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Browsing Student Research by Author "Abbas (Balti), Ghulam"

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    Description and classification of balti consonants
    (University of Management and Technology Lahore, 2016) Abbas (Balti), Ghulam
    The present study attempts to describe and classify consonants of Balti language which is spoken in Baltistan region of Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan. The study selects Balti language because it is one of the lesser known languages in Pakistan and no significant work on the sounds and sound system of Balti language has ever been conducted. In order to describe and classify Balti consonants, 120 different words were selected from different Balti books. These words are arranged in the form of pairs to determine phonemic or allophonic contrast between different consonant sounds of Balti. In order to provide further empirical support to the description of sounds, the study also employed acoustic analysis of Balti consonants to show their physical features by using the software PRAAT. To record the samples of different Balti consonant sounds, the researcher selected 20 native Balti speakers between the age group of 16 to 35 studying in the Govt College (boys) Model Town and University of Management and Technology, Lahore Pakistan. The physical features of the sound samples of Balti native speakers were shown in the form of spectrograms for each and every individual sound. Articulatory and acoustic analyses of Balti consonant sounds demonstrate that there are a total of 40 consonant sounds in Balti language. Out of these 40 sounds, there are 15 stops, i.e, 3 bilabial sounds /p/, ph/ voiceless and /b/ voiced, 3 dento-alveolar stops /ȶ/ voiceless un-aspirated /ȶh/ voiceless aspirated and /ɖ/ voiced, 3 alveolar stops /t/, /th/ voiceless and /d/ voiced, 5 velar stops /k/, /kh/, /kr /voiceless and two voiced velar stops /g/ and /gr/ and 1 uvular stop /q/, 5 nasal sounds /m/ voiced bilabial nasal /n/ voiced dento alveolar nasal /Ŋ/, /ɲ/ and /ŋ/ velar nasal, 10 fricatives out of which 5 are alveolar fricatives /s/, / hl/, / hr / voiceless and /z/ and /r/ voiced fricatives, 2 voiced velar fricatives /x/, /ɣ/ and 1 voiceless glottal fricative /h/, 5 affricates out of which 2 voiceless dento alveolar affricates /ts/, /tsh/ , 2 voiceless palate alveolar affricates / ʧ/, /ʧh/ and 1 voiced affricates /ʤ/, 1 trill sound, 1 flap, 1 lateral and 2 glide sounds were found. All the sound samples of native Balti speakers were analyzed using PRAAT. Since different sound samples did not show any significant variation, only one of 20 sound samples recorded was presented in the form of spectrograms. Thus, the study successfully described and classified consonants of Balti language in both articulatory and acoustic terms.