A Comparative Study Of Ewenki Dialect Phonetics Based On Phonetic Acoustic Parameter Database

On the basis of previous research,this paper is established on the phonetic sound parameter database of Solon dialect,Olguya dialect and Tungus dialect of Evenki language by applying the theories and methodology of experimental phonetics and statistics knowledge to describe and compare the phonetic and stress characteristics of the different Evenki dialects.This research includes introduction,chapter I,chapter II,chapter III,chapter IV,conclusion,references,appendices,etc.The principle arguments of this paper have the following pointsIn general,the phonetic system of three Evenki dialects are mostly identical.All three dialects share the short vowels like/e,0,u,u,o,(?),i,I,e/and long vowels like/(?),o:,u:,(?):,i:,I:,e:/,consonants like/p,t,k,ph,th,kh,t∫j,t∫h,tc,ts,txh,tsh,s,∫,x,v,j,w,n,m,η,η,(?),r/.The differences in the phonetic and stress in terms of three dialects are mainly manifested through the following aspects.1.About the vowel,(1)the single vowel system of three dialects are different in the vowels of/I,e,o/and/I:,e:,o:/.In the Solon dialect[e]is an allophone of/I/,while[I]is an allophone of/e/in Olguya dialect.There is no short vowel[e]and long vowel[I:]in the Tungus dialect,and there are no vowel phonemes of/I:/and/o:/in Olguya.For the vowel system of three Evenki dialects,the vowels of o and o:are barely used.(2)Both the Solon dialect and the Tungus dialect have the diphthongs like/ai,(?)i,ui/.Two dialects mainly differ from each other on the diphthongs/u i/and/(?)i/.There are no diphthongs in the Olguya dialect.2.In terms of consonants,(1)the consonant system of three dialects mainly differ in the phonemes and their variants of stops and affricates,(2)The geminated consonant is a special phonetic phenomenon unique in the three Evenki dialects.Stops,affricates,nasals,laterals,and trills can form geminated consonants.Geminated consonants are more common in Solon dialect,in which there are many geminated consonants such as tt,kk,pp,thth,tftf,rr,nn,mm,ηη,(?).As for the Tungus dialect there are geminated consonants of khkh,thth,nn,ηη(only a few geminated consonants exist in this dialect,with only stops and nasals forming geminated consonants).In the Olguya dialect there are geminated consonants of thth,khkh,nn,mm,ηη,(?),rr etc.(In this dialect the geminated consonants are composed of stops,nasals,laterals and trills).All three dialects don’t have consonant clusters within a syllable.3.About the phonetic change,for all three dialects,at the initial syllable of a word,the short vowels following voiceless fricatives and aspirated stops devoiced for some time.For the Solon dialect,vowels followed nasals at the end of a word will nasalize while there is no such phenomenon in the other two dialects.The consonants have many phonetic changes,such as unreleasing of stops,delayed releasing of stops,nasal releasing,fricativization of stops,devoicing of voiced laterals,voicing of voiceless stops,fricativization of trills,etc.Among which the three dialects share the phenomena of unreleasing of stops,fricativization of stops,devoicing of voiced laterals,fricativization of trills,etc.Delayed releasing only occurs in Tungus and Olguya dialects,while nasal releasing only occurs in Olguya dialects,and voicing of voiceless stops only appears in Tungus dialect4.All three dialects of Evenki language have the phenomenon of vowel harmony,among which the Solon and Tungus are stricter in abiding by vowel harmony,however this law is already loosened in Olguya dialect5.The stress in the Evenki language is categorized as the pitch stress,which is epitomized by those syllables carrying highest pitch are relatively powerful and clear.The distribution of stress positions for three dialects bear some apparent differences.The stress in Solon and Olguya dialects is positioned at the last syllable,yet the stress in Tungus lies at the second syllable6.For all three Evenki dialects,the most representative syllable structures include four types of V,VC,CV and CVC,wherein CV and CVC are the main syllable typesThe major creativity of this paper:apply the theory and methodology of acoustic phonetics and statistics to do a systematic and quantitative analysis on the pronunciation and word stress of three Evenki dialects,on which basis a relatively detailed comparative study is carried out in terms of the pronunciation and stress of these dialects.The research results bear a considerable reference value in the basic and application research for the Manchu-Tungus languages and even the whole Altaic language family.