Diphthongs have a dynamic formant structure. Nevertheless, many quantitative studies of diphthongs are based on measurements at only two points, somewhere in the nucleus and somewhere in the glide. The question arises as to whether analyses based on values at only two points provide an adequate understanding of the dynamics of diphthongs. Wieling (2018) mentions the analysis of /aɪ/ raising in Chicago English in Hualde, Luchkina & Eager (2017) as one of several examples of recent studies where potentially interesting patterns may have been missed because of limited sampling of formant values, and proposes using Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMM) to allow a more complete understanding of diphthong dynamics. In this paper, we examine the acoustic nature of the (quasi-)phonemic differentiation between two originally allophonic variants of the diphthong /aɪ/ in the US English of Chicago and the surrounding area. We offer an acoustic analysis based on full formant trajectories of diphthongs with data obtained from a group of 53 speakers. The results of a GAMM analysis are then compared with those obtained in Hualde et al. (2017), which considered values at only two points and from a smaller set of speakers (17). We also discuss the main advantages of GAMM analysis over other techniques that have being proposed for the analysis of differences in vowel formant dynamics.

Diphthongization has a long history in Quebec French. In this variety, lengthened vowels have the potential to be diphthongized. However, one vowel stands out, as it is always long and seems particularly inclined to be diphthongal: the fête vowel. While it has been much studied over the years, some uncertainties remain in the literature, especially whether length or quality primarily distinguishes it and which phonetic transcription appropriately reflects the way Quebec French speakers pronounce it today. This study addresses these issues by drawing a parallel between acoustic properties of the fête vowel and those of other vowels produced in similar consonantal contexts by 52 native speakers of Quebec French. After analyzing 8866 tokens, we present a descriptive account of their relative duration, location in F1/F2 planes and spectral changes. The results show that fête is, in fact, acoustically distinct, but more in terms of the spectral changes that occur than its duration. Its first two formants extensively shift between 25% and 75% of its duration, with a substantial F2 increase and F1 decrease. In F1/F2 planes, fête has onset values similar to /a/ and offset values similar to /ɛ/. Therefore, we argue that the two most commonly used phonological transcriptions for this singular vowel, /ɜ/ and /ɛː/, present some problems and do not capture its characterizing features. Drawing on our results and the IPA vowel chart, we suggest a more accurate symbol.

This paper looks at the use of /r/-sandhi in the speech of Queen Elizabeth II. Potential contexts of /r/-sandhi were identified and analysed for the presence or absence of rhoticity and glottalisation in a corpus of Christmas speeches over a period of seven decades. The results show that the Queen avoids intrusive /r/ altogether but that she uses linking /r/ in most potential cases, that glottalisation is common when /r/-sandhi is not used, and that linking /r/ and glottalisation can also co-occur. A comparison with a longitudinal corpus of speakers also shows that the Queen resembles group-level trends in the case of linking /r/ but differs in the case of intrusive /r/. The results also indicate that a number of phonetic and usage-based variables influence linking /r/ usage, including previously unreported factors such as vowel quality collocation frequency. The findings are discussed in the context of usage-based theory.

Velar lateral sounds are rare and their acoustics and contextual effects are understudied. Positional variants of velar laterals are also rarely reported. This paper documents a previously unknown allophony pattern of the velar lateral in Mee (Trans New Guinea; Indonesia), based on an elicitation study with two speakers and a controlled set of recordings from one of the speakers. Our main dataset included carrier phrase recordings of Mee words with the velar lateral, representing the diverse set of contexts where the velar lateral occurs. Our acoustic findings suggest that the Mee velar lateral is realized as a laterally released velar stop [ɡᶫ] before front vowels, and with uvular closure followed by a fricative release [ɢʁ] before back vowels. In line with this description, we found differences in the second formant of the preceding vowel and the periodicity of the release for the two allophones. We explore the implications of our findings for the typology of velar laterals.

Zhushan Mandarin () is a dialect of Mandarin Chinese (ISO 639-3; code: cmn) spoken in the Zhushan county (), which belongs to the city of Shiyan () in Hubei Province (), the People’s Republic of China. As shown in Figure 1, the county borders the city of Chongqing () to the south and Shaanxi Province () to the north. It has an area of 3,586 km² and a population of about 4.7 million residents (Hubei Province Annals Committee 2017). The general consensus is that it is a Mandarin dialect (LAC 2012). However, there have been debates on the proper classification of this dialect as belonging to the Jianghuai Mandarin group () (e.g. Coblin 2005, X. B. Liu 2007) or to the Southwestern Mandarin group () (e.g. Ting 1996, X. C. Liu 2005, L. Li 2009).

The variety described here is Pontic Greek (ISO 639 name: pnt), and specifically the variety that originates from Trapezounta in Asia Minor (present-day Trabzon in Turkey) as spoken today in Etoloakarnania, Greece by second-generation refugees. The term ‘Pontic Greek’ (in Greek: ) was originally an etic term, while Pontians called their language by other names, mainly [ɾoˈmeika] ‘Romeika’ (Sitaridou 2016) but also [laziˈka] ‘Laz language’ (Drettas 1997: 19, 620), even though Pontians and Laz people do not share the same language, the latter being Caucasian. Nowadays, is the standard term used not only by researchers, but also by native speakers of Pontic Greek born in Greece to refer to their variety (but see Sitaridou 2013 for Romeyka in the Black Sea). Pontic Greek belongs to the Asia Minor Greek group along with other varieties, such as Cappadocian Greek (e.g. Horrocks 2010: 398–404; Sitaridou 2014: 31). According to Sitaridou (2014, 2016), on the basis of historical reconstruction, the Pontic branch of Asia Minor Greek is claimed to have been divided into two major dialectal groups: Pontic Greek as spoken by Christians until the 20th century in Turkey and Romeyka as spoken by Muslims to date in Turkey. Triantafyllidis (1938/1981: 288) divides Pontic varieties, as were spoken in Asia Minor, into three dialectal groups, namely Oinountian, Chaldiot, and Trapezountian, the latter consisting of the varieties that were spoken at Trapezounta, Kerasounta, Rizounta, Sourmena, Ofis, Livera, Tripolis, and Matsouka in Asia Minor (Trabzon, Giresun, Sürmene, Of, Yazlık, Tirebolu, and Maçka respectively in present-day Turkey). However, Triantafyllidis does not explain his criteria for this classification (Chatzissavidis 2012). According to one other classification (Papadopoulos 1955: 17–18; Papadopoulos 1958: $\upzeta$ ), the variety that was used in Trapezounta belongs to the dialectal group in which post-stressed /i/ and /u/ delete along other varieties, such as e.g. the ones that were spoken in Chaldia (present-day Gümüşhane), Sourmena, and Ofis (as opposed to the rest of Pontic varieties, such as the one of Kerasounta, in which those vowels are retained). Trapezountian Pontic Greek can also be classified with the group of varieties that retain word-final /n/, such as the varieties of Kerasounta and Chaldia, as opposed to the varieties that do not retain it, such as the ones of Oinoe (present-day Ünye) and (partially) Ofis (Papadopoulos 1958: θ).

Dàgáárè /dàgááɹɪ̀/ (ISO 639-3) is a Mabia language (Bodomo 1997) of Niger-Congo family. It is spoken by about 1.5 million The map in Figure 1 shows the areas, in northwestern Ghana and southern Burkina Faso, where Dàgáárè is spoken predominantly. There are four broad dialects of Dàgáárè. These include Northern Dàgáárè [dàgàɹà], spoken in Lawra /lóɹáː/, Nandom /nàndɔ̀ː/ and Burkina Faso; Southern Dàgáárè /wáːlɪ́/, spoken around Kaleo /kàlèó/ and in Wa /wá/; Western Dàgáárè /bɪ̀ɹɪ̀fɔ̀/ spoken in Lassie /lààsɪ̀ɛ́/, Tuna /tʊ́ːnà/ and along the western side of the Black Volta river in Burkina Faso. The other dialect is Central Dàgáárè. These broad dialects are further divided into sub-dialects, as there are internal variations in these dialect groups (Bodomo 2000). This paper’s primary focus is on Central Dàgáárè, which comprises the varieties spoken in and around Jirapa /ʤɪ̀ɹɛ́bǎː/, Han /hɛ̌ŋ/, Ullo /úlò/, Daffiama /dàfɪ̀ɛ́mɛ́/, Nadowli /nàdòlí/, Charikpong /tʃɛ̀ɹɪ̀kpóŋ/, Sombo /sʊ̀mbɔ́/ and Duong /dùóŋ/.

Ambel (ISO 639-3: wgo) is an Austronesian language spoken by approximately 1600 people on the island of Waigeo in the Raja Ampat archipelago (West Papua province, Indonesia). Within Austronesian, Ambel belongs to the South Halmahera-West New Guinea (SHWNG) subbranch (see Blust 1978); within SHWNG, Ambel is classified as a Raja Ampat–South Halmahera language (RASH; Remijsen 2001:32–37; Kamholz 2014). Other languages spoken in Raja Ampat include Maˈya, Matbat, Biga, Batta, and several closely-related varieties on Salawati island (all RASH); Biak (a non-RASH SHWNG language); and varieties of Malay, in particular Papuan Malay. While historically Maˈya and Biak were used as lingua francas throughout the archipelago, these days Malay is the dominant language. The spread of Malay in recent decades has been facilitated by improvements in telecommunications and infrastructure in the region; the government-backed immigration of Indonesians from the overcrowded western islands of the nation to the more sparsely populated Papua; and a rapidly growing tourist industry throughout Raja Ampat.