A Socio-Phonetic Investigation of the Acoustic Features of English Vowel Sounds by Lassi English Second Language Speakers

Abstract

This study presents the first comprehensive acoustic analysis of English monophthongs produced by native Lassi Sindhi speakers. Despite the limited research on the Lassi dialect, its speakers engage with English as a second language, often displaying pronunciation patterns influenced by their first language. LassiTen monophthongs (/iː, ɪ, æ, e, ɑː, ɛ, uː, ʊ, ɔː, ʌ/) were elicited from ten local Lassi speakers (five male, five female) using a carrier sentence paradigm, resulting in 300 tokens (10 vowels × 10 speakers × 3 repetitions). The recordings were captured via smartphones and analyzed in Praat to measure vowel duration, fundamental frequency (F0), and first and second formant frequencies (F1–F2). The results indicate distinct gender-based differences: male speakers exhibited significantly longer vowel durations (short vowels: M-158 ms, F-98 ms; long vowels: M-279 ms, F-196 ms), whereas female speakers demonstrated higher F0 values across all vowels (averaging-220 Hz vs. -120 Hz). Spectral analysis revealed expanded vowel spaces for females, with elevated F1–F2 coordinates compared to males. The findings establish normative acoustic benchmarks for Lassi-influenced English, highlighting physiological and sociolinguistic factors in vowel production. The implications include enhancing ESL pronunciation instruction with dialect-sensitive materials and informing speech technology development for South Asian English varieties. To develop tools that consider L1 vowel patterns to provide personalized feedback for Lassi learners. The research advances linguistic inclusivity by recognizing and affirming local dialectal variations, rather than pathologizing them. The findings have the potential to influence national curriculum guidelines, promoting the integration of dialect-sensitive English instruction in provinces such as Balochistan and Sindh.

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