This paper presents an acoustical analysis of vowels in a Northern Australian language, Gupapuyngu, in order to investigate whether vowels in CVCV words differ according to prosodic prominence and word position. It is shown that back vowels are produced with a narrower constriction when prosodically prominent and word-initial. However, in general, vowels tend not to be hyperarticulated under conditions of word-initial prosodic prominence. These results are interpreted in terms of perceptual distinctiveness and articulatory strengthening.

Index Terms: Australian, Gupapuyngu, acoustics, vowel