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This paper presents the first acoustic study of monophthongs and diphthongs in the Kihnu variety of Estonian. The focus is on six diphthongs which have arisen after the diphthongization of long open and mid vowels. The comparison of their components with monophthongs revealed that the target values of the diphthongs are close to the corresponding monophthongs. There was some variation due to coarticulatory influences between the diphthong components. It was shown that the duration of both target vowels in the diphthong is longer in the third quantity than in the second quantity. The analysis also revealed that there is an acoustic basis for postulating the existence of two triphthongs in Kihnu. Formant trajectory length proved to be a useful measure for comparing monophthongs, diphthongs and triphthongs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of the vowel quality in words of different quantity degrees as used in Standard Estonian spoken on the West Estonian Island of Muhu. The findings are based on the formant analysis of the data recorded by male informants of two age groups. The acoustic-phonetic measurements show that the vowel system in word-initial syllables of Muhu Estonian comprises nine vowels, just like that of Standard Estonian. It can be seen that in the older age group, the mid-high vowels /e/, /ö/ and /o/ are raised if they are of long and overlong duration. In the younger age group, only the mid-high front vowel/e/is slightly raised, and additionally the mid-high vowels /ö/ and /õ/ have become closer in the formant space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of vowel quality in the initial syllable of words having various degrees of quantity in the insular dialect of Estonian. The material consists of eight sub-dialects of Saaremaa. The article presents measurement findings of the formant analysis and their discussion. The acousticphonetic data served as a basis for establishing the systems of vowels in the sub-dialects of Saaremaa, The results allowed distinguishing 8 vowels (a, o, u, ä, e, ö, i, ii). Length affects vowel quality -- overlong mid-high monophthongs are raised. The area under discussion has no unrounded central vowel õ of Standard Estonian: it has developed into a mid-high rounded front vowel, the quality of which is close to the short and long ö but not the overlong ö. The vowels ö and ö have merged. Only in some words in western Saaremaa ä has developed into a mid-high short or overlong monophthong, the quality of which is close to the short and long e but not the overlong e. The sound ε is an allophone of e. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Estonian words of two and more feet, comparing the temporal structures of the feet in words of four to six syllables that consist of short primary- and secondary-stressed syllables. A phonological introduction to the problem of secondary stress in Estonian is followed by the treatment of lengthening of vowels in secondary-stressed feet. The article then analyses duration ratios on the basis of phonetic data. The pronunciations of the western and eastern peripheries of Estonia -- western Saaremaa and eastern Võrumaa -- are compared to follow possible regional differences in Standard Estonian. It appears that only in Saaremaa the unstressed vowel in a secondary-stressed foot has generally lengthened, and the duration ratios of the secondary-stressed foot are similar to that of the primary-stressed foot. In both areas the temporal structure of feet depends on the general structure of the prosodic word. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]