VOICING CONTRAST REALIZATION OF WORD-INITIAL PLOSIVES IN LENGGONG PATANI MALAY DIALECT

This study is a continuation of previous researcher efforts who has studied the voicing contrast of Malay plosives. Lenggong Patani Malay dialect (dMPL) is selected as the focus of study because this variant is less studied instrumentally. The discussion focuses on the results of the analysis of the contrast realization of plosive sounds /p,b,t,d,k,/ in the word-initial contained in the speech of two informants of different genders from Kg. Luat, Lenggong Perak. Informant speech data were recorded and analyzed using Praat software displayed in the form of spectrogram diagrams. This study indicates that this dialect has a voiceless plosive sound characterized by short - delayed voicing (SVL) and a voiced plosive sound characterized by initial voicing (VLd). The findings also showed that the pattern of dMPL voicing contrast realization is similar to the previous findings on acoustic of Malay variants. The voicing contrast realization of word-initial plosives in Lenggong Patani Malay dialect is a pilot study that can be used to foster a more authoritative study. Further studies involving more desirable acoustic cues, in addition to comparing it to social factors in the speakers’ production of Patani Malay dialect plosive in the wider ranging, namely Hulu Perak district.