This diploma thesis deals with the crucial impact of the neutral vowel schwa on creating prominence contrasts in English pronunciation teaching, i.e. a schwa-centred approach. The theoretical part focuses on the complex description of the target sound with regard to the suprasegmental level, including Czech speakers' difficulties to recognise and pronounce this vowel and prominence patterns it participates in. Furthermore, it defines the essence of the schwa-centred approach. The practical part presents the implementation of the schwa-centred approach in teaching practice in the form of a set of activities aimed at perception, production and raising students' awareness of this phenomenon. The effectiveness of the activities is evaluated by means of the analysis of audio recordings made before and after the teaching and assessment of students' questionnaires. The thesis also contains all worksheets with task descriptions applying the schwa-centred approach. KEY WORDS schwa, full vowel, prominence contrasts, perception, production, raising awareness

This dissertation provides the first comprehensive analysis of the phonology of vowels in SENĆOŦEN (Salish). Evidence from various phonological and phonetic phenomena are brought together to support a proposal that there are two types of phonological vowels in SENĆOŦEN (full vowels versus schwa). Understanding the phonological representations and distributions of these two types of vowels contributes a unique perspective on how words are built in the language. The study contributes to linguistic theory by showing how the interplay between faithfulness to morphological form and markedness conditions on ideal surface prosodic shape triggers a series of vowel processes, such as deletion, epenthesis, harmony and reduction, which make it difficult to trace back to the original morphological form. In taking steps towards unraveling the complicated interaction between morphology and phonology in the language and providing insights crucial to an understanding of the underlying forms of roots and suffixes, the dissertation contributes to pedagogy by making it easier for language learners to figure out for themselves how words are related to one another. The dissertation is organized into seven chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the language situating it within the context of research on other Salish languages. Chapter 2 lays out the theoretical assumptions about SENĆOŦEN that are adopted in this dissertation. Chapter 3 argues for a phonological contrast between two types of vowels in SENĆOŦEN and argues against the notion that consonants bear phonological weight in SENĆOŦEN. Chapter 4 presents a preliminary acoustic analysis of vowel length and quality. Chapter 5 argues that syllables in SENĆOŦEN are basically simple and that the phonological environments when they are not simple are highly constrained and predictable. Chapter 6 argues that patterns of zero-schwa alternations found in complex morphological structures are accounted for by wellformed foot structure. Chapter 7 is a conclusion. / Graduate

Ce travail propose une description et une analyse de la phonologie du français parlé à Bordeaux et dans son agglomération, à partir d’un corpus d’enquêtes réalisées suivant la méthodologie et le protocole développés dans le cadre du Projet de la Phonologie du Français Contemporain (PFC), développé par Jacques Durand (ERSS, Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail), Bernard Laks (MoDyCo, Université de Paris X) et Chantal Lyche (Universités d’Oslo et de Tromsø). Plusieurs aspects de la phonologie du français bordelais sont abordés, en prenant en compte la diversité diastratique des locuteurs et les différences diaphasiques des tâches linguistiques, en particulier la question des lois de position des voyelles, la liaison et le schwa. L’étude détaillée ici se base sur l’analyse d’entretiens enregistrés réalisés auprès de dix-huit adultes venant de Bordeaux et de son agglomération. Les participants à cette enquête ont été interviewés entre juin et juillet 2015, selon le protocole du Projet PFC, et les enregistrements ont été transcrits, codés et analysés par l’auteure, également selon les protocoles du Projet PFC. Les locuteurs ont été sélectionnés de manière à représenter une diversité équilibrée en termes d’âge, de sexe, de niveaux d’études, de milieu socioéconomique/culturel et de situation géographique pendant l’enfance. Nous observons des tendances dans la réalisation de plusieurs phénomènes phonologiques. La liaison et le schwa sont utilisés plus en lecture de texte qu’en conversation libre. Cependant, le schwa est réalisé le moins dans la lecture de la liste de mots. Une analyse diachronique révèle que les Bordelais actuels suivent la Loi de Position davantage comparé aux locuteurs décrits dans les travaux précédents. Nous constatons que l’âge apparaît comme un facteur statistiquement significatif dans la diversité diastratique pour cet échantillon de locuteurs. Nous considérons également la variation diatopique, diaphasique et diachronique. Ce travail contribue à l’étude de la variation du français parlé aujourd’hui. / This study provides a description and an analysis of the French spoken in Bordeaux and the surrounding communities, based on a corpus of studies following the methodology and the protocol developed within the framework of the Contemporary French Phonology (PFC) Project, developed by Jacques Durand (ERSS, University of Toulouse-Le Mirail), Bernard Laks (MoDyCo, University of Paris X) and Chantal Lyche (University of Oslo and University of Tromsø). Several aspects of the phonology of Bordeaux French are studied, taking into consideration the sociolinguistic diversity of the speakers and the stylistic differences of the linguistic tasks, specifically the Loi de Position for vowels, liaison and schwa. The study detailed here is based on the analysis of audio-recorded interviews of eighteen adults from Bordeaux and the surrounding communities. The participants in this study were interviewed between June and July 2015, according to PFC protocol, and the recordings were transcribed, coded and analyzed by the author, also in accordance with PFC protocol. The speakers were selected in order to represent a balanced diversity in terms of age, sex, level of education, socioeconomic/cultural background, and childhood neighborhood. We observe patterns in terms of the realization of several phonological phenomena. Liaison and schwa are used more in the reading task than in conversation. However, schwa is used the least in the word list. A diachronic analysis reveals that the people from Bordeaux today follow the Loi de Position more than the speakers described in previous research did. We conclude that age is shown to be a statistically significant sociolinguistic factor for this sample of speakers. We also take into account variation in terms of geography, style and chronology. This work contributes to the study of phonological variation in spoken French today.

Grannspråksförståelsen mellan danska och svenska har i flera undersökningar visat sig vara asymmetrisk vad hörförståelsen beträffar. En anledning till denna asymmetri förmodas vara ljudförändringar i danskan. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur drag som försvagningar och assimilationer i danska språket påverkar svenskars uppfattning och förståelse av talad danska. Detta undersöks genom ett experiment, där jag testar svenska gymnasieelevers uppfattning och förståelse av åtta utvalda försvagningar och assimilationer. 40 personer deltog i experimentet varav materialet från sju personer sorterades bort. Slutsatsen är att sex av de undersökta dragen påverkar informanternas uppfattning av de undersökta orden negativt. Det var fler informanter som uppfattade de undersökta dragen korrekt, än det var som förstod orden. Detta tyder på att det är mer än just de undersökta dragen som påverkar informanternas uppfattning och förståelse av orden. Antalet testade ord för varje drag är dock för lågt för att säga något om hur de undersökta försvagningar och assimilationer påverkar svenskars uppfattning generellt.

This thesis project examined both schwa insertion and simplification following word-final consonant clusters in a large corpus of spoken French. Two main research questions were addressed. Can a system of forced alignment reliably reproduce pronunciation judgements that closely match those of a human researcher? How do variables, such as speech style, following context, motivation for simplification and speech rate, affect the variable pronunciations of word-final consonant clusters? This project describes the creation and testing of a novel system of forced alignment capable of segmenting recorded French speech. The results of comparing the pronunciation judgements between automatic and manual methods of recognition suggest that a system of forced alignment using speaker adapted acoustic models performed better than other acoustic models; produced results that are likely to be similar to the results produced by manual identification; and that the results of forced alignment are not likely to be affected by changes in speech style or speech rate. This project also described the application of forced alignment on a corpus of natural language spoken French. The results presented in this large sample corpus analysis suggest that the dialectal differences between Québec and France are not as simple as ``simplification in Québec, schwa insertion in France". While the results presented here suggest that the process of simplification following a word-final consonant cluster is similar in both dialects, the process of schwa insertion is likely to be different in each dialect. In both dialects, word-final consonant cluster simplification is more frequent in a preconsonantal context; is most likely in a spontaneous or less formal speech style and in that speech style is positively associated with higher speaking rates. Schwa insertion following a word-final consonant cluster displays much stronger dialectal differences. Schwa insertion in the dialect from France is strongly affected by following context and possibly speech style. Schwa insertion in the dialect from Québec is not affected by following context and is strongly predicted by a lack of consonant cluster simplification.

Zugl. Kurzfassung von: München, Univ., Diss., 2006

This thesis project examined both schwa insertion and simplification following word-final consonant clusters in a large corpus of spoken French. Two main research questions were addressed. Can a system of forced alignment reliably reproduce pronunciation judgements that closely match those of a human researcher? How do variables, such as speech style, following context, motivation for simplification and speech rate, affect the variable pronunciations of word-final consonant clusters? This project describes the creation and testing of a novel system of forced alignment capable of segmenting recorded French speech. The results of comparing the pronunciation judgements between automatic and manual methods of recognition suggest that a system of forced alignment using speaker adapted acoustic models performed better than other acoustic models; produced results that are likely to be similar to the results produced by manual identification; and that the results of forced alignment are not likely to be affected by changes in speech style or speech rate. This project also described the application of forced alignment on a corpus of natural language spoken French. The results presented in this large sample corpus analysis suggest that the dialectal differences between Québec and France are not as simple as ``simplification in Québec, schwa insertion in France". While the results presented here suggest that the process of simplification following a word-final consonant cluster is similar in both dialects, the process of schwa insertion is likely to be different in each dialect. In both dialects, word-final consonant cluster simplification is more frequent in a preconsonantal context; is most likely in a spontaneous or less formal speech style and in that speech style is positively associated with higher speaking rates. Schwa insertion following a word-final consonant cluster displays much stronger dialectal differences. Schwa insertion in the dialect from France is strongly affected by following context and possibly speech style. Schwa insertion in the dialect from Québec is not affected by following context and is strongly predicted by a lack of consonant cluster simplification.

Im Zentrum dieser Dissertation steht der instabile Vokal Schwa, der im Hinblick auf sein Verhalten im gesprochenen Französisch, im marokkanischen Arabisch und im Französischen marokkanischer Lernerinnen untersucht wird. Behandelt werden Aspekte wie die Verortung dieses Vokals in der mentalen Repräsentation der Sprecher, seine phonologische Funktion, seine phonetische Gestalt, sein Stellenwert im Lernersystem sowie die theoretische Modellierung seiner Variabilität. Eine kontrastive Betrachtung des Französischen und des Marokkanischen führt zunächst zu einer Diskussion der Silbe. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser prosodischen Kategorie gelingt eine einheitliche Erklärung von Schwa als potentiellem Silbenkern, der gewissen strukturellen Beschränkungen unterliegt. Für das Französische wird in der Zusammenführung verschiedener Ansätze die Theorie eines dreifachen phonologischen Status von Schwa entwickelt, nach der die Typen zugrundeliegend, floating und epenthetisch zu differenzieren sind. Diese theoretischen Betrachtungen bilden die Basis für eine empirische Untersuchung zum Schwa in der Mutter- und Lernersprache Französisch. Die Grundlage der Analyse ist ein Korpus von Sprachdaten, das in einer Erhebung mit illiteraten marokkanischen Frauen erstellt wurde. Die Kontrollgruppe bilden französische Muttersprachlerinnen. In einer statistischen Analyse mithilfe der mixed-effect models werden die Prä- bzw. Absenz von Schwa sowie seine akustische Qualität systematisch verglichen. Die Ergebnisse widerlegen die aufgrund des marokkanischen Systems erwartete Instabilität: Mit Ausnahme der wortfinalen Position ist das Lernerschwa relativ stabil. Deutliche Unterschiede zeigen sich jedoch in akustischer Hinsicht. So zeichnet sich das Lernerschwa durch eine größere Varianz in der Vokalqualität und eine signifkant höhere Dauer aus. Im Anschluss an die Analyse erfolgt eine Modellierung im Rahmen der Optimalitätstheorie. Um die Variabilität von Schwa vollständig abzubilden, werden zwei neuere Ansätze der Stochastischen OT vereint. So kann durch sog. overlapping constraints seine potentielle Absenz modelliert werden; die akustische Variation lässt sich unter Rückgriff auf das BiPhon-Modell darstellen. Das Resultat sind zwei automatisch generierte Grammatiken, die einen Vergleich des Muttersprachler- und des Lernersystems ermöglichen und zugleich präzise Vorhersagen über den output auf der phonologischen und der phonetischen Ebene treffen. Auf diese Weise gelingt es, Schwa in seiner ganzen Variabilität zu erfassen.

Ce travail sur la réduction segmentale (i.e. délétion ou réduction temporelle) en français spontané nous a permis non seulement de proposer deux méthodes de recherche pour les études en linguistique, mais également de nous interroger sur l'influence de différents facteurs de variation sur divers phénomènes de réduction et d'apporter des connaissances sur la propension à la réduction des segments. Nous avons appliqué la méthode descendante qui utilise l'alignement forcé avec variantes lorsqu’il s’agissait de phénomènes de réduction spécifiques. Lorsque ce n'était pas le cas, nous avons utilisé la méthode ascendante qui examine des segments absents et courts. Trois phénomènes de réduction ont été choisis : l'élision du schwa, la chute du /ʁ/ et la propension à la réduction des segments. La méthode descendante a été utilisée pour les deux premiers. Les facteurs en commun étudiés sont le contexte post-lexical, le style, le sexe et la profession. L’élision du schwa en syllabe initiale de mots polysyllabiques et la chute du /ʁ/ post-consonantique en finale de mots ne sont pas toujours influencées par les mêmes facteurs. De même, l’élision du schwa lexical et celle du schwa épenthétique ne sont pas conditionnées par les mêmes facteurs. L’étude sur la propension à la réduction des segments nous a permis d'appliquer la méthode ascendante et d’étudier la réduction des segments de manière générale. Les résultats suggèrent que les liquides et les glides résistent moins à la réduction que les autres consonnes et que les voyelles nasales résistent mieux à la réduction que les voyelles orales. Parmi les voyelles orales, les voyelles hautes arrondies ont tendance à être plus souvent réduites que les autres voyelles orales. / This study on segmental reduction (i.e. deletion or temporal reduction) in spontaneous French allows us to propose two research methods for linguistic studies on large corpora, to investigate different factors of variation and to bring new insights on the propensity of segmental reduction. We applied the descendant method using forced alignment with variants when it concerns a specific reduction phenomena. Otherwise, we used the ascendant method using absent and short segments as indicators. Three reduction phenomena are studied: schwa elision, /ʁ/ deletion and the propensity of segmental reduction. The descendant method was used for analyzing schwa elision and /ʁ/ deletion. Common factors used for the two studies are post-lexical context, speech style, sex and profession. Schwas elision at initial syllable position in polysyllabic words and post-consonantal /ʁ/ deletion at word final position are not always conditioned by the same variation factors. Similarly, lexical schwa and epenthetic schwa are not under the influence of the same variation factors. The study on the propensity of segmental reduction allows us to apply the ascendant method and to investigate segmental reduction in general. Results suggest that liquids and glides resist less the reduction procedure than other consonants and nasal vowels resist better reduction procedure than oral vowels. Among oral vowels, high rounded vowels tend to be reduced more often than other oral vowels.

Swedish learners of French often experience large difficulties in understanding spoken French. Words that the learners know very well when written or when pronounced separately are often hard to recognize in the speech flow. The aim of this study is to examine Swedish learners’ perception of French speech in order to identify the problems. The thesis consists of two parts. The first part provides an introduction to the perception of a second language. It also describes the phonological structures of Swedish and French and gives an overview of studies of the perception of spoken French. The second part of the thesis contains a presentation and an analysis of four perception experiments conducted with Swedish learners of French. The results show that the learners often confuse phonological contrasts that do not exist in Swedish. It is furthermore found that the phonological processes of schwa deletion, liaison, enchaînement and voicing assimilation contribute to the perception problems. However, although liaison may complicate word recognition the results indicate that the so-called potential liaison does so to an even greater extent. In a listening test using nonsense words, the learners seem actually to expect liaison when perceiving a word that can be linked to a following nonsense word. In fact, sequences like un navas and un avas are both perceived as un avas. Paradoxically, liaison thus seems to be most problematic when it does not occur. As to schwa deletion, the results show that word recognition is delayed when the schwa in the first syllable is deleted, as in la s’maine. In addition, the learners make a large number of errors due to schwa deletion. This phonological process sometimes completely prevents word recognition, especially when combined with a voicing assimilation. Schwa deletion thus seems to strongly complicate Swedish learners’ word recognition in spoken French.