This study investigated the possibility of pitch and tone register differences between native speakers of Taiwan and Beijing Mandarin by means of an acoustic analysis of three speech styles. Speech styles included spontaneous interview, spontaneous descriptive, and controlled read sentential speech. Data analysis included long segments of recorded speech in order to discern any statistically significant pitch register differences between the two dialects. Speech style and read tones were also analyzed. Results suggest that tones produced in Taiwan Mandarin are in a slightly lower register than those produced in Beijing Mandarin. Surprisingly, speech style was not a significant predictor of pitch register in long segments of recorded speech. Despite a limited sample size, this research effectively promotes the inclusion of sociolinguistic variables such as dialect in the field of tone research.

Second language acquisition (SLA) research is rich in possibilities for examining language-specific phonetics and phonology in the cross-linguistic context of acquisition. However, much of the existing English-Spanish research focuses on the acquisition of voice onset time (VOT) of /p, t, k, b, d, ɡ/ or rhotics, or on acquisition in relation to factors such as task type, time abroad, and motivational intensity (e.g. Alvord & Christiansen, 2012; Díaz-Campos, 2004, 2006; Face, 2006; Martinsen, 2010; Martinsen & Alvord, 2012; Shively, 2008; Shively & Cohen, 2008; Tanner, 2012 a, 2012b; Zampini, 1994). Like these studies, the present study incorporates linguistic and extralinguistic variables, but this time focusing on Spanish /l/ acquisition in native English speakers. Furthermore, the present study investigates L2 lateral liquid /l/ acquisition by comparing L2 results with previously established L1 research of /l/. Reviewing a variety of SLA phonological research in a wide range of contexts, I include in this study nine independent variables based on syllabic context, phonetic context, level of learning, task type, and motivational intensity. The L2 Spanish /l/ data came from digitally recorded speech samples from 21 L2 Spanish speakers and were compared with a benchmark established by similar recordings from two L1 English and two L1 Spanish speakers. All participated in conversational and reading tasks, and all the L2 participants completed a background questionnaire for demographic and linguistic experience data and the Survey of Motivational Intensity (Gardner, 1985) to measure individual motivational intensities to learn Spanish. From these data, target-like /l/ acquisition was determined by acoustically derived formant measurements and tested for significance in a variety of variables. Of the independent variables, syllabic context proved to be collinear with vowels preceding and following /l/ and motivational intensity was not statistically significant. Moreover, the results prove that syllabic context, certain preceding and following phonetic segments, level of learning, and task type all have a significant effect on successful L2 Spanish /l/ acquisition.

The body of the literature examining the acquisition of Spanish rhotics is expanding (e.g., Canfield, 1940; Face, 2006; Rose, 2010; Hurtado & Estrada, 2010). Most studies on the acquisition of Spanish rhotics have focused on how students progress at different levels of instruction (e.g., Rose, 2010; Hurtado & Estrada, 2010) while various other factors have been shown to affect the second language acquisition of phonology, such as style variation (e.g., Diaz-Campos, 2006; González--Bueno, 1997; Zampini, 1994), L1 transfer (e.g., Major, 2001), and experience abroad (e.g., Díaz-Campos, 2004, 2006; Lafford, 2006). Work on the acquisition of the Spanish tap and trill by regular classroom students has consistently shown that these sounds, especially the trill, are difficult to master for adult English speaking learners (e.g., Reeder, 1998; Face, 2006). However, the influence of factors such as cultural sensitivity, motivation, and experience abroad has been relatively understudied. This study explores the influence of these factors on the second language acquisition of the pronunciation of Spanish rhotics. In order to investigate the acquisition of Spanish pronunciation, 39 adult learners of various levels of instruction participated in the study. Participants completed a background questionnaire, the Survey of Motivational Intensity (Gardner 1985), and the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) as a measure of cultural sensitivity. Learners' speech was recorded as they completed three different tasks, including a brief oral interview, the reading of a story, and a world list including rhotics in six different phonetic contexts that students were asked to read aloud. The tasks were recorded digitally and production of the tap and trill was analyzed spectrographically using Praat. Finally, the relationship between the aforementioned factors and target-like production of /ɾ/ and /r/ was explored with a crosstab analysis combined with an ANOVA analysis and a multiple regression analysis. The results show that neither Motivational Intensity nor Cultural Sensitivity have an influence in the acquisition of Spanish rhotics. Level of instruction and time of residence are the main predictors of target like pronunciation of the Spanish rhotics. The phonetic context harder to acquire is the trill after an alveolar consonant while the easiest is the tap between vowels.

Cette thèse étudie la coarticulation C-à-V en français et son interaction avec d’autres sources de variations dans le but de mieux comprendre ce qui la module et ce qui gouverne la variation dans la parole. Pour cela, à partir de grands corpus de parole, nous avons testé comment la coarticulation C-à-V était fonction : 1) des caractéristiques articulatoires des consonnes et voyelles impliquées à partir de 18.5k voyelles /i, e, ɛ, a, x, u, o, ɔ/ (/x/=/ø, œ, ə/) en contexte ALVéolaire, UVulaire et VÉLaire ; 2) de la position prosodique occupée par les voyelles, en comparant le degré de coarticulation de 17k séquences CV et VC, V=/i, e, a, ɔ/ et C=ALV|UV, en position initiale de groupe intonatif, avec celui de séquences semblables en position interne de mot ; et 3) du style de parole, en analysant le degré de coarticulation dans 22k séquences CV et VC, V= /i, E, a, u, ɔ/ (/E/=/e, ɛ/) et C=ALV|UV, issues de parole journalistique et conversationnelle. Cette thèse montre qu’en plus de dépendre des caractéristiques articulatoires des segments, la coarticulation est aussi modulée par des facteurs linguistiques, liés à l’organisation prosodique du message, et des facteurs communicationnels dépendant de la situation de communication. Cependant, certains résultats suggèrent que la modulation de la coarticulation par la position prosodique et le style de parole, ont des fonctions linguistiques différentes dont les implications sur la variation dans la parole seront discutées. Enfin, une réflexion sur les changements de sons en lien avec la préférence universelle pour l’antériorisation des voyelles postérieures fermées sera proposée à partir des différences observées entre les voyelles. / This dissertation examines C-to-V coarticulation in French and its interaction with others sources of variation in order to better understand what modulates and governs variation in speech. Based on data from large speech corpora, we tested how C-to-V coarticulation is a function of: 1) the articulatory properties of the tested segments, i.e. 18.5k vowels /i, e, ɛ, a, x, u, o, ɔ/ (/x/=/ø, œ, ə/) in ALVeolar, UVular et VELar contexts; 2) the prosodic position occupied by the vowels, comparing the degree of coarticulation of 17k CV and VC sequences V=/i, e, a, ɔ/ and C=ALV|UV in initial position of intonational phrases, to similar sequences in internal word position; 3) the speech style, by analyzing the degree of coarticulation in 22k CV and VC sequences, V = /i, E, a, u, ɔ/ (/E/ = /e, ɛ/) and C = ALV|UV, in journalistic and conversational speech. The thesis demonstrates that coarticulation, in addition to being dependent on the articulatory characteristics of segments, is also modulated by other linguistic factors, related to the prosodic organization of the message, and communicational factors depending on the communication situation. Indeed, vowels are more resistant to coarticulation in strong prosodic positions as in formal speech. However, some results suggest that the modulation of coarticulation by prosodic position and speech style have different linguistic functions whose implications for speech variation will be discussed. Finally, a reflection on sound changes related to the universal preference for the anteriorization of back closed vowels will be proposed from the observed differences between the vowels.

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.

Cette thèse analyse les pratiques langagières hétérogènes d’une quarantaine d’adolescents originaires des quartiers multiculturels de la capitale norvégienne. Croisant une approche sociolinguistique, épistémologique et psychoculturelle, nous nous interrogeons sur les motivations sociales et individuelles du recours à des variables lexicales et syntaxiques jugées innovantes en norvégien. Notre recherche vise à démontrer que ces éléments linguistiques ne résultent pas d’un manque de compétences linguistiques, mais bien d’une variation stylistique à laquelle les locuteurs-individus ont recours en fonction d’une multitude de paramètres internes et externes à l’énonciation. L’analyse sociohistorique permet de replacer les locuteurs dans leur environnement local et de contextualiser leurs faits de langue. L’analyse linguistique s’appuie quant à elle sur des données écologiques recueillies dans le cadre du projet national UPUS (Utviklingsprosesser i urbane språkmiljø – Processus de développement linguistique en milieu urbain) mené entre 2006 et 2008 à Oslo. In fine la thèse propose d’envisager les pratiques stylistiques hétérogènes comme un champ de ressources non-fixes présent dans le répertoire d’individus aussi bien adolescents qu’adultes, issus des minorités comme de la majorité nationale dont le point commun n’est pas le partage d’une origine ethnique mais bien l’expérience conjointe de l’actuel milieu urbain contemporain. / This thesis provides a sociolinguistic analysis of Norwegian contemporary language practices among 41 adolescents all raised in multilingual and multicultural environments in the Eastern parts of Oslo. Based on a series of examples from the UPUS-Project (Utviklingsprosesser i urbane språkmiljø – Linguistic Development in Urban Environments), this work discusses social and individual motivations which lead speakers to use innovative lexical (including non-European loan words) and syntactic features in Norwegian. We argue that heterogeneous features do not result from a lack of language skills but rather are a part of a speech style thatspeakers activate depending on discursive settings. We also take into account the social and historical dimensions of Oslo in order to contextualize the language practices and to demonstrate how speakers during the life stage of adolescence make themselves heard on the local and global society. We suggest that this new speech style is not restricted to Oslo and adolescents speakers, but rather is a common resource for whoever wants to show solidarity toward the contemporary urban reality.