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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Sixty years of bilingualism affects the pronunciation of Latvian vowels

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For fifty years after World War II, Latvia was incorporated into the former Soviet Union. Although in theory the use of regional languages was not discouraged, in practice knowledge of Russian was obligatory. Since 1991, Latvian has again become the official language, and knowledge of Russian is widespread but optional. These political events have created a natural experiment in the effects of almost universal bilingualism on a language. To assess the impact on pronunciation, native speakers of Latvian, ranging from retirement age to teens, were recorded reading a word list and a short narrative. Vowel pronunciation differed across the generations both in quantity relationships and in formant structure. Research for this project was supported by a grant from the International Research and Exchange Board, with funds provided by the U.S. Department of State (Title VII Program) and the National Endowment for the Humanities. None of these organizations is responsible for the views expressed here.