An Acoustic Analysis of Diphthongs in Pakistani and British English

Abstract

This study investigates the acoustic differences in closing diphthongs between Pakistani English and Standard British Pronunciation. Both quantitative and qualitative research design were employed, and speech samples were collected from 20 participants (20 Pakistani English speakers including female and male). Acoustic analysis was conducted using Praat speech analyzer software. To analyze the selected sixteen words with closing diphthongs in different linguistic context, this study examined the variation of closing diphthongs in Pakistani English (a non-native English variety) by applying the Input Hypothesis (Krashen, 1982) with a focus on the 'i' component.. The results show significant differences in the acoustic parameters of closing diphthongs between Pakistani English pronunciation and British pronunciation. Specifically, Pakistani English speakers produced diphthongs with less inclination towards [əʊ] sounds and replace closing diphthong sounds with the short vowel sound [o] and the diphthong [aʊ] is pronounced as [ao] and [o].