Spectrographic Analysis of Articulatory Variations in the Vocalisations of Selected Nigerian Newscasters
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Date
2023
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Journal of Linguistics & Literature
Abstract
Since the 20th century, with the launch of natural language processing
software, such as the Praat software in 1995, speech analysis has transcended
subjective interpretations to scientific evaluations. This study aimed to carry
out a spectrographic analysis of articulatory variations in the vocalizations of
selected Nigerian Newscasters using the application of the Praat software.
More importantly, the articulatory variations traceable in the vocalizations of
the newscasters that are indicative of hyperarticulations and hyperarticulations are examined. Ten (10) words were selected from a corpus of
spoken texts collected through the survey method— the interview of selected
Nigerian newscasters. From the data analysis, it was found that
hyperarticulations are marked by phonemic substitution, /r/ intrusion, and
vowel length elongation while a lack of pitch variation, phonemic reduction,
and syllabic reduction indicates hypoarticulations. Also, it has been found that
both hyperarticulations and hyper-articulations are reflections of the attitudes
of the studied newscasters as second-language speakers of English towards
the attainment of proficiency in the standard variety. Not only attitude but also
variations impact on other cognitive and social factors that are manifestations of
the sociolinguistic realities of the studied context.