Acoustic analysis of voicing contrast on Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children
The primary objective of this study was to investigate the acquisition of voicing contrast in Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children. This study's contribution to the existing literature lies in adding information on Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speakin...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2023
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23399/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23399/1/JK%205.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848815836938108928 |
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| author | Preeta Rajandran, Badrulzaman Abdul Hamid, |
| author_facet | Preeta Rajandran, Badrulzaman Abdul Hamid, |
| author_sort | Preeta Rajandran, |
| building | UKM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The primary objective of this study was to investigate the acquisition of voicing contrast in Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children. This study's contribution to the existing literature lies in adding information on Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children which can be instrumental in developing objective speech evaluation and designing effective intervention plans in the speech-language pathology practice. A total of 15 subjects aged between 3;00 to 7;11 years old were included in the present study. The participants underwent a picture naming task, and their speech samples were recorded and acoustically analysed using PRAAT. Descriptive data were presented, and a non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was conducted to examine gender effects on voice onset time (VOT) of Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children. The results indicated that at the age of 3;00, children produced only short lag VOT values. By the age of 5 years old, Tamil-speaking children acquired the expected voicing contrast in Malay word-initial plosives (pre-voiced vs. short lag). Full acquisition of voicing contrast for Malay plosives (pre-voiced vs. short lag) was observed at the age of 7. The later acquisition of voicing contrast and pre-voicing was further discussed. VOT distributions aligned with the developmental path proposed by Macken & Barton (1980) and Zlatin & Koenigsknecht (1976). Notably, place of articulation effects on the duration of VOTs were not observed in Tamil-speaking children. This finding prompted considerations of perceptual, social, and environmental factors, as well as Cross-Linguistic Influence, as plausible reasons for this phenomenon. Furthermore, with increasing age, the VOT values tended to approach adult-like VOT patterns. Regarding gender effects, no significant gender differences in VOT of Malay word-initial plosives were found in Tamil-speaking children, except for the phoneme /d/. Possible explanations for this were discussed in detail. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T00:56:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | oai:generic.eprints.org:23399 |
| institution | Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T00:56:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | oai:generic.eprints.org:233992024-04-24T00:50:29Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23399/ Acoustic analysis of voicing contrast on Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children Preeta Rajandran, Badrulzaman Abdul Hamid, The primary objective of this study was to investigate the acquisition of voicing contrast in Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children. This study's contribution to the existing literature lies in adding information on Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children which can be instrumental in developing objective speech evaluation and designing effective intervention plans in the speech-language pathology practice. A total of 15 subjects aged between 3;00 to 7;11 years old were included in the present study. The participants underwent a picture naming task, and their speech samples were recorded and acoustically analysed using PRAAT. Descriptive data were presented, and a non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was conducted to examine gender effects on voice onset time (VOT) of Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children. The results indicated that at the age of 3;00, children produced only short lag VOT values. By the age of 5 years old, Tamil-speaking children acquired the expected voicing contrast in Malay word-initial plosives (pre-voiced vs. short lag). Full acquisition of voicing contrast for Malay plosives (pre-voiced vs. short lag) was observed at the age of 7. The later acquisition of voicing contrast and pre-voicing was further discussed. VOT distributions aligned with the developmental path proposed by Macken & Barton (1980) and Zlatin & Koenigsknecht (1976). Notably, place of articulation effects on the duration of VOTs were not observed in Tamil-speaking children. This finding prompted considerations of perceptual, social, and environmental factors, as well as Cross-Linguistic Influence, as plausible reasons for this phenomenon. Furthermore, with increasing age, the VOT values tended to approach adult-like VOT patterns. Regarding gender effects, no significant gender differences in VOT of Malay word-initial plosives were found in Tamil-speaking children, except for the phoneme /d/. Possible explanations for this were discussed in detail. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2023-12 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23399/1/JK%205.pdf Preeta Rajandran, and Badrulzaman Abdul Hamid, (2023) Acoustic analysis of voicing contrast on Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children. Jurnal Melayu, SI . pp. 60-89. ISSN 1675-7513 https://ejournal.ukm.my/jmelayu/issue/view/1628 |
| spellingShingle | Preeta Rajandran, Badrulzaman Abdul Hamid, Acoustic analysis of voicing contrast on Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children |
| title | Acoustic analysis of voicing contrast on Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children |
| title_full | Acoustic analysis of voicing contrast on Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children |
| title_fullStr | Acoustic analysis of voicing contrast on Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children |
| title_full_unstemmed | Acoustic analysis of voicing contrast on Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children |
| title_short | Acoustic analysis of voicing contrast on Malay word-initial plosives produced by Tamil-speaking children |
| title_sort | acoustic analysis of voicing contrast on malay word-initial plosives produced by tamil-speaking children |
| url | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23399/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23399/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/23399/1/JK%205.pdf |