Gender‐Specific Phonetic Variability in Sanzhi Dargwa

ABSTRACT

Western sociophonetic research often overlooks minority languages. Our study targets this gap with a sociophonetic study of Sanzhi Dargwa, an endangered East Caucasian language spoken in Dagestan (Russian Federation) by a small community with clearly defined binary gender roles. We critically evaluate the transferability of Western sociolinguistic and psychological models and methods to small and overlooked language communities. We analyze interview data of 26 speakers as well as a dictionary corpus from one speaker. We examine variation in fundamental frequency (f0), vowel formants, and sibilant spectra, including understudied variables such as geminates and pharyngealized vowels. Results reveal expected sex‐specific variation with higher f0, formants, and center of gravity (COG) values for females (in /s s: ʃ: ʃ/). While females differentiate sibilants through COG, males only distinguish /s:/ from all other sibilants. Sex‐specific variation in pharyngealized vowels is less clear. Questionnaires regarding femininity should first be tested and adapted when used in non‐Western communities.