In this paper, we examine the acoustics of vowels in the Imilike [ìmìlìkè] dialect of Igbo (Igboid, Niger-Congo), which has not previously been done. While Standard Igbo has eight vowels, previous auditorily-based research has identified eleven vowels in Imilike. Like Standard Igbo, Imilike contrasts vowels in Advanced/Retracted Tongue Root (ATR vs. RTR). We find that there are eleven vowels, distinguished most reliably by F1, B1, energy (dB) of voiced sound below 500Hz and duration. The results of this study also suggest that RTR vowels in Imilike might involve the laryngeal constriction and movement that accompany pharyngealization. The ATR and RTR schwas have similar phonological distribution and acoustic patterns as the other ATR and RTR vowels in the language.

中文翻译：

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Imilike Igbo 的 11 个元音，包括 ATR 和 RTR schwa

在本文中，我们研究了伊博语（Igboid，尼日尔-刚果）的 Imilike [ìmìlìkè] 方言中元音的声学，这是以前从未做过的。虽然标准伊博语有八个元音，但之前基于听觉的研究已经确定了伊米利语中的十一个元音。与标准伊博语一样，Imilike 对比高级/后缩舌根中的元音（ATR 与 RTR）。我们发现有 11 个元音，通过 F1、B1、500Hz 以下浊音的能量（dB）和持续时间来最可靠地区分。这项研究的结果还表明，Imilike 中的 RTR 元音可能涉及伴随咽化的喉部收缩和运动。ATR 和 RTR schwas 与该语言中的其他 ATR 和 RTR 元音具有相似的语音分布和声学模式。