Are Pitch Contour and Quantity Independent Distinctive Features in Bosnian Serbian?

This study investigates the independent phonological status of tonal and quantity contrasts in Bosnian Serbian, a Southern Slavic pitch accent language. Accents in Bosnian Serbian are characterised by falling vs. rising contours and long and short quantity, leading to four different accent types. Previous research suggests that pure tonal contrasts are hard to be distinguished on acoustic and perceptual grounds and may lose its distinctive function in Bosnian Serbian. However, our perception study shows that listeners are well able to distinguish between minimal pairs built upon pure tonal contrasts. In direct comparison, quantity is the more robust feature but quality contrasts are identified in the vast majority of cases.