Remote sociophonetic data collection: Vowels and nasalization over video conferencing apps

Abstract

When the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person data collection, many linguists adopted new online technologies to replace traditional methods, including video conferencing applications (apps) like Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, San Jose, CA), which allow live interaction with remote participants. This study evaluated the suitability of video calls for the phonetic analysis of vowel configurations, mergers, and nasalization by comparing simultaneous recordings from three popular video conferencing apps (Zoom; Microsoft Skype, Redmond, WA; Microsoft Teams, Redmond, WA) to those taken from professional equipment (H4n field recorder) and an offline iPad (Apple, Cupertino, CA) identical to those running the apps. All three apps conveyed vowel arrangements and nasalization patterns relatively faithfully, 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 prenasal vowels. Based on these results, we assess the validity of remote recording using these apps and offer recommendations for the best practices for collecting high fidelity acoustic phonetic data from a distance.