Remote sociophonetic data collection: Vowels and nasalization from self-recordings on personal devices

Abstract

When the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person data collection, many linguists adopted modern technologies to replace traditional methods, including speaker-led options in which participants record themselves using their own personal computers or smartphones and then email or upload the sound files to online storage sites for researchers to retrieve later. This study evaluated the suitability of such ‘home-made’ recordings for phonetic analysis of vowel space configurations, mergers, and nasalization by comparing simultaneous recordings from several popular personal devices (Macbook, PC laptop, iPad, iPhone and Android smartphone) to those taken from professional equipment (H4n field recorder, Focusrite with Audio Technica 2021 microphone). All personal devices conveyed vowel arrangements and nasalization patterns relatively faithfully (especially laptops), but absolute measurements varied, particularly for the female speaker and in the 750–1500 Hz range, which affected the locations (F1 × F2) of low and back vowels and reduced nasalization measurements (A1−P0) for the female's pre-nasal vowels. Based on these results, we assess the validity of remote recording using these consumer devices and offer recommendations for best practices for collecting high fidelity acoustic phonetic data from a distance.