← Back to selected projects
Phonological Analysis · April 2024

Spreading of the Arabic Emphatic “Dhad” with Short and Long Vowels

An ultrasound and acoustic study of how consonant position and vowel length shape emphasis spread in Egyptian Arabic.

Muhammad S. AbdoInstructor: Malgorzata CavarUltrasound tongue imaging

Research question

Arabic emphatics combine a primary oral constriction with a secondary posterior articulation that can influence surrounding segments. The paper asks how far the emphatic quality of /ḍ/ spreads, whether its direction changes when /ḍ/ is initial, medial, or final, and whether long vowels provide a stronger environment for visible spreading than short vowels.

Study design

261
Egyptian Arabic words containing /ḍ/
3
consonant positions: initial, medial, and final
2
vowel-length environments: short and long

Synchronized ultrasound and acoustic recordings were examined in Articulate Assistant Advanced. Tongue contours and spectrographic information were used together to compare the articulatory footprint of /ḍ/ across positions and vowel environments.

What the analysis found

  • Both consonant position and vowel length influenced the observed reach of emphasis.
  • Medial /ḍ/ showed the clearest rightward spread; leftward effects were less frequent.
  • Initial and final positions also showed spreading, especially in several long-vowel environments.
  • Long vowels provided a larger temporal window in which the secondary articulation could be observed.
Interpretation. Emphasis is not a fixed feature located only at the consonant. Its acoustic and articulatory consequences unfold over time and interact with the structure of the surrounding syllable.

Visualization and commentary

Articulate Assistant Advanced interface showing an ultrasound tongue contour and aligned acoustic signal
Ultrasound and acoustic alignment used in the analysis
How to read it: the ultrasound panel traces the tongue surface while the aligned waveform and spectrogram locate the gesture in time. Reading them together allows a qualitative judgment of whether the posterior articulation associated with /ḍ/ extends into a preceding or following vowel rather than ending at the consonant boundary.
Initial /ḍ/Test rightward spreading into the following vowel.
Medial /ḍ/Compare leftward and rightward effects around the consonant.
Final /ḍ/Test whether emphasis reaches the preceding vowel.
Vowel lengthCompare short and long temporal windows for the secondary gesture.

Limits and next steps

The study uses one Egyptian Arabic speaker, so it cannot separate stable phonological tendencies from individual articulation. The next study should add multiple speakers and Arabic varieties, use quantitative tongue-contour comparison, balance segmental contexts, and connect articulatory measures with formant trajectories. The current project establishes a workable ultrasound protocol and a set of directional hypotheses for that larger experiment.