Analysis Of The Acoustic Characteristics Of Vowels Of The Ipa Symbol System

Using the method of the vowel patterns, this paper analyzes the acoustic festures of the main vowels' of the international phonetic symbol system pronounced by 11 China and foreign coutries' scholars. Moreover, also combines these features with those of 26 languages' main monophthongs. From the linguistics,phonetics and statistics angles, we trying to find the overall character of the international phonetic symbol so as to prove the scientificalness of the international phonetic symbol system and the deep anastomosing of it with the discipline of mankind languages.Concretely, first, by means of experimenting on the IPA pronounced by those scholars, we found that everyone's acoustic spaces of the vowol patterns are different, which are independent with each other and also have some degree of resemblance between them. Due to the difference between individual's physiological conditions, the size and height of the vowel patterns pronounced by each scholar both are different. But, after relativezation and normalization on the acoustic spaces, it is evidently that in these acoustic spaces, the IPA vowel patterns pronounced by those scholars are relatively stable and ordered. Further, we investigated the relative positon,the size of distribution areas,the combination relation and aggregating relation between vowels, and arrive at some concrete conclusion. Finally, we inspected the IPA's acoustic features of 26 languages and those pronounced by 11 scholars, compared the main vowels of them, and then observed their similarities and differences in distribution range,distribution mode,systematicness etc., thus digged the acoustic features of the factual pronounciation of the IPA symbol system further.In a word,to each factual pronouncer of the IPA, the acoustic features of their pronounciation are related to their native language backgroud,individual pronouncing habit,physiological and psychological conditions,resolving ability. But, if based on vowel patterns' notion, examining the combination relation and aggregating relation between vowels pronounced by everyone, we found that although each scholar using the IPA system with his/her own habit or even with biased error, the corresponding relation wound not be reversed in the mass. In the same way, this proved that although the symbols in the IPA vowels' chart are a system which is designed to describe a error-free ideal speech system of "linguistics-phonetic property", but this system is not definitely points to a certain speech group. It does not provide phonologic analysis to any given language, does not deal with any language's individual "correct" transcription, but provides necessary resources for the far-ranging understanding of all types' phonetic analysis. From the acoustic angle, this thesis proved that the principle,design,applying,notion of the international phonetic vowel symbol system are in accordance with the general discipline of human languages. We do have scientific methods to understand and grasp them.