The Phonetics of Paici) Vowels1

1 This work would not have been possible without the generous cooperation of the speakers who shared their knowledge of their language, and the hospitality of the community. This paper presents results of a phonetic study of the vowel system of Paici) , an Austronesian language of central New Caledonia. The Paici) vowel system is of phonetic interest for both its three-way lexical tone contrast, rare among Austronesian languages, and its relatively large inventory of both oral and nasalized vowels. The large number of nasalized vowels is rare not only from an Austronesian persepctive, but also is typologically atypical throughout the world. This paper focuses on the analysis of qualitative aspects of both the oral and nasalized vowels of Paici). It is shown that vowel qualities posited in previous research on Paici) are phonetically differentiated, with the contrast between certain nasalized vowels being more subtle than the contrast involving their oral counterparts. In addition, the phonetic realization of the three tones of Paici) is discussed.