藏语那曲话基础元音格局研究

The Pattern of Basic Vowels in the Nagqu Dialect of Tibetan

摘要: 本文基于元音格局理论，采用声学实验方法探究藏语那曲话/a、i、u、e、o/五个基础元音的格局特征，结果显示：那曲话基础元音形成以/i、a、u/为顶点的稳定三角系统，/i/和/a/分布集中、稳定性强，/e、o/分别占据前中与后中区域；/a/的男性发音舌位较高、女性偏低，/i/的女性舌位更靠前，/e/的男性舌位略高于女性，/o/的男性舌位略靠后、女性相对靠前，/u/的发音特征在男女之间趋于一致；此外，研究发现元音/u/在声学空间中分布较为离散，例字“水”(/ʨʰu/)的F2值与卫藏方言/y/音相近，该现象揭示了那曲话元音系统的一种潜在变异趋势，其成因可能与方言接触有关，亦不排除特定语音环境的协同发音效应。

Abstract: Based on Vowel Pattern Theory, this study investigates the pattern characteristics of the five basic vowels /a, i, u, e, o/ in the Nagqu dialect of Tibetan via acoustic experiments. The results show that these vowels form a stable triangular system with /i, a, u/ as vertices: /i/ and /a/ are concentrated and highly stable, while /e/ and /o/ occupy the front-mid and back-mid regions respectively. In terms of gender differences: males articulate /a/ with a higher tongue position than females; females produce /i/ more frontally; males have a slightly higher tongue position for /e/ than females; males articulate /o/ slightly more back than females; and /u/ shows consistent pronunciation across genders. Additionally, the study finds that the vowel /u/ exhibits relatively discrete distribution in the acoustic space, and the F2 value of the citation form “shui (water)” (/ʨʰu/) is close to that of the vowel /y/ in U-Tsang Tibetan. This phenomenon reveals a potential variation trend in the vowel system of Nagqu Tibetan, which may be related to dialect contact and cannot be ruled out as a result of coarticulation effects in specific phonetic environments.