
doi: 10.1086/660973
Comanche has six vowel qualities /i, e, a, o, u, ɨ/ (plus a length distinction), and while the literature agrees almost completely on /i, e, a, o, u/, the last vowel /ɨ/ has been problematic—described as central in some papers, back in others, and compared to both round and spread vowels of English. This paper provides an acoustic description of the Comanche vowel system based on recordings of six native speakers which suggests that Comanche /ɨ/ is actually a central mid vowel—not a high vowel. The discrepancy with the literature is attributed to three factors: a lack of prior acoustic research on Comanche, perceptual interference from the English language, and the prevalence of /ɨ/ in the literature on Numic languages. If other related languages turn out to require the reclassification of /ɨ/ as a mid vowel, this could have implications for the reconstruction of the Uto-Aztecan vowel system.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 1 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
