A Phonetic Study of Nasalization in Marathi

Abstract

While several studies have been done on the nasalization process in many of the major Indo-Aryan languages, the present study is apparently the first of nasalization in Marathi. Nasal air pressure was collected for phonemically oral and nasal vowels and a comparison made in terms of their average energy readings. Phonemically oral vowels adjacent to a nasal consonant (N) were analyzed and it was determined that Marathi has contextual nasalization which is progressive. Marathi has phonemically nasal vowels in the position directly before and after an N. An analysis of these vowels indicated that they are somewhat more nasalized, but not enough to be significant; in which case, it appears that perception plays a large role in distinguishing nasal vowels in these environments .