title: The Phonetic Realization of Devoiced Vowels in the Southern Ute Language.
abstract: In this article, we analyze the phonetic realizations of devoiced vowels from 8 fluent speakers of Southern Ute, a severely endangered Southern Numic Uto-Aztecan language spoken in Southwestern Colorado. Devoiced vowels are considered to be an important aspect of the phonology of Southern Ute, yet very little is known about the pronunciation of such segments. Our findings indicate that devoiced vowels are realized phonetically in three ways: (i) fully voiceless, (ii) partially devoiced, and (iii) fully reduced with concurrent lengthening, lower intensity and greater voicelessness of the preceding consonant. Such variable and noncategorical devoicing is seen for both high and nonhigh vowels and all consonants regardless of their manner of articulation.
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz., USA.
authors.forename: Stacey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oberly
authors.forename: Viktor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kharlamov
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003120:Colorado; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D013060:Speech