Монгол хэлний нийлмэл эгшгийн бүтэц

The Structure of Compound Vowels in Mongolian Language

Abstract

There is still a question whether the compound vowels ia, io, and iu of the Mongolian language are independent phonemes or allophones, and whether the allophone is single vowels or diphthongs. Therefore, this time we aim to clarify these acoustic features and explain the change of vowel formants to prove whether they are phoneme or allophone. In traditional phonetics, the compound vowel ia, io, iu are considered differently as a diphthongs, long vowels etc. The results of the present study show that these vowels show the phonetic value of gliding with long vowel as well as the phonetic value of single long vowel. The phonetic value of single long vowel is shorter than vowel length of uncompounded long vowels of Mongolian language. Also, gliding with long vowel ia, io, iu devoicing the preceding consonant, and as a result of this dissimulation, the consonant allophone is formed.