Humans have the ability to recognize other humans by voice alone. This is important both socially and for the robustness of speech perception. This Thesis contains a set of eight studies that investigates how different factors impact on speaker recognition and how these factors can help explain how listeners perceive and evaluate speaker identity. The first study is a review paper overviewing emotion decoding and encoding research. The second study compares the relative importance of the emotional tone in the voice and the emotional content of the message. A mismatch between these was shown to impact upon decoding speed. The third study investigates the factor dialect in speaker recognition and shows, using a bidialectal speaker as the target voice to control all other variables, that the dominance of dialect cannot be overcome. The fourth paper investigates if imitated stage dialects are as perceptually dominant as natural dialects. It was found that a professional actor could disguise his voice successfully by imitating a dialect, yet that a listener's proficiency in a language or accent can reduce susceptibility to a dialect imitation. Papers five to seven focus on automatic techniques for speaker separation. Paper five shows that a method developed for Australian English diphthongs produced comparable results with a Swedish glide + vowel transition. The sixth and seventh papers investigate a speaker separation technique developed for American English. It was found that the technique could be used to separate Swedish speakers and that it is robust against professional imitations. Paper eight investigates how age and hearing impact upon earwitness reliability. This study shows that a senior citizen with corrected hearing can be as reliable an earwitness as a younger adult with no hearing problem, but suggests that a witness' general cognitive skill deterioration needs to be considered when assessing a senior citizen's earwitness evidence. On the basis of the studies a model of speaker recognition is presented, based on the face recognition model by V. Bruce and Young (1986; British Journal of Psychology, 77, pp. 305 - 327) and the voice recognition model by Belin, Fecteau and Bédard (2004; TRENDS in Cognitive Science, 8, pp. 129 - 134). The merged and modified model handles both familiar and unfamiliar voices. The findings presented in this Thesis, in particular the findings of the individual papers in Part II, have implications for criminal cases in which speaker recognition forms a part. The findings feed directly into the growing body of forensic phonetic and forensic linguistic research.

Diplomarbeit - Universität, Innsbruck, 2002. / University publication. Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-141).

Previous research has shown that African American children are prone to score lower on vocabulary tests when compared to their white peers (Champion et al., 2003; Qi et al., 2006; Restrepo et al., 2006; Thomas-Tate et al., 2006; Washington & Craig, 1992). The dialect spoken by these children may be affecting their performance. However, little is known about how dialect use interacts with word learning abilities. The current study continues a project initiated by Wyatt, Bahr, and Silliman (2007) which examined dialectal influences on the fast mapping of novel stimuli in preschool children. The participants in the current study were 19 typically developing school-age children, who were recruited from a local elementary school in West Central Florida. Prior to the experiment, the children completed a dialectal variation assessment (DELV) and a receptive vocabulary assessment (PPVT-4). The fast mapping task utilized a modified version of the blank-comparison technique (Costa, Wilkinson, McIlvane, & de Souza, 2001). For this task, twelve non-words were developed to include three AAE phonetic features: final consonant cluster reduction, backing in /str/ clusters, and final consonant devoicing. The non-words were presented in five tasks (training, recognition, comprehension, dialect, and production). Participant responses were analyzed qualitatively and described by dialect group and AAE feature. It was anticipated that fast mapping would be influenced by dialect use; however, this was not the case. Dialect played a small role in the comprehension task -- children who spoke AAE experienced more difficulty with /skr/ non-words. Otherwise, results indicated that responses, especially during the dialect and productions tasks, were similar with numerous errors noted in both dialect groups. A notable difference was in the production of final consonant clusters, where children who spoke AAE evidenced a slight advantage. The lack of a dialect group effect was not surprising since these tasks required the participant to respond to subtle phonetic differences in the target stimuli. As a whole, dialectal influences seemed to be task and feature related. These results will be compared to the previous investigation with preschoolers (Wyatt et al., 2007) and implications for future research will be presented.

American composer David Guion (1892-1981) created and expressed in much of his music a unique and unmistakably American voice. Though he is remembered today mostly for piano pieces, especially Turkey in the Straw and Arkansas Traveler, he was famous for championing cowboy songs, African-American spirituals and folk songs as the truly authentic representations of the American experience. He also wrote many original works, including a substantial number of songs in Black dialect. In 1930 Guion starred in a cowboy show at the Roxy Theatre in New York, drawing upon his western-themed music. The next year he had a weekly radio show, broadcast around the country and featuring his music exclusively, with the title Hearing America with Guion. He played a substantial role in transforming Home on the Range into the best-known of all cowboy songs. His magnum opus, the ballet Shingandi, was highly regarded but has yet to be recorded. This dissertation examines those genres among Guion’s compositions that reveal his vision for a musical Americana. Much of his music is based on songs that circulated first in oral tradition before he adapted them for the concert stage. This dissertation surveys the breadth of the oral tradition of these songs, identifies his direct sources, and examines his treatment of melody, rhythm and harmony as he infused his music with such characteristic national flavor that his audiences were, in effect, “Hearing America.” A complete list of Guion compositions is attempted, and to the extent possible, probable dates of composition are established from recital programs and publication agreements. The scripts of his radio shows are reconstructed from papers in his archives and presented here. / text

This study focuses on the representations of the Gallo language spoken in the Eastern part of Brittany among elder native speakers (group 1) and students of Gallo (group 2). Jones & Singh (2005) and Williams (2000) both stress the importance of an asserted community identity for language transmission and the active involvement of community members in the revitalization process. In light of these two studies and the revitalization models proposed by Grenoble & Whaley (2005), the present research establishes that, in order to obtain a more appropriate and possibly successful revitalization program, it is necessary to consult and probe the approval of native speakers of Gallo. Informants from both groups show little involvement in language planning activities; in contrast, revitalization efforts in the last decades have increased within associative and militant groups. Based on the findings of Jones & Singh (2005) and Williams (2000) on Jersey Norman French and Welsh respectively, this study provides evidence that Gallo is on the verge of achieving a different status. The framework used for the fieldwork was adapted from Boas TGPD project on Texas German (2001). Most of the interviews were conducted in a private setting. Two groups of individuals were involved in this study: older, native speakers (41) and students (17), and half of the respondents participated in a follow-up interview (1-2 hours). The results of field research on language attitudes show a positive Gallo identity: 50% of the native speakers answered that Gallo was part of their identity as much as French and 78.6% of the students selected the same statement. Only 20% of group 1 and 21.4% of group 2 declared that Gallo was not an important part of their identity. In the same set of questions on identity and representations, 90% of group 1 and 85.7% of group 2 expressed positive linguistic attitudes when asked whether or not speaking and/or understanding Gallo was valuable. Overall, above 80% of the informants think that the knowledge of Gallo is an advantage. This research demonstrates that the speech community expresses a more positive Gallo identity than expected, one of the main factors necessary to secure language maintenance. / text

Στόχος της παρούσας πτυχιακής εργασίας είναι η περιγραφή των μορφολογικών μηχανισμών που ενεργοποιούνται από την Κρητική διάλεκτο προκειμένου να ενσωματώσει δάνειες λέξεις από γλώσσες-πηγές όπως η Τουρκική και η Ιταλική. Η περιγραφή αυτών των στρατηγικών ενσωμάτωσης συνοδεύεται από στατιστική ανάλυση 1000 δάνειων λέξεων. / The aim of this thesis is to describe the morphological mechanisms which are activated by the Cretan dialect in order to incorporate loan words from languages such as Turkish and Italian.

KiNgome is a dialect of Kiswahili spoken in the nothern part of Mafia Island. KiNgome is spoken by almost all categories of people in the Ngome area.

Die vorliegende Arbeit soll beispielhaft die Verwendung von dialektalen und hochsprachlichen Elementen im gesprochenen Arabisch untersuchen. Dabei erhebt sie jedoch keinen dialektologischen Anspruch, sondern das Hauptaugenmerk liegt vielmehr auf der interdialektalen Kommunikation gebildeter Sprecher. Im weitesten Sinne soll diese Arbeit einen Beitrag dazu zu leisten, die Frage nach einer dialektübergreifenden, gehobenen arabischen Umgangssprache zu beantworten. Bei der Wahl des Themas war die Überlegung ausschlaggebend, dass Studenten der arabischen Sprache und insbesondere des Faches Dolmetschen in ihrem Studium ausschließlich die moderne arabische Schriftsprache vermittelt wird. Außerhalb der Lehrveranstaltungen werden sie jedoch bald mit den arabischen Dialekten konfrontiert, die die eigentliche Muttersprache arabischer Sprecher darstellen. Aus diesem Grund kommen sie nicht umhin, sich zumindest passive Sprachkenntnisse in einigen dieser Dialekte anzueignen, um nicht nur Nachrichtensendungen auf Hocharabisch folgen zu können, sondern auch mit Muttersprachlern aus verschiedenen Regionen der arabischen Welt kommunizieren zu können. Besonders für Studierende des Faches Dolmetschen ist es im Hinblick auf ihre spätere Tätigkeit nicht ratsam, sich auf eine bestimmte Region festzulegen. Zudem sind für Dolmetscher in erster Linie fachliche Themen, etwa aus den Bereichen Politik und Wirtschaft, und vergleichsweise formelle Anlässe von Interesse. Für die Bearbeitung des Themas wurde daher eine Fernsehsendung ausgewählt, die nicht nur die Möglichkeit bietet, die Kommunikation zwischen Sprechern mit unterschiedlichem dialektalem Hintergrund zu untersuchen, sondern auch Themengebiete behandelt, die für die spätere Dolmetschertätigkeit der Studierenden relevant sind. Die Wahl der politischen Talkshow Ḥiwār al-ᶜArab, in der Themen von öffentlichem Interesse von Fachleuten aus verschiedenen arabischen Ländern diskutiert werden, bot sich daher an. Um den Rahmen einer Studienabschlussarbeit nicht zu sprengen, wurde nur eine Ausgabe der genannten Sendung für die sprachwissenschaftliche Analyse herangezogen. Die Redebeiträge der verschiedenen Sprecher, die in der untersuchten Ausgabe auftreten, sollen auf dialektale und hochsprachliche Elemente untersucht werden, um so Arabischlernenden einen Einblick zu verschaffen, welche Arten von Dialektinterferenzen in realen Kommunikationssituationen auftreten können. Nach Möglichkeit soll zudem bereits eine erste grobe Einteilung verschiedener Stufen von Dialektinterferenzen vorgenommen werden. Dabei konnten jedoch nicht alle auftretenden sprachlichen Merkmale berücksichtigt werden. Aus diesem Grund wurden für jeden Sprecher nur die jeweils wichtigsten phonetischen, lexikalischen und grammatischen Eigenheiten beschrieben. Auch wurden die Studenten, die sich nur sehr kurz in der Sendung äußern, bei der Analyse außer Acht gelassen. Da für die Talkshow Ḥiwār al-ᶜArab keine schriftliche Fassung vorliegt, wurde die untersuchte Ausgabe der Sendung nach Gehör transkribiert. Dabei wurde versucht, der tatsächlichen Aussprache so weit wie möglich gerecht zu werden. Um die Transkription auch ohne Kenntnis der sprachlichen Analyse so verständlich wie möglich zu halten, wurden jedoch nicht alle beobachteten phonetischen Merkmale in der Umschrift wiedergegeben. Gegebenenfalls wurden bestimmte Laute in der Analyse näher beschrieben. Die Wiedergabe in IPA-Transkription steht dabei in eckigen Klammern. Inhaltlich wurden lediglich sehr schlecht hörbare Satzteile und einzelne vom Moderator eingeworfene Wörter ohne besondere Bedeutung („Ṭayyib, ṭayyib…“) ausgelassen, die nicht zum Ziel haben, den Redenden zu unterbrechen. Satzzeichen wurden nach eigenem Ermessen und Intonation des Sprechers gesetzt und dienen lediglich der besseren Lesbarkeit.

Magistro darbo objektas – „Zanavykų šnektos žodyne“ (I tome) užrašyti daiktavardžių ir būdvardžių deminutyvai. Darbo tikslas – išanalizuoti zanavykų šnektoje vartojamus mažybinius maloninius žodžius. Tai pirmasis tyrimas, kuriame analizuojami zanavykų šnektoje vartojami deminutyvai, nagrinėjamas mažybini�� maloninių žodžių vartojimas įvairiose kalbėjimo sutuacijose, stiliaus figūrose, aptariamas sekos ir funkcijų ryšys, tarminės priesagos. / The object of the present master thesis - diminutives of nouns and adjectives, written in „The Dictionary of Zanavykai Dialect��(volume I). The aim of the thesis - to analyse diminutive words of endearment, used in Zanavykai dialect. This appears to be the first research, providing the analysis of diminutives, used in Zanavykai dialect, their usage in various speech situations and figures of style as well as discussions of dialectal suffixes, sequence of diminutives in the text, functions and formational meanings.

Joniškio šnektos apima Joniškio miestą ir maždaug 15–20 kilometrų plotą į pietus Šiaulių link. Šnektos mažai tyrinėtos. Darbe analizuojami asmenų pavadinimai, aptariama jų daryba. Tyrimo medžiagą sudaro asmenų pavadinimai, išrinkti iš DLKŽe ir skirtingi jų variantai, rasti rengiamo Joniškio šnektų žodyno kartotekoje. Visi asmenų pavadinimai buvo suskirstyti į 5 leksines grupes, kurios pagal leksinių vienetų gausumą išsidėsto tokia tvarka: 1) giminystės asmenų pavadinimų grupė; 2) amžiaus grupė; 3) tam tikro socialinio statuso asmenų pavadinimų grupė; 4) kraujo ryšį nusakančių asmenų pavadinimų grupė; 5) kultūrinio bei tradicinio lygmens grupė. Visi šie pavadinimai darybos aspektu skilo į 4 grupes: priesaginių vedinių, kurių didžiausią dalį sudaro maloninių priesagų vediniai, priešdėlinių ir galūninių vedinių grupę ir dūrinius, kuriuos dažniausiai sudaro du daiktavardžiai. Dažniausiai Joniškio šnektų atstovai vartoja vyriškosios ir moteriškosios lyties asmenų pavadinimus, įvardijančius asmenų giminystę ar amžių. Tačiau kartais joniškiečiai vietoj vyriškosios giminės gramatinės formos vartoja moteriškąją ir atvirkščiai. Visoms leksinėms grupėms būdingi maloninių priesagų vediniai. / Joniškis Subdialects take the town of Joniškis and about 15–20 kilometres area to the south, toward Šiauliai. The subdialects are studied little. In this paper the names of persons are analyzed, their composition is discussed. The research material consists of the names of persons, which are selected from an electronic version of Dictionary of Contemporary Lithuanian Language and different variants of these persons names, which are found in the card file of Dictionary of Joniškis Subdialects. All names of persons were divided into 5 lexical groups, which are graded according to lexical units number in this order: 1) the group of the names of kinship; 2) the group of persons with different age; 3) the names of persons from a certain social status; 4) the group of the names of persons that define ties of blood; 5) the level of culture and traditions. All these names were divided into 4 groups acording to their composition: suffixal derivatives, where the bigest part consists of diminutive suffixes, prefixal and inflectional derivatives and compound words, where the biggest part consists of two nouns. In conclusion, people of Joniškis Subdialects frequently use the names of masculine and feminine gender, which name the kinship or the age of persons. However, sometimes people of Joniškis instead of masculine gender use feminine gender and conversely. In all lexical groups dominate diminutive suffixes.