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ISSUE:    Philology. Theory & Practice. 2026. Volume 19. Issue 4
COLLECTION:    Applied Linguistics

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Ultrasound tongue imaging as a method for refining formant data interpretation (based on different pronunciation variants)

Oxana Vladimirovna Goncharova
Pyatigorsk State University
Submitted: April 3, 2026
Abstract. The research aims to determine the extent to which ultrasound tongue imaging (UTI) can be utilized as a method for confirming and refining the interpretation of formant data when comparing different pronunciation variants of standard literary Russian. The article examines the possibilities of the combined application of acoustic analysis and ultrasound visualization using Moscow and Southern Russian phono-variants of the vowels /a/ and /o/ in stressed and first pre-stressed positions. Vowel realization areas within the F1-F2 plane, alongside tongue surface contour tracing data, are presented, which allow for the correlation of formant characteristics with specific articulatory features. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that ultrasound imaging is considered not in isolation but as a tool for the verification and refinement of acoustic interpretations of formant shifts during the analysis of regionally determined vocalic variation. The results establish that in the stressed position, differences between the Moscow and Southern Russian phono-variants are minimal and are confirmed by the similarity in articulatory configuration. Conversely, in the first pre-stressed position, differences are more pronounced: the Moscow variant is characterized by a more compact, more fronted, and higher realization, while the Southern Russian variant demonstrates greater dispersion and a lower, more retracted type of articulation. It is shown that UTI data generally confirm the interpretation of formant data and expand the possibilities for describing reduction, coarticulation, and variation in Russian vocalism.
Key words and phrases:
русский вокализм
редукция гласных
коартикуляция
региональная произносительная вариативность
артикуляция гласных
Russian vocalism
vowel reduction
coarticulation
regional pronunciation variation
vowel articulation
ultrasound tongue imaging
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