A Cross-linguistic Study of Vowel Q Structures: Japanese, Fi

The durational patterns between short and long vowels were investigated at the segmental and lexical level using four different word structures in Japanese, Finnish and Czech. The results confirmed that the Japanese segmental ratios between short and long vowels were longer than in Finnish and Czech; the Czech durational ratios in the second syllable were longer than those in the first syllable; the surrounding consonantal difference affected more Finnish for the short vowels, but more Japanese for the long vowels; the significance was observed in word structural differences more than language differences, and in the vowels occurring in the first syllable. Concerning the lexical durational ratios according to the different word structures, Japanese showed more isochronal increasing patterns; the temporal control of segments within a word were similar between Japanese and Finnish; Finnish and Czech vowel quantity might be more controlled by stress position within a word and phonotactics.