Phonology: case studies
By Scott Myers and Megan Crowhurst
Department of Linguistics at the University of Texas
Vowel Length contrasts
In Kinyarwanda, there are both short and long vowels. Here are some examples of minimal pairs (words distinguished just by one sound):
| Standard orthography | Phonetic transcription | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| gusiba | "to erase" | ||
| gusiba | "to be absent" | ||
| gutaka | "to scream" | ||
| gutaka | "to decorate" | ||
| urutoki | "finger" | ||
| urutoki | "banana grove" |
The long vowels are longer in duration than the short vowels, but are the same in quality. For four speakers, the mean duration of long vowels in penultimate position was 169 ms., while that for short vowels in the same position was 96 ms. (Myers 2005: 433).
Reference
Myers, S. (2005). Vowel duration and neutralization of vowel length contrasts in Kinyarwanda. Journal of Phonetics 33. 427-446.