Contrast in vowel quality in Burmese and Thai Mon varieties: Phonetic indicators towards a restructured language

Authors

  • Narinthorn Sombatnan Behr Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

Keywords:

Burmese Mon, Mon language, on-gliding phase of vowels, phonetics, Thai Mon

Abstract

The Mon language, a register language, has a number of vowels with on-gliding phases
that could eventually develop into diphthongs. These have never been acoustically studied.
The objective of this study was to clarify the vowel characteristics in order to assess the
possibility for change toward a restructured language. The results showed that some F1, F2,
and F3 values in Burmese Mon (BM) could be used to differentiate clear from breathy
vowels, especially in the on-gliding phase. F3 values as well as a tendency to diphthongization
could be crucial factors in how BM vowels differ from Thai Mon (TM) vowels.
Nonetheless, it is likely to take some time to justify whether the Mon language will change
and whether BM will ultimately become a different language type from TM. These Mon
varieties seem to be on the continuum of language change.

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Published

13-07-2018

How to Cite

Sombatnan Behr, N. (2018). Contrast in vowel quality in Burmese and Thai Mon varieties: Phonetic indicators towards a restructured language. Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, 41(1), 200–207. Retrieved from https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/kjss/article/view/231623

Issue

Vol. 41 No. 1 (2020): January-April

Section

Research articles

License

Copyright (c) 2018 Kasetsart University

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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/