This study investigates the role of perceptual distinctiveness in consonant inventories. While distinctiveness appears to play a role in the shaping of vowel systems, a literature review indicates that its status in consonant selections remains unclear. To address this issue I used speech materials recorded by a trained phonetician containing 35 CV syllables with seven places of articulation (bilabial, dental, alveolar, retroflex, palatal, velar and uvular) and five vowels: [i] [[epsilon]] [a] [[backwards c]] and [u]. Detailed acoustic measurements were performed: formant patterns at vowel onsets (loci) and vowel midpoints, transitions rates and burst spectra. To validate the speech material, comparisons were made with published data and with formant frequencies derived by means of an articulatory model. Perceptual data were collected on these 35 syllables. Multiple Regression analyses were performed with the coded dissimilarities as the dependent variable and with (combinations of) formant-based distances, time constant differences and burst differences as the independent variables. The results indicated that acoustic measurements could be successfully used to help explain listener responses. Optimal place sets were obtained from a rank ordering of the CV syllables with respect to 'individual salience' (defined as the sum of a syllable's perceptual distance to other places in the same vowel context) and from a replication of the Liljencrants & Lindblom systemic criterion of maximizing distances within all vowel pairs. Instead of the typologically prevalent pattern of [b d g], predictions were found to be vowel-dependent and to often favor CV:s located at the 'corners' of the acoustic F3-F2 space, viz., uvular, palatal and retroflex. This finding leads to a conclusion that distinctiveness alone is unlikely to account for how languages use place of articulation in voiced stops. For more successful attempts, future work should be directed towards defining and incorporating production constraints such as 'ease of articulation'.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004. / Document formatted into pages; contains xxi, 371 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 324-371). Abstract available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2007 Aug. 18.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [206]-219).

The relationship between word form and word meaning has been debated since early Greek philosophy. Conventionally, the relationship is held to be arbitrary: that there is no natural connection between a word and what it represents (de Saussure 1959). In contrast, examples of sound symbolism undermine this linguistic tenet by demonstrating non-arbitrary word meanings conveyed in details of the acoustic signal of the words themselves. The Affect Induction model of animal communication offers a natural explanation for some forms of sound symbolism in language. According to the Affect Induction model, the physical properties of signals influence receiver affect and behavior in specific ways through relatively direct effects on core sensory, psychological and affective processes. To investigate the possible implications of this model for sound symbolism in human language, a set of studies was conducted on the classic “bouba-kiki” phenomenon. An analysis was subsequently undertaken to extend the results of experiments to several corpuses of real words classically associated with divergent affective themes. Results suggest that the Affect Induction model might account for some forms of sound symbolism, as instantiated in real word usage. / viii, 89 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm

Thesis (M.A.)--Brandeis University, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 29, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Bibliography: p. [217]-221.

Background: Due to a change in service delivery, the Educational Psychology Service (EPS) in which the researcher works now has an income-generated target which represents 20% of the full cost of the service. An increasing amount of this traded work is delivered in the form of training. Whilst training is perceived to be an important role of an Educational Psychologist (EP), there is a dearth of published literature about the role of the EP as a trainer. It was therefore felt that it would be useful to establish a more in-depth understanding of the EP’s role as a trainer, its distinctive and valuable contribution and the content and process elements of effective EP training.Participants: Sixteen participants in total took part within the study. This included the Principal Educational Psychologist of a Central England Metropolitan Local Authority, three EPs who delivered three separate training events, the three commissioners of the EP training events, and nine recipients of the EP training events.Methods: The study uses an exploratory single case study design, using a combination of semi-structured interviews and a focus group with additional data from a training observation, documentary analysis of training materials and training evaluation data. The interviews and focus group were analysed using inductive, explicit thematic analysis.Findings: A wide range of themes were identified about the distinct and valued contribution of EPs as trainers. Some of these included: EPs’ psychological knowledge and skills; EPs’ local knowledge of schools and other services; EPs’ wider view of training. Further findings identified the competing demands for Educational Psychology Services in delivering effective training and the commercialisation of EP services within the current financial climate.Conclusions: The exploratory nature of the study allowed for distinct and valued contributions of EPs’ as trainers to be identified. This resulted in a number of implications and recommendations for future practice.

This paper examines the use of infinitival and gerundial constructions by intermediate Spanish learners. The use of those two patterns creates problems for second language learners at intermediate and advanced levels. However, there are only few studies on their second language acquisition, and fewer focus on Spanish learners. This study tries to resolve this and to this end, I retrieved all hits of the two constructions from the Spanish component of the International Learner Corpus of English (SP-ICLE). I run a distinctive collexeme analysis (DCA) to identify the verbs that are associated with either pattern. The results are discussed at three different levels: (i) the identification of verbs that Spanish learners associate with each construction; (ii) a systematic comparison with previous studies on native speakers to show possible similarities/discrepancies; and (iii) a comparison of the results with findings on German learners to discuss possible effects of language similarity and transfer.

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