A descriptive account of the Quebec French diphthong fête

Abstract

Diphthongization has a long history in Quebec French. In this variety, lengthened vowels have the potential to be diphthongized. However, one vowel stands out, as it is always long and seems particularly inclined to be diphthongal: the fête vowel. While it has been much studied over the years, some uncertainties remain in the literature, especially whether length or quality primarily distinguishes it and which phonetic transcription appropriately reflects the way Quebec French speakers pronounce it today. This study addresses these issues by drawing a parallel between acoustic properties of the fête vowel and those of other vowels produced in similar consonantal contexts by 52 native speakers of Quebec French. After analyzing 8866 tokens, we present a descriptive account of their relative duration, location in F1/F2 planes and spectral changes. The results show that fête is, in fact, acoustically distinct, but more in terms of the spectral changes that occur than its duration. Its first two formants extensively shift between 25% and 75% of its duration, with a substantial F2 increase and F1 decrease. In F1/F2 planes, fête has onset values similar to /a/ and offset values similar to /ɛ/. Therefore, we argue that the two most commonly used phonological transcriptions for this singular vowel, /ɜ/ and /ɛː/, present some problems and do not capture its characterizing features. Drawing on our results and the IPA vowel chart, we suggest a more accurate symbol.