The intent of this thesis is to explore and develop the quantification of AOS features, particularly the deficits of prosodic elements, lexical stress and duration. This study investigated whether PVI can be used as a sensitive tool for the differential diagnosis of AOS. Specifically, we sought to determine whether analysis of vowel length of stressed and unstressed syllables is helpful in differentiating between individuals with AOS and aphasia versus aphasia alone. Significant differences support the hypothesis that PVI, analyzed from vowel length, is uniquely affected in AOS. This yields reason for further research in prosodic deficits in differential diagnosis, as well as application of this theory for a speech-language pathologist.

Up to now, adolescent speakers have been the primary focus when researching contemporary variation in the language of Sweden’s urban areas. This study contributes to the growing body of research on the topic by examining and reporting on adult speakers of what is here referred to as förortssvenska (English: Suburban Swedish). This study focuses specifically on formal speech registers of eight young working-class men from Stockholm along with the perception and reception of their speech by two independent native-listener groups. The paper is the first to present quantifiable data on what has been previously referred to as a “staccato” rhythm in Suburban Swedish. Strong correlations are shown between prosodic rhythm as measured by the normalized pairwise variability index (nPVI) and speech speed to mean listener attitudes (R2=0.9). A strong correlation is also shown for nPVI’s influence on mean listener-projected ethnicity (R2=0.8). Alongside variation in rhythm, we also see phonemic variation that trends toward specific indexes of social identity as revealed by speaker interviews and native-listener assessments. Alongside linguistic variation among speakers, there is also significant variation within speaker peer groups. In addition to identifying specific linguistic features, the study examines social mechanisms revealed in interviews with and qualitative observations of speaker and listener participants. In exploratory fashion, ideas on variation, register ranges, meta-pragmatic stereotyping, and ethnic boundary-making are presented to make a case for treating contemporary urban variation in Swedish as a habitual semiotic extension of speaker identity. Indicators that contemporary urban variation in Swedish may be heading in the direction of sociolectal entrenchment are also discussed. / Hittills har unga talare varit det primära fokus för forskning av aktuell språklig variation i urbana Sverige. Denna studie bidrar till den växande mängden forskning i detta ämne genom att undersöka och rapportera om vuxna talare av det som här kallas för förortssvenska. Studien fokuserar specifikt på formella talregister bland åtta unga män från Stockholms arbetarklass, samt perception och mottagande av deras tal av två oberoende grupper av infödda lyssnare. Denna studie är den första som presenterar kvantifierbar data rörande den i tidigare forskning så kallade stackato-rytmen i förortssvenska. Starka korrelationer finns mellan, å ena sidan, prosodisk rytm mätt med the normalized pairwise variability index (nPVI) och talhastighet och, å den andra, de genomsnittliga lyssnarattityderna (R2=0,9). Det finns också en stark korrelation för nPVIs påverkan på genomsnittlig lyssnarprojicerad etnicitet (R2=0,8). Vid sidan av variation i rytm ser vi också fonemisk variation som trender mot specifika index för social identitet. Och vid sidan av variation i rytm bland talarna, finns också en stor variation inom kamratgrupperna. Förutom att den identifierar specifika lingvistiska drag, undersöker studien sociala mekanismer som framkommer i intervjuer med och kvalitativa observationer av talardeltagarna och lyssnardeltagarna. På ett explorativt sätt, lägger studien fram idéer om variation, registeromfång, meta-pragmatiska stereotyper och etniska gränsskapande för att framhäva argumentet för att behandla den aktuella förortsvariationen i svenska som en habituell avsiktlig utbyggnad av talarens identitet. Det diskuteras också indikatorer till att den aktuella urbana variationen i svenska kan vara på väg mot sociolektal stabilisering.

Personal characteristics of speech rhythm in Russian newsreading Bc. Irena Čížková Abstract An issue of individual rhythmic characteristics of particular 5 native speakers of the Russian language, newsreaders from the BBC, is described in this thesis. A research of the given 5 speech recordings was conducted based on the academic concepts created by Ramus, Mehler and Nespor, and by Low and Grabe and also by Dellwo, so through a speech rhythm research based on rhythm correlates that are related to vocalic and intervocalic intervals. The recordings were processed in an analyting program called Praat and the extracted results were then evaluated in a statistical processor called STATISTICA. These materials were used for further analysis. The recordings were analysed based on several parameters: %V (proportion of vocalic intervals in one breath group), ∆C and ∆V (standard deviation of the vocalic and consonantal interval duration), PVI-V, PVI-C (Pairwise Variability Index of the vocalic and consonantal interval duration), Varco V and Varco C (variation coefficient of the vocalic and consonantal interval duration) and the difference between duration of stressed and unstressed vowels. Three parameters that were the most successful from the speakers' ability to differentiate point of view were selected through an...