Phonological Study of the Sarduei Dialect of Kerman and the Historical Phonemic Distinction between /ɣ/ and /q/ through Spectrograms

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran

2 University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran

Abstract

With the aim of enhancing and documenting Persian dialects and using spectrograms to confirm the findings, the present study has, for the first time, examined the phonological system of the Sarduei dialect in generative phonology, according to Berquest’s model and studied the spectrograms of /ɣ/ and /q/ to demonstrate their historical distinction. Sarduei is an endangered Persian dialect spoken in the Sarduyeh region of Kerman province. Linguistic data were collected through field interviews, free speech recordings of speakers aged 28-80 years and, to study ɣ/q distinction acoustically, Praat software was used. The findings show: 1- This dialect has 32 phonemes including 24 consonants and 8 vowels. 2- In its diphthongs, there is also the possibility of vowel and consonant sequences ow and ew as a result of the historical changes in languages. 3- The emergence of /ou/ in this dialect is seen as a recent change. 4- Its vowel length is not distinctive, unlike some of Kermani dialects. 5- The consonants /ɣ, q/ in Sarduei, unlike Modern Persian, have retained their phonemic distinction. This distinction has been shown as an innovation with spectrograms to contribute to a better understanding of linguistics concepts and confirm the research findings. The presence of the voiced /q/, i.e. [ɢ], as an allophone/free variant in Sarduie could indicate joining of this dialect to Persian, in the gradual elimination of the voiceless /q/, and examining its process could be effective in resolving the ambiguity of the ɣ /q issue in Standard Persian.

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References

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Journal of Iranian Dialects & Linguistics
Volume 9, Issue 2
March 2025
Pages 39-66

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History

  • Receive Date: 15 April 2025
  • Revise Date: 07 May 2025
  • Accept Date: 10 May 2025

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