Yiyang Xiang vowel quality: Comparability across two recording media

Abstract

Current events have necessitated the sacrifice of some degree of recording quality in order to reach inaccessible or faraway areas; for instance, using video conferencing software like Zoom for recording rather than traditional in-person microphone or sound booth recording. This then leads to the question: can Zoom-recorded data be used more or less interchangeably with standard recording procedures? The present research is an analysis of vowel acoustics in the Yiyang dialect of Xiang (Sinitic), comparing across two recording mediums: one online (Zoom) and another in person (sound booth). Researching Xiang varieties has been made increasingly difficult during the pandemic. This study analyzes two recordings retelling the events of the Pear Stories video, performed by a speaker of Yiyang Xiang (female, 24, college-educated), one recorded in the sound booth at the University of Hong Kong and another recorded through Zoom using a laptop microphone. Acoustic features analyzed include F1, F2, and F3. Preliminary findings suggest that while F1 is fairly comparable between the two recordings, the higher two formants are altered in ways that question the comparability of Zoom-recorded versus sound booth-recorded vowels. However, results improve considerably if formants are collected manually, suggesting that some recoverability is possible.