An Acoustic Analysis of Stress in the Na-Dene Languages of Ahtna and Dena’ina

Abstract

This study measures and analyzes the acoustic factors that contribute to the assignment of stress in non-tonal Na-Dene languages. Ahtna and Dena’ina are examined, and each language is represented by three archival audio recordings taken from the Alaskan Native Language Archive (ANLA). This paper studies the duration, intensity, and pitch of the vowel /a/ in stressed and unstressed environments. Through Praat and statistical analysis, a significant correlation is found between stress and duration where the token /a/ was longer in stressed environments compared to its unstressed counterparts. Pitch and intensity show no significant correlation to stress. This suggests that duration is the primary acoustic cue of stress placement in toneless Na-Dene languages.