Vowel length distinctions in Plains Cree

Abstract

Plains Cree is a widely-spoken Indigenous language in Canada. Its vowels are traditionally described as contrasting short /i, o, a/ vs. long /i:, o:, a: (e:)/ (Wolfart 1973). Muehlbauer’s (2012) acoustic study of speakers born in the early 20th century confirms that duration is a significant cue, but differences in vowel quality were just as significant. We investigate the durational and quality differences in a younger L1 speaker’s productions of short and long vowels. Preliminary analysis of 195 vowels shows that the durational difference between the long (102ms) and short vowels (66ms) remains significant on average, but there is greater overlap between the two length categories than previously thought: the range is 40-186ms for long vowels and 15-201ms for short ones. Vowel quality remains significant, too. In addition, we report on the results of a logistic regression analysis that tests the relative importance of duration vs. quality (and their interaction) as acoustic cues to the phonological contrast in the current generation of Plains Cree speakers. Our findings dovetail with descriptions of Eastern varieties, e.g.: “the old long/short distinction in Proto-Cree became (or is still becoming) a tense/lax distinction in East Cree” (Dyck 2011).