I researched a master’s thesis in the Department of English Language, College of Education for Humanities, University of Basra - Analysis of the phonetic characteristics of Iraqi Arabic speakers: characterization (Voice File Analysis VPA)
The thesis by student Narges Abdel Manaf, student of the vocal characteristics of Iraqi Arabic speakers, aims to determine the extent of distinction in vocal characteristics between the three main dialects of Iraqi Arabs (Southern Kilt, Central Kilt, and Qalut), taking into account the gender factor of males and females.
The thesis included detailed acoustic and physical-acoustic analyzes exploring the vocal characteristics of Arabic speakers in Iraq. It adopted the VPA (Voice File Analysis) system for auditory perceptual analysis using stable sound characteristic settings within the scheme. It also relied on Praat (a computer program for analyzing speech in phonetics) in terms of physical acoustic analysis to support the VPA findings
The thesis concluded that there are common characteristics among Iraqi Arabic speakers, including the nasal characteristic, advanced tongue position in alveolar sounds, and pharyngeal constriction. Although soft and whispery sound qualities are common, which differ between dialects, squeak is the dominant feature. Moreover, the research highlighted the differences between the three dialects and the tendency of gender as a factor towards one vocal characteristic over others. In addition, the study classified Iraq's linguistically undivided governorates into their own dialect categories based on observed phonetic characteristics.
