humiliation in Mulk Raj Anand's Untouchable | Effects of Using Urdu Dictionary as a Teaching Tool for Teaching Urdu in Urdu Language Classroom in Pakistan | Acoustic Correlates of Stress in Mizo, a Tonal Language | Racism and the American Dream in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men | Stimulating Language Strategies through Thinking - Help for Slow Learners | Masses as the True Makers of History - Analysis of the Play The Trial of Dedan Mimathi | Personal and Labour Market Environment Factors in English for Employability: A Case Study of KSA | A Study of the Reported Language Skill Development Strategies of the Student Teachers in Pakistan | Strategies for Communication Skills Development | Schema in Learning | Achieving Professional Goals: Use of a Mixed Discourse in Interviews | The Reality in Langston Hughes' Poems | Techniques to Teach Vocabulary to Regional Medium Students | Life History of Buddha as Reflected in Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha | Technique as Voyage of Discovery: A Study of the Techniques in Dante's Paradiso | Some Gaps in the Current Studies of Reading in Second/Foreign Language Learning | Unmasking Student Competence: Using Computers to Teach Writing | Feminist Literary Criticism | Amy Tan and Chinese American Literature | An Acoustic Analysis of Glottal Fricative [h] at Word Medial and Final Positions:
A Comparison between Regular and Non-regular Urdu Speakers of Pakistan | Teaching Writing Skills | Self-esteem of Institutionalised Elderly Women in Coimbatore - A Case History | An Assessment on Women's Work Participation and Economic Equality | Economics of Crime : A Comparative Analysis of the Socio-Economic Conditions of Convicted Female and Male Criminality in Selected Prisons in Tamil Nadu | A PRINT VERSION OF ALL THE PAPERS OF APRIL 2010 ISSUE IN BOOK FORMAT | HOME PAGE of April 2010 Issue | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR

Azhar Pervaiz, M.Phil., Ph.D. Scholar
Department of English (SS&H)
University of Management & Technology Lahore (UMT)
C-II, Johar Town, P.O. Box 54770
Lahore
Punjab, Pakistan
Sargodhian67@yahoo.com

Tahir GhafoorMalik, M.Phil., Ph.D. Scholar
Department of English (SS&H)
University of Management & Technology Lahore (UMT)
C-II, Johar Town, P.O. Box 54770. Lahore
Punjab, Pakistan

 
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