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AL-USTATH Special issue of the international scientific conference ( 2016 M- 1437 e)

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An Acoustic Analysis of the Arabic “ياء” [ja: ʔ]:

A Comparative Study of Two Iraqi Dialects

Asst. Lect. Hayder Tuama Jasim Al-Saedi

Misan University College of Basic Education

Abstract: The study is designed to test the acoustic characteristics of two realizations of the

Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] as a vowel in two Iraqi dialects. There were one hundred people

(24-45 years old) participated in this study. They divided into two groups based on

their native dialects. Fifty participants (male and female speaker) speak the Maysan

City Center Colloquial Arabic (MCCCA) from Alamarah. The other fifty participants

speak the Maysan Country or Rural Colloquial Arabic (MCRCA) from the districts

around Alamarah. They were given twenty utterances (data collection) to read them

off, and their voices were recorded in a private room. The researcher used a software

(Goldwave V.6.13) used to purify the the recordings from the noise which may

affects the data analysis. The recordings were the input (data analysis) into two

software; they are Speech Analyzer V.3.1 and Praat V. 5.4.15. The software extracted

the formant frequencies for both MCCCA and MCRCA in spectrograms which

showed that the Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] has different acoustic features in the two dialects.

Based on the International Phonetic Alphabet chart (IPA), it is pronounced as [i:] in

MCRCA and [ia] in MCCCA. Consequently, the vowels, in Iraqi dialects, show

different spectrographic features in the pronunciation of vowels.

Key words: Iraqi Arabic; MCCCA; MCRCA; Spectrogram; Formants.

I. Introduction:

Arabic is one of the most common languages in the world. Amir et

al (2014) reveal that it is “spoken by 250 × 106

(250.000.000) native

speakers over large parts of the world, mainly around the Mediterranean

in North Africa and Middle East.” Alotaibi & Hussain (2010) state that

the huge number of the Arabic speakers makes it the second most spoken

language in the world.

Arabic is the language of the Holy Quran where its language is

called Classic Arabic (CA). It is a little different from today’s Arabic,

which is called Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Nowadays, MSA has

different variations. Fergusan (1959) and Kaye (1994) say it is known

for its “diglossia.” It makes them to have different varieties such as MSA

and Colloquial Arabic dialects and low varieties of Arabic.

Iraqi Arabic is one of the dialects of Arabic. It is spoken in Iraq

and it has some dialects inside the Iraqi society such as Mouselawi,

Baghdadi, Boudoin, and southern dialects. Baghdadi dialect, for

example, is spoken in the mid and some cities around Baghdad.

However, Mouslawi is spoken by people who live in Mousel and regions

around it. Some dialects of south Iraq have different varieties in specific

linguistic technique such as the dialects of city center of Maysan, an

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Iraqi city, and the districts around it, which are the focus of this study.

These dialects can be realized from their speakers especially when they

pronounce the sound “ق” [q]. For example, it is pronounced just like the

Standard Arabic [q] in Mouselawi. However, the speakers of the other

dialects, in Iraq, can pronounce it like the Egyptian [g]. This made the

Iraqi Arabic dialects are distinguished from each other based on their

phonetic features of their peonounciation.

Different varieties of Arabic have different functions. For

example, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the official variety of

Arabic. Alghamdi (1998) states that Modern Standard Arabic is based on

Classic Arabic (CA) in terms of lexicon, syntax, morphology, semantics,

and phonology. It is the language of Media, education, and written texts

such as literature, newspaper and so on. Furthermore, colloquial dialects

are spoken in the daily conversation and public speech of the native

speakers of Arabic. For instance, the Iraqi dialects of Arabic are different

from the Saudi or Algerian dialects of Arabic. Consequently, Iraqi

Arabic distinctive from the other dialects of Arabic.

Generally, Arabic vowels, in some cases, are written and appeared

in words as they are uttered. Kotby et al (2011) states that vowels cannot

been seen as letters in the writing system of Arabic. Kotby et al (2011)

and Abdul-Kadir & Sudirman (2011) say that they can be seen as

diacritic marks, which are Fatha [a] “ َ ”, Kasra [i] “ َ ”, and damma [u]

“ َ ”. Moreover, Abdul-Kadir & Sudirman (2011) add that there are other

diacritics such as nunation (Tanwin) “ َ ” and consonant doubling

(shadda) [ َ ]. Kotby et al (2011) reveal that these diacritics can appear

above or under the consonants in the writing system of Arabic and they

are realized from speaking.

Amir et al (2014) say, “Differences between MSA and Colloquial

dialects exist on all linguistic levels at different degrees in each dialect.”

The variation in the pronunciation of consonants and vowels changes in

the Arabic dialects. Mitchell (1993) states that the vowel system of

Arabic (CA and MSA) contains three vowels, which are open and close

front, close back, and any changes from short to long vowels are based

on the applications of these three vowels. Abdul-Kadir & Sudirman

(2011) add that the three Arabic vowels are “ياء” [ja:ʔ], “الف” [ʔalef], and

,In other words, the vowel system of Arabic has six vowels .[waw] ”واو“

short vowels /a, i, u/ and long vowels /a:, i:, u:/ (Alghamdi, 1998). These

vowels vary among the speakers of colloquial dialects, as in the dialects

of Iraq, especially in Maysan. It makes each vowel sound has some

different variants. It can be changed to be a diphthong or to another

vowel. For example, the vowel /i/ can be pronounced differently, you

will see that below in the following pages.

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This study is limited to the Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ]. In Maysan, it varies

and changes in its pronunciation from one area to another. The

realization and awareness of uttering this sound shows different language

variations of Iraqi Arabic between the dialect of the city center of

Maysan, Alamarah and the districts around it such as Almadgir, AlUzair,

etc. These districts indicate to the rural or country areas in Maysan and

people who live there speak the same dialect which can show their rural

style in speaking. The researcher would like to give acronyms to the

dialects of Maysan. MCCCA stands for the Maysan City Center

Colloquial Arabic and MCRCA stands for the dialect of Maysan Country

or Rural Colloquial Arabic. The purpose behind making these acronyms

is to make it easy to talk about each dialect in this study.

The Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] is realized differently in the dialect of

Maysan. In MCCCA, which is spoken in Alamarah, it seems that people

pronounce it like a diphthong in the closed syllables. However, it is

pronounced as front high long vowel /i:/ in MCRCA in the closed

syllables as well. For example, the word “two” is pronounced as

[ʔɪθnian] in MCCCA and [ʔɪθni:n] in MCRCA. To be sure that these

differences are correct, the researcher purports to investigate the Arabic

.acoustically [ja:ʔ] ”ياء“

Linguistically and acoustically, much research of acoustic

investigations has done on Arabic language. For example, in their study,

Amir et al (2014) investigated the acoustic characteristics of vowel

systems of two dialects of Arabic in Israel. Another acoustic study is

done by Alghamdi (1998); the results of his study reveal that there are

differences among the Saudi, Sudanese, and Egyptian dialects in the

vowel quality because it measured the formant frequencies, which are

important to determine the quality of the Arabic vowels. Moreover, some

other studies have investigated the spectral and acoustical analysis of

Arabic vowels for the speakers that have communication disorders and

speaking aphasics where speakers suffer uttering issues when they speak

in their daily life (Kotby et al, 2010; Adam, 2014).

The previous literature used technology to measure the differences

in vowels, which show variations among Arabic dialects and other

languages. For example, Amir et al (2014) investigated formant 1 and 2

of Arabic and Hebrew to reveal the differences of the vowels between

them.

In Iraqi Arabic, especially, the dialects of Maysan, there is less

research has done to investigate the different varieties among its dialects

in the region of Maysan. Moreover, based on the researcher’s experience

in this field of acoustic phonetics of Iraqi Arabic, it may be no acoustic

analysis of Arabic vowels in MCCCA and MCRCA.

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The researcher investigated the mid-position of the Arabic “ياء”

[ja:ʔ] in both MCCCA and MCRCA. The purpose behind investigating

the medial position of this vowel is to prevent and avoid the phrase final

effects of lengthening the vowels (open syllables). Because the first three

formants are important to determine and recognize the vowels (Rogers,

2000), the researcher investigated the formant extraction of the Arabic

in MCCCA and MCRCA, and analyzed it acoustically to [ja:ʔ] ”ياء“

show the differences in its pronunciation by using the normal human

vision (the human eyes).

For this reason, the study aims to examine the acoustic

characteristics of the Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] and document the acoustic

analysis in MCCCA and MCRCA. In the same vein, the researcher

hypothesizes that:

There are different acoustic differences of the Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] in

these dialects.

These differences can be realized by using the normal human

being’s vision in the spectrographic analysis (spectrograms) of

.in MCCCA and MCRCA [ja:ʔ] ”ياء“

These differences can be distinguished by reading off the values of

the formant frequencies of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] in MCCCA and MCRCA.

II. Method:

A. Participants:

One hundred participants were used in this study. They were

divided into two groups; the first group (25 males and 25 females) was

born and raised in the city center of Maysan (Alamarah). They speak

MCCCA. The other group (also 25 males and 25 females); they were

born and raised in the districts of Maysan such as Almadgir. They speak

MCRCA and they are originally from the families of the villagers who

live in these regions. The participants of the two groups were the natives

of the regions that their dialects are the target variations of Arabic, which

are the focus of this study. The age range of the two groups was between

25-40 years old. They completed an informal consent form and short

questionnaire about their age, location, language, and education. The

researcher gave instructions before filling the forms and instructed them

about what to do to get information to collect the data.

B. Data Collection:

The study focuses on the Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] in MCCCA and

MCRCA, and how they show different variations in the Iraqi Arabic

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through the spectrographic analysis of this study which can be seen in

the following pages. It focuses on the acoustic structure of this vowel to

give evidence that “ياء” [ja:ʔ] has different variants in MCCCA and

MCRCA.

The participants were given twenty utterances that are used in

their daily conversations (see Table 1) to read them off in a private room

to record their pronunciation of these utterances. The utterances

translated to English and interpreted to the Modern Standard Arabic

(MSA) in order to avoid the misunderstanding of the meaning of these

utterances by Arab and foreign speakers from other countries. No. Utterance Meaning in English MSA Transcription

[maraˈtein] مرتين Twice or two times مرتين 1 [ħu:seinˈ] ٌحسين Hussein حسين 2 ايضا ً Too, also همين 3 [mɪnʔein] منًأين From where منين 4 [ʔɪθnein] أثنين Two اثنين 5 [kem] كم … How much,how many بيش 6 [:lɪmmaða] لماذا Why ليش 7 [ʔalˈʕu:zeir] العزير AlUzair العزير 8 [ʃialma:n] قطعةًحديد Piece of iron شيلمانة 9

[derzen] درزن Dozen سيت 10 [tˤawla] طاولة Table ميز 11 [ʔateituk] أتيتك I will come over جيتك 12 [ʔelˈfein] ألفين Two thousands ألفين 13 [ʕeib] عيب Shame عيب 14 [ʃeib] شيب Grey hair شيب 15 [beidˤ] بيض Eggs بيض 16 [mɪʔaˈtein] مئتين Two hundred ميتين 17 [ʔein ðahab] أينًذهب ?Where did he/she go وينًراح 18 [dʒeib] جيب Pocket جيب 19

[beit] بيت House/ home بيت 20

Table 1: The study utterances.

From Table 1, the study focuses on the Arabic vowel “ياء” [ja:ʔ] in

MCCCA and MCRCA. The target vowel was embedded in these

utterances (words), which are monosyllabic and polysyllabic utterances.

Moreover, the researcher investigated the medial position of this vowel

in the first or other syllables of the same utterance. He used the closed

syllables that include this vowel and it might show different variations

among the two dialects; MCCCA and MCRCA when “ياء” [ja:ʔ] is

pronounced.

The researcher focus on the closed syllable (CVC) and the mid-

position of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] in this study for several reasons. First, the Arabic

vowels never occur at the beginning of the words. They have to be

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preceded by Hamza “همزة” which means the “glottal stop” (Kopczynski

& Meliani, 1993). For example, the word “أثنين” [ʔaθnein], which means

“two” starts with the Arabic vowel /a/, but when we try to pronounce it,

it must be preceded by [ʔ]. In other words, acoustically, it has to start

with a glottal stop when it is pronounced and be shown by the

spectrograms. Moreover, “ياء” [ja:ʔ] cannot be treated as a vowel at the

beginning of the syllable because it does not occur at the initial position.

It is pronounced as /j/, which is a consonant. For example, the word “يد”

which means “hand” is pronounced as [jad]. Second, at the final position

of the syllable, the “ياء” [ja:ʔ] would always be pronounced as /i:/ in all

dialects. In other words, it does not show variations in the Iraqi dialects,

in general, and the dialects of Maysan; in both MCCCA and MCRCA.

Finally, the mid-position of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] (#___#) had been chosen, in this

study, to prevent the phrase final effects of the lengthened vowel (CV).

Based on the researcher’s experience as a citizen in Maysan, the mid-

position shows that the “ياء” [ja:ʔ] is a variant of the same vowel in the

two dialects; MCCCA and MCRCA. However, the researcher would let

the acoustical analysis, which is represented by the spectrograms decide

if they are variants or not. That is why he had chosen it to examine and

investigate the Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ].

C. Equipment:

The utterances were recorded with a sample rate 22 Hz in a private

recording room in the department of Fine Arts Education/ College of

Basic Education/ Misan University. The participants were given

instructions before the recording time to say the utterances in a normal

pitch and loudness. The researcher talked to the participants in order to

make them not nervous and give them the motivation by telling them

that their participation would support the success of this study.

After the recordings, the researcher examined the data by using

technology to analyze it acoustically. The researcher used computer

softwares to do that. Two softwares are used in this study; they are called

“Speech Analyzer V. 3.1” and “Praat. V.5.4.15.” The purpose behind

using these softwares is to get the “formant extraction” of the Arabic

in both MCCCA and MCRCA. In the same vein, the [ja:ʔ] ”ياء“

softwares are used to show the spectrograms of the target vowel.

A spectrogram is a tool that used in the analysis and calculation of

speech. It has two axes; the vertical axis represents the frequency values

and the horizontal axis refers to the time to measure each sound in

milliseconds (Abdul-Kadir et al, 2010). In this study, spectrograms are

used to realize the formant frequencies of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] in the recorded

utterances to distinguish the Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] between the two target

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dialects. It can illustrate the harmonics, intensity, and frequency of the

sounds. Vowels can be recognized from the formants. In the

spectrographic analyses, Rogers (2000) states that formants are

important to determine and distinguish vowels from each other.

Formants have many characteristics. They show the sequence of

the harmonics in which we can see the height and backness through the

intensity of vowels in the spectrograms. For example, in this study, the

Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] in MCCCA and MCRCA shows that it is pronounced

as two different sounds in these two dialects. Therefore, the researcher

would like to analyze this vowel acoustically through looking at the

differences among the formants visually and numerically in the target

utterances, and to see if they are pronounced differently.

There are four formants (F1, F2, F3, and F4) in the spectrogram.

Each formant has its own measurement of intensity. Their measurements

depend on the frequency and time of these formants. The frequency is

measured by Hertz (Hz) and time is measured by milliseconds as

mentioned above. F1 is approximately about 500 Hz as the highest

intensity of its frequency. The average frequency of F2 is about 2300 Hz.

F3 is about 3000 Hz and F4 is about 4400 Hz. Formant 4 is used to

determine the speech organs of the human beings; these organs are nasal

and sinus cavities. It is not important in the data analysis of this study.

The first two formants are the focus of this study to analyze “ياء” [ja:ʔ] in

MCCCA and MCRCA. They give the linguistic features of each vowel

when it is pronounced and uttered (Rogers, 2000).

Because each formant has a role to determine and distinguish

vowels in a spectrogram, this study was limited to the Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ]

to show the differences between MCCCA and MCRCA in its

pronunciation by looking at the change of the formant quality in the

target utterances (see the Results). Each formant frequency has 1000 Hz

band for adult male speakers. However, it is different for adult women;

each formant frequency is supposed to be 1100 Hz band due to the

differences in the shape of the vocal tract between males and females.

Spectrograms, in Praat, show five formants. Therefore, we need to

set the formant frequencies on 5000 Hz for male speakers and 5500 Hz

for female speakers. The reason behind that is males have different vocal

tract from the one that females have and it reflects the length of the vocal

tract. For this reason, the maximum formant settings for this study is

5000 Hz for males and 5500 Hz for females for five formants in order to

get the clear view of the spectrograms when the target vowel is analyzed.

In other words, it gives accuracy to read off the F1 and F2 of the vowel

in this study. In short, formant frequencies of female speakers [ja:ʔ] ”ياء“

are 10% higher than the ones of male speakers because females have

shorter vocal tract.

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The height of each formant gives specific interpretation of the

vowels in the spectrograms. In the interpretation of vowels, Rogers

(2000) states that if F1 has a low frequency, it means it is a high vowel.

Otherwise, if it has a high frequency, it means the vowel is low where

the tongue is low. In the same vein, F2 is important to determine the

backness of vowels. In other words, it refers to a change in the shape of

the vocal tract. If this formant is high, it means the vowel is front and

vice versa.

Because the Iraqi Arabic such as MCCCA and MCRCA are less

investigated acoustically (formant extraction) than the other dialects of

Arabic, the researcher would like to analyze the Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] in

both MCCCA and MCRCA and to measure the differences between

them by looking at the spectrographic and numerical differences in the

pronunciation of this vowel.

D. Measurements and Formant Extractions:

The recordings examined the hypotheses of this study. The

researcher used a computer software “GoldWave V.6.13” to split the

recorded utterances into a separate WAV files in order to make it easy to

elicit the target sound (The Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ]) when it would be

analyzed. The same software is used to release the noise from the

recordings in order to get the accuracy and preciseness to analyze the

data recordings.

In a personal computer, the researcher, as mentioned in

(Equipment), used Speech Analyzer and Praat to view the utterances in

spectrograms. Therefore, he could zoom in the waveforms until getting

the target area which the Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] to recognize the appearance

of the formants. Then, it should move the start and end cursor, which

would help to determine the beginning and release of the vowel. In other

words, it can tell the voice onset time (VOT) of each sound. Likewise,

the formant appearance helps to decide the average values of the formant

frequencies from the vertical axis in Hertz (Hz) in the used softwares

(Speech analyzer and Praat). The same was done for all the data

recordings of utterances for both MCCCA and MCRCA. The researcher

compared extracted measurements in each dialect. Consequently, he

could decide the differences in the pronunciation of the Arabic “ياء”

[ja:ʔ] (See the Results).

3. Results and Discussion:

The results were observed by using spectrograms in “Praat” and

“Speech Analyzer.” This section is divided into two parts; spectrograms

and formant frequencies. The spectrograms had been analyzed by using

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the normal human being’s vision (the human sight) to see the differences

between MCCCA and MCRCA in the pronunciation of the Arabic “ياء”

[ja:ʔ]. The second part summarizes a selected sample of the formant

frequencies for males and females in MCCCA and MCRCA as well to

read off these formant values by using tables and looking at the

differences between the target dialects by using graphs.

A. Spectrograms:

Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 are screenshots, which show a set of male

and female spectrograms of the Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] in MCCCA.

Figure (2): A speech analyzer screenshot of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] generated by a

MCCCA Male speaker.

Figure (3): A Praat screenshot of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] generated by a MCCCA

male speaker.

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Figure (4): A speech analyzer screenshot of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] generated by a MCCCA

female speaker.

Figure (5): A Praat screenshot of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] generated by a MCCCA female speaker.

Based on the recordings of MCCCA, the “ياء” [ja:ʔ] is pronounced

as /ia/ based on the symbols of IPA chart . Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 are

screenshots of male and female speakers of MCCCA where the

researcher extracted the “ياء” [ja:ʔ] using the mentioned softwares

(Speech analyzer and Praat). Rogers (2000) states that any differences in

the shape of the spectrograms of males and females, they belong to the

differences between the vocal tract shapes of the male and female

speakers. For this reason, from the above figures, we can notice that

there is a gap, which starts between F1 and F2. Then, it becomes narrow

when we see that F1 and F2 come to be a little closer to each other. In

other words, F1 starts low which means the pronounced vowel is high.

However, the end cursor shows that F1 goes little higher. It gives

evidence that the tongue changes from one place to another. F2 starts

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higher which means it is a front vowel and it goes lower towards F1 at

the end of its pronunciation. In other words, a change in the formant

shapes gives us a recognition that the speaker changes the pronunciation

from one vowel to another. Consequently, that is why the Arabic “ياء”

[ja:ʔ] is pronounced as [ia] based on the International Phonetic Alphabet

chart (IPA) which is revised in 2005.

In the same vein, Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9 are screenshots, which

show a set of male and female spectrograms of the Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] in

MCRCA.

Figure (6): A speech analyzer screenshot of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] generated by a MCRCA male

speaker.

Figure (7): A Praat screenshot of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] generated by a MCRCA male speaker.

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Figure (8): A speech analyzer screenshot of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] generated by a

MCRCA female speaker.

F

igure (9): A Praat screenshot of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] generated by a MCRCA female speaker.

They show that there is almost a parallel gap between F1 and F2 because

F2 is higher than F1. The start and end cursors in the above figures show

that we can notice that F1 is low, which means that “ياء” [ja:ʔ] is high.

They can enable the reader to look at the spectrogram and determine the

target vowel which is“ياء” [ja:ʔ]. In other words, the tongue is raised. F2

is high which means that the vowel is front. Consequently, based on the

realization and awareness of the pronunciation of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] in the

results, it confirms that it is pronounced as [i:].

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B. Formant Frequencies of MCCCA and MCRCA:

The Arabic “ياء” [ja:ʔ] can be realized as [i:], as mentioned above,

in MCRCA (male and female speakers) and [ia] in MCCCA (male and

female speakers). From the selected sample of formant frequencies,

Table 2 shows the formant values of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] from the start and end

cursors which can be gathered from the Speech Analyzer and Praat

spectrograms for both MCCCA and MCRCA for one female speaker and

one male speaker.

Table 2: Formant Frequencies of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] from MCCCA and

MCRCA generated by male and female speakers.

As mentioned earlier in this paper, F1 and F2 are important to

determine the vowels from the spectrograms and formant frequencies. In

Table 2, we can see that there is a variation in the pronunciation of “ياء”

[ja:ʔ]. In MCCCA (female speaker), the value of F1 is 314 to 333 Hz

band. F2 starts with 2481 Hz and ends with 2090 Hz. In other words, F2

starts higher and then it goes little down due to the change of the vocal

tract during the pronunciation of “ياء” [ja:ʔ]. In addition, with a MCCCA

(male speaker), F1 starts with 263 Hz and ends with 409 Hz. F2 starts

with 2059 Hz and ends with 1973 Hz. It means that it starts with higher

and goes down as well. As mentioned above, any differences in formant

values belong to the differences between the shape of the male and

female vocal tracts (swphonetics.com). Figure 10 summarizes the

formant frequencies of MCCCA (male and female speaker).

Figure 10: The Formant frequencies of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] (female and male speakers) in

MCCCA

Female

Formant MCCCA MCRCA

Start End Start End

F1 314 333 250 216

F2 2481 2090 2685 2350

F3 3299 3045 2999 3101

Male

F1 263 409 255 376

F2 2059 1973 2403 2140

F3 2680 2876 2995 2857

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In MCRCA (See Table 2), F1 (female speaker) starts with 250 Hz

and ends with 216 Hz. Therefore, it starts little higher and spreads at the

release of “ياء” [ja:ʔ]. F2 starts with 2685 Hz and ends with 2350 Hz. In

the same vein, F1 (male speaker) starts with 255 Hz and ends with 376

Hz. F2 starts with 2403 Hz and ends with 2140 Hz. Consequently, F1

and F2 (male and female speakers) show a gap between them where F1

is low and F2 is high. They confirm that the vowel is high front [i:].

Figure 11 shows how formant frequencies of F2 is higher than F1.

Figure 11: The Formant frequencies of “ياء” [ja:ʔ] (female and male speakers) in

MCRCA

To sum up, Table 3 summarizes the IPA transcriptions of the data

sample (utterances) based on how the participants pronounced “ياء” [ja:ʔ]

in the target dialects (MCCCA and MCRCA) where MCRCA

participants pronounced “ياء” [ja:ʔ] and realized as [i:], and MCCCA

participants pronounced it and realized as [ia]. The researcher used the

IPA chart that was revised in 2005. Utterance Meaning in

English

MCCCA Transcription MCRCA Transcription

Twice or two مرتين

times

[merˈti:n] مرتيِن [merˈtian] مرتين

[ʔɪħsi:n] حسيِن [ʔɪħsian] حسين Hussein حسين

همين همين Too, also همين

[ʔɪmni:n] منيِن [ʔɪmnian] منين From where منين

[ʔɪθni:n] اثنيِن [ʔɪθnian] اثنين Two اثنين

,How much بيش

how many …

[bi:ʃ] بيِش [biaʃ] بيش

[li:ʃ] ليِش [liaʃ] ليش Why ليش

[ʔlʔɪˈʕzi:r] العزيِر [ʔlʔɪˈʕziar] العزير AlUzair العزير

[ʃi:lma:naʔ] شيِلمانة ʃialma:naʔ] شيلمانة Piece of iron شيلمانة

[si:t] سيِت [siat] سيت Dozen سيت

[miaz] ميِز [miaz] ميز Table ميز

كجيت I will come over جيتك [dʒiatek]

[dʒi:tek] جيِتك

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[ʔelˈfi:n] ألفيِن [ʔelˈfian] ألفين Two thousands ألفين

[ʕi:b] عيِب [ʕiab] عيب Shame عيب

[ʃi:b] شيِب [ʃiab] شيب Grey hair شيب

[bi:dˤ] بيِض [biadˤ] بيض Eggs بيض

نميِتيِِ [miˈtian] ميتين Two hundred ميتين [miˈti:n]

Where did he/she وينِراح

go?

[wi:n ra:ħ] ويِنِراح [wian ra:ħ] وينِراح

[dʒi:b] جيِب [dʒiab] جيب Pocket جيب

[bi:t] بِيت [biat] بيت House/ home بيت

Table 3: The Transcription of the utterances in MCCCA and MCRCA.

4. Conclusions:

The study shows different acoustic features between MCCCA and

MCRCA in the pronunciation of the Arabic vowel “ياء” [ja:ʔ]. It has

different variations among the speakers of the same two dialects;

MCCCA and MCRCA. It is pronounced as [i:] in MCRCA and [ia] in

MCCCA. Therefore, they are variants of the same vowel because it was

limited to the mid-position in the closed syllables. Besides, the formant

readings give evidence to the study that the vowel have different

measurements in both MCCCA and MCRCA. Consequently, it shows

that they are different acoustic characteristics in the same region

(Maysan).

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Mathematical/ Analytical Modelling and Computer Simulation (AMS), 2010

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2. Abdul-Kadir, N. A., Sudirman, R. (2011). Vowel effects towards Dental

Arabic Consonants

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(ISMS). 2011 Second International Conference.183-188. IEEE.

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9. Kaye, A. S. (1994). “Formal and Informal in Arabic: Diglossia, Triglossia,

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Routledge.

المغة العربية فيلمياء تحميل الصوتي ال دراسة مقارنة بين اثنين من المهجات العراقية

حيدر طعمة جاسم الساعديم.م. ةاألساسي كمية التربية /جامعة ميسان

الممخص:هذه الدراسة اجريت من اجل اختبار المميزات الصوتية لمياء العربية في لهجتين من لهجات العراق. مئة

سنة. خمسون مشاركًا يتحدثون المهجة 24الى 42الدراسة وتتراوح أعمارهم بين شخص شاركوا في تمكالدارجة في مدينة العمارة )مركز محافظة ميسان(، اما المشاركون الخمسين األخرين فهم يتحدثون المهجة

ي الدارجة في أقضية ونواحي محافظة ميسان. في هذه الدراسة، الباحث استخدم عشرون كممة مستخدمة فالمهجة الدراجة في المحافظة. قام الباحث بتسجيل نطق الكممات من قبل المشاركين في الدراسة وذلك باستخدام

( من أجل Goldwave V.6.13عدة برامج في الكمبيوتر من أجل تحميل تمك الكممات، مثاًل، أستخدم برنامج )تي قد تؤثر عمى تحميل البيانات. وكذلك تنقية الصوت المسجل من تشتت الصوت وتداخل الموجات الصوتية وال

( من اجل عرض Praat V. 5.4.15( و )(Speech Analyzer V.3.1استخدم الباحث برنامجي )( وعمى شكل ترددات ايضًا والتي لها دور كبير في Spectrogramsالتسجيالت الصوتية في صور طيفية )

بطريقتين مختمفتين في كال المهجتين في محافظة ميسان تحميل النتائج. النتائج تكشف ان "الياء" العربية تمفظ وبالتالي تمتمك مميزات صوتية وطيفية مختمفة فيما بينهما.


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