The monophthongs and diphthongs of North-eastern Welsh: an acoustic study

Descriptive accounts of Welsh vowels indicate systematic differences between Northern and Southern varieties. Few studies have, however, attempted to verify these claims instrumentally, and little is known about regional variation in Welsh vowel systems. The present study aims to provide a first preliminary analysis of the acoustic properties of Welsh monophthongs and diphthongs, as produced by a male speaker from North-eastern Wales. The results indicate distinctive production of all the monophthong categories of Northern Welsh. Interesting patterns of spectral change were found for the diphthongs. Implications for theories of contrastivity in vowel systems are discussed.