Experimental investigation of the quantity, quality and other distinctive features of the low non-short vowels in the subdialect of Prienai has shown that vowels of different origin are characterised by different acoustic and articulatory features. The measurement of vowel duration has indicated that [a˙] <*-añ-, [e˙] ([æ]) <*-eñ- are longer than those lengthened due to the stress by the ratio of 1.29 : 1. For this reason they were considered as long and half-long vowels respectively. This has been attested by statistical evaluation, too.
Qualitative differences have also been revealed between low long and half-long vowels. The timbre of back low [a˙] is lower than that of [a.]. The variable articulation is typical of the front low vowels [e˙] and esp. [æ˙]. At the beginning of the sound the timbre of [e˙] and [æ˙] is slightly higher than the timbres of [e.] and [æ.], while at the end the slightly lower timbre is typical of [e˙] and [æ˙].
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