This study hypothesizes that the Epenthetic Vowel (EV) that occurs in Spanish consonant clusters, although produced unconsciously, is part of the articulatory plan of the speaker. As part of the plan, the epenthetic vowel occurs more often in the least perceptually recoverable contexts in order to enhance them. To achieve a better understanding of the role of the epenthetic vowel, this study shows that the linguistic and phonotactic contexts condition the occurrence of these vowels. Specifically, it argues that linguistic and phonotactic contexts that are perceptually weak compel a significantly higher occurrence of EVs. The EV was analyzed from both production and perceptual standpoints. The results show that from the production standpoint, the occurrence of the EV is affected by the type of liquid that forms the clusters: in clusters with /r/ the variables that made a statistical contribution were post-tonic position (odds ratio, 4.46), and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 1.42). In the case of clusters with /l/ an EV has a higher probability of occurring in the context of bilabial consonants (odds ratio, 4.19), and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 1.3). As for the effects of speech rate on the duration of EVs, the results show that speech rate accounts for 14% of the variation in an EV’s length. From the standpoint of perception, listening was divided into the tasks of perceptual identification and perceptual discrimination. The results show that the strongest predictor is the interaction voiceless x post-tonic position (odds ratio, 4.8). For the identification of the Cr clusters, the strongest predictor is the context of voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 4.42). Regarding identification of the Cl clusters, the strongest predictors are the tonic position (odds ratio, 1.54) and the labial place of articulation (odds ratio, 1.39). With regard to the discrimination of the Cr clusters, the strongest predictors for perceptual recoverability are the interaction voiceless x post-tonic position (odds ratio, 2.22), and the labial place of articulation (odds ratio, 1.37), while for the Cl cluster, the strongest predictors are the tonic position (odds ratio, 5.83) and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 3).

This study hypothesizes that the Epenthetic Vowel (EV) that occurs in Spanish consonant clusters, although produced unconsciously, is part of the articulatory plan of the speaker. As part of the plan, the epenthetic vowel occurs more often in the least perceptually recoverable contexts in order to enhance them. To achieve a better understanding of the role of the epenthetic vowel, this study shows that the linguistic and phonotactic contexts condition the occurrence of these vowels. Specifically, it argues that linguistic and phonotactic contexts that are perceptually weak compel a significantly higher occurrence of EVs. The EV was analyzed from both production and perceptual standpoints. The results show that from the production standpoint, the occurrence of the EV is affected by the type of liquid that forms the clusters: in clusters with /r/ the variables that made a statistical contribution were post-tonic position (odds ratio, 4.46), and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 1.42). In the case of clusters with /l/ an EV has a higher probability of occurring in the context of bilabial consonants (odds ratio, 4.19), and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 1.3). As for the effects of speech rate on the duration of EVs, the results show that speech rate accounts for 14% of the variation in an EV’s length. From the standpoint of perception, listening was divided into the tasks of perceptual identification and perceptual discrimination. The results show that the strongest predictor is the interaction voiceless x post-tonic position (odds ratio, 4.8). For the identification of the Cr clusters, the strongest predictor is the context of voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 4.42). Regarding identification of the Cl clusters, the strongest predictors are the tonic position (odds ratio, 1.54) and the labial place of articulation (odds ratio, 1.39). With regard to the discrimination of the Cr clusters, the strongest predictors for perceptual recoverability are the interaction voiceless x post-tonic position (odds ratio, 2.22), and the labial place of articulation (odds ratio, 1.37), while for the Cl cluster, the strongest predictors are the tonic position (odds ratio, 5.83) and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 3).

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2017-06-06T11:26:55Z No. of bitstreams: 1 emersonlopescruz.pdf: 4593129 bytes, checksum: 951b095b83f2d5e1f9ef2c741f72ceca (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-06-06T12:16:12Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 emersonlopescruz.pdf: 4593129 bytes, checksum: 951b095b83f2d5e1f9ef2c741f72ceca (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-06T12:16:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 emersonlopescruz.pdf: 4593129 bytes, checksum: 951b095b83f2d5e1f9ef2c741f72ceca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Esta dissertação busca: (1) entender as motivações para os erros fonético-fonológicos produzidos por alunos brasileiros universitários aprendizes do Inglês, principalmente no que se refere à dificuldade desses alunos em produzir palavras que contêm agrupamentos consonantais (consonant clusters), e (2) contribuir para uma análise linguística e pedagógica, buscando mostrar a necessidade de mudança de paradigmas no ensino de Inglês com base em transformações histórico-político-sociais, causadas pela expansão da língua inglesa como fenômeno mundial, para que haja uma revisão dos parâmetros e consequente reformulação dos currículos utilizados atualmente no ensino do Inglês, inclusive e principalmente no Brasil. Para a execução da presente investigação, utilizamos pesquisa de orientação etnográfica e estudo comparativo entre o Português e o Inglês. Concluímos, em linhas gerais, que os brasileiros, não-nativos falantes do Inglês como L2, tendem a pronunciar palavras que contenham agrupamentos (clusters) ou sequências consonantais desfazendo-os, principalmente através do uso de um elemento epentético de valor [+ silábico], em geral a vogal [i], em face das diferenças fonético-fonológicas existentes entre o Português e o Inglês. / This thesis aims at: (1) seeking to understand the motivations for the phonetic-phonological errors produced by Brazilian university students, English learners, mainly in what concerns the difficulty of those students in producing words which contain consonant clusters; and (2) contributing a pedagogical and linguistic analysis, trying to show the need for paradigm shifting in the teaching of English on the basis of recent historical, political, and social changes, caused by the spreading of the English language as a world phenomenon, so that there can be a revision of the parameters and consequent restructuring of the curricula presently adopted in English language teaching, mainly in Brazil. For the execution of this work, we made use of ethnographically-oriented research and carried out a comparative study of Portuguese and English. In general lines, we conclude that, as non-native speakers of English, Brazilians are likely to pronounce words which contain consonant clusters by splitting them, mainly through the use of an epenthetic [+ syllabic] element, in general the vowel [i], because of the existing phonetic-phonological differences between Portuguese and English.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to describe the realizations of consonant clusters in an age- homogenous group of Czech-speaking children. The theoretical part of this thesis deals with the syllable and consonant clusters as language universals, as well as with the syllable structure and consonant clusters in Czech. Furthermore, some theories of speech acquisition which take combinations of segments and forming of syllable structure in children's speech into account are also presented. A number of studies in consonant cluster acquisition is also summarized. The practical part of this work consists of an experiment in which consonant clusters in 16 typically developing Czech children aged 3;8-4;9 ( x = 4,4) were analysed. Eleven various two-element consonant clusters were selected according to their frequency of occurrence in the corpus of written Czech. Clusters were placed in 30 real words and 30 pseudowords - the pseudowords had the same structure as real words. Imitation was used as a elicitation method. Pictures were used only as complementary elements. The entire sample consisted of 461 consonant clusters realized in real words and 464 clusters realized in pseudowords. We described the structure of the target consonant clusters (i.e. manner and quality/accuracy of realizations) and their...

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.

This study aimed to investigate the difficulties of pronouncing English clusters in word-initial position by Najdi (central area in Saudi Arabia) Saudi learners when they want to pronounce a tri-literal cluster in word-initial position in English. Twelve participants who speak the Najdi dialect were chosen to conduct this study. All of them were classified as beginning English students in the English center of the University of Southern Illinois Carbondale. To get the results, a list of 23 words and list of 42 sentences were used. The results revealed that Najdi Saudi ESL learners have difficulties in pronouncing English tri-literal clusters in word-initial position. The results showed that the short high front vowel /ɪ/ and the low-mid front /ɛ/ were inserted to break the clusters.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The aim of this work is to analyze the application of therapeutic models of phonetic and phonological base in order to overcome the consonant clusters simplification (CC) in children who perform compensatory lengthening in the CCV structure. The thesis of this study is that there is underlying phonological knowledge on the syllabic structure CCV in children who perform compensatory lengthening when this structure is not filled in a proper way. For this reason, the best therapeutic approach is the one that can help in the phonetic implementation rather than the phonological organization. Thus, the present research aims to verify the effects of different therapeutic approaches in relation to the production and stabilization of CC in the speech of children who perform the compensatory lengthening and simplify the CC. Besides, it aimed to verify the variants of the therapeutic process in the acquisition of the CCV structure. In order to perform this investigation, four children aged between 5:4 and 7:7 with phonological disorder, CC simplification, lateral and non lateral liquid and who performed the compensatory lengthening strategy were used. Two subjects were under phonetic/articulatory therapy while the others were under phonological therapy. The results showed that the children exposed to phonetic/articulatory therapy need less sessions to the acquisition of CC than the ones exposed to phonological therapy. It was observed that the smaller the degree of phonological disorder is, the bigger the chances of appropriate production of CC. Taking into consideration the obtained results, the thesis of this research may be confirmed since the phonetic/articulatory therapy propitiated quicker progress in relation to the CC stabilization when compared to the phonological therapy and benefit the production of the correct structure. / O tema do presente trabalho é a aplicação de modelos terapêuticos de base fonética e fonológica utilizados na superação da simplificação do onset complexo (OC) em crianças que realizam alongamento compensatório na estrutura CCV. A hipótese norteadora deste estudo é que há conhecimento fonológico subjacente a respeito da estrutura silábica CCV nas crianças que realizam o alongamento compensatório quando a estrutura ainda não é preenchida de forma adequada. Com isso, a abordagem terapêutica que mais favoreceria às crianças que utilizam a referida estratégia seria aquela que auxiliasse na implementação fonética e não na organização fonológica. Assim, a presente pesquisa teve como objetivo verificar os efeitos de diferentes abordagens terapêuticas em relação à produção e estabilização do OC na fala de crianças que utilizam a estratégia de alongamento compensatório e simplificam o OC. Além disso, objetivou-se verificar as variáveis intervenientes no processo terapêutico na aquisição da estrutura CCV. Para tal investigação, foram selecionadas quatro crianças, com idade entre 5:4 e 7:7, com diagnóstico de desvio fonológico, que apresentavam simplificação do OC, possuíam a líquida lateral e nãolateral no seu inventário fonético e aplicavam estratégia de alongamento compensatório (verificada através da análise acústica). Dois sujeitos receberam terapia com enfoque fonético/articulatório e dois receberam terapia fonológica. Os resultados demonstraram que as crianças expostas à terapia fonética/articulatória precisam de menos sessões para a aquisição do OC do que aquelas expostas à terapia fonológica. Além disso, a abordagem fonética se mostrou favorecedora na realização correta da estrutura CCV. Dentre as variáveis relevantes durante o processo terapêutico para aquisição do OC, observou-se que quanto menor o grau do desvio fonológico, maiores as chances de produção correta do OC. As palavras polissilábicas com OC formado por oclusiva velar vozeada e sílaba pré-pré-tônica também favorecem o processo de aquisição. Com os resultados, a hipótese norteadora da pesquisa parece ser confirmada, visto que a terapia fonética/articulatória proporcionou progressos mais rápidos quanto à estabilização do OC quando comparada à terapia fonológica, além de beneficiar a produção correta da estrutura.

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.

No description available.

Production errors made by second language (L2) learners of English have been attributed to markedness, L1 transfer or input frequency (cf. Major, 2001; Edwards & Zampini, 2008; Baptista, Rauber, & Watkins, 2009). This thesis examines the production of 17 English initial consonant clusters (e.g., /pr/ in “pray”) in a markedness relationship, whereby clusters with greater sonority distance between the first and second consonants are unmarked and clusters with smaller sonority distance between the first and second consonants are marked, by two groups of Saudi Arabian L2 English learners. It also explores the effect of input frequency and L1 transfer. Participants were asked to read 60 sentences and their reading was recorded for acoustic analysis. Analysis showed that “prothesis” was always used to simplify the clusters, and that, the duration of the prothetic vowel tended to get longer when clusters become more marked. Intermediate participants had greater degree of difficulty in producing the clusters and tended to insert a longer prothetic vowel in general. Markedness explained the performance on #sC clusters; however, performance on non #sC clusters was best explained by L1 transfer. Results further indicated that input frequency was irrelevant to this study.