Voice Onset Time (VOT) Analysis of Saraiki Stops: Phonological and Perceptual Implications

Abstract

The purpose of current study is to investigate Voice Onset Time (VOT) for Saraiki stops of the Multani dialect and their subsequent effects on the vowel duration. The nature of this study is descriptive, and it has employed an experimental and descriptive research design. By employing criterion purposive sampling technique (Dörnyei, 2007), five participants from native Saraiki speakers between the age of 20-35, and specifically from native Multani Dialect have been selected. The Saraiki 16 stops (bilabials, dental, retroflex, velar and uvular) were recorded from five Saraiki speakers of the Multani dialect. These stops were recorded in a CVC pattern where the initial consonants were meant for analysis. The Praat software has been used for generating spectrograms and waveforms of each stops and their effects of Vowel length have been measured and marked. The findings revealed that among all the stops, dental / ʈ / has the shortest VOT duration (0.009 ms), whereas the bilabial aspirated / bʰ / has the longest VOT duration (0.140 ms). In Saraiki voiceless stops, the dental / t / has the shortest VOT duration (0.009 ms), and bilabial aspirated/ pʰ / has the longest VOT duration (0.028). In Saraiki voiced stops, the alveolar / ɖ / has the shortest VOT duration (0.40 ms) while bilabial aspirated / bʰ / has the longest VOT duration (0.140 ms). The results also revealed vowel sound was longer after the voiced bilabial aspirated /bʰ/ (0.197 ms) and shorter after voiceless stop /k/ (0.136 ms). Overall VOT and vowel length was found higher in aspirated as compare to un aspirated stops. The study recommends the comparison of VOT of Saraiki stops with other regional languages.