Abstract
Central Pame (cent2145), also known by its endonym Xi’iui, is a threatened Otomanguean language spoken in central Mexico. An earlier impressionistic account described Central Pame as having an asymmetric 5-vowel system with one more front than back vowels. This study examines a set of monophthongal, oral vowels in the language. We explore the acoustic phonetic characteristics in different speakers who are bilingual (with Spanish). Results confirm that five vowel qualities can be determined acoustically. Results show three front /i, e, ɛ/, one central vowel /ɐ/ and one back vowel /o/. We find that the realisations of the front vowel /e/ differ between speakers, with young female speakers showing a more fronted vowel. The evidence suggests a vowel chain shift is taking place in front vowels.