INSTRUMENTINIO GARSŲ TYRIMO KRYPTYS IR PROBLEMOS LIETUVIŲ DIALEKTOLOGIJOJE
TENDENCIES AND PROBLEMS OF IN¬STRUMENTAL ANALYSIS OF SOUNDS IN LITHUANIAN DIALECTOLOGY

Summary/Abstract: The article reveals instrumental analyses of sounds of dialects made by Lithuanian dialectologists within the last two decades, tendencies and problems of the methodology, principles of the analysis. The research of the last years has been compared with the analogical studies within the sixth and seventh decades of the twentieth century.Lately, quite a few Aukštaitian and Samogitian subdialects have been analyzed with the instrumental methods. The vocalism and prosody research has been made mostly. Acoustic and qualitative features have been chosen mostly for the instrumental analysis.Indexes of duration, fundamental pitch and intensiveness constitute the base of the acoustic features research in most of the works. The analysis of duration comprises measurements of absolute duration, calculation of duration ratio and statistical evaluation of the results. Features of fundamental pitch and intensiveness are analysed according to the following parameters: values of maximums, average level, time of the maximums rising, and diapason (difference between the highest and lowest points).Basis of the qualitative analysis comprises the data of formants’ values and indexes of timbre, flatness, compactness, diffuseness and tenseness, which are calculated according to the data. The evaluation of the qualitative features of the isolated vowels is made by comparing them with the quality of the Jones’ Cardinal Vowels. Most of the contemporary instrumental analysis has been made with the computer-based sound analysis program PRAAT.The problems mostly mentioned in making instrumental analysis are the following: difficult sound segmentation, uneven estimation of the sound terminations; unlike methodologies and comparison of the research results made in different periods; calculation of absolute values but not their ratios; the relation of instrumental phonetics and phonology objects – the sound features determined with the instrumental methods cannot be considered independent phonologically, their phonologic interpretation must be based on the auditory analysis.The recent abundance of the instrumental analysis of the sounds of dialects and similar methodology of analysis indicates that a new school of instrumental phonology has been formed in Lithuania. Its main aim is to specify inventories of the phonological systems of subdialects on the basis of the sound features determined with the instrumental methods.

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