Acoustic correlates of Albanian word stress in relation to the Balkan Slavic environment

Abstract

This article investigates the acoustic correlates of word stress in Kosovo Standard Albanian through two experimental paradigms: a study of minimal pairs (seven speakers) and a continuous text analysis. The research examines intensity, fundamental frequency (F0), and vowel duration. The results demonstrate that intensity and F0 do not reliably correlate with stress. Instead, duration is the sole robust acoustic correlate, with stressed vowels appearing 30–40% longer than unstressed ones (ratios of 3:2 to 5:3). Consequently, the authors propose that the stressed vowel is the word’s first lengthened vowel. No systematic vowel quality reduction was observed. The study situates these results within the Balkan linguistic context.