AN ACOUSTIC ANALYSIS OF EWE NASAL CONSONANT SOUNDS

ABSTRACT This study was conducted on the acoustic analysis of nasal consonant sounds in the Ewe language spoken in Ghana. Three major dialects were selected; Tɔŋu, Aŋlɔ and Eʋedome, with the purposes of investigating the acoustic properties of the Ewe nasal consonants, how the nasal consonants occurred at word positions in these dialects and identify similarities and differences existing at the dialectal levels. The analysis was made with the structure NV, VNV, NVN, CVN and NCV using mono and disyllabic words within the formula: N=[m, n, ɲ and ŋ]. V=[a, ə, i, or ɔ]. C=[k or g]. The average F1 and F2 value measurements calculated in Hertz for the speakers of each dialect were used to draw tables and charts. The results confirmed the existing literature on the four nasal consonants [m, n, ɲ, ŋ] at word-initial and word-medial positions. However, at word-final position, only the bilabial nasal /m/ and the velar nasal /ŋ/ occurred. No records have been found on the alveolar nasal /n/ and the palatal nasal /ɲ/ occurring at word-final position in any of the three dialects. There were also similarities and differences in the nasal consonants at the dialectal and gender levels in terms of formant frequency values. Most of the highest formant frequency values measured were recorded for /n/, /ɲ/,/ɲ/ and the lowest were measured for /m/. There should also be a further research into the acoustic analysis of Ewe oral stops to contribute to the description of the Ewe sound systems.