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.

No description available.

Cette thèse traite de l'acquisition des consonnes par des enfants francophones monolingues. Son but est de montrer que l’utilisation des traits distinctifs et des principes qui leur sont associés (hiérarchie des traits, évitement de la marque, économie des traits) rend compte du parcours d’acquisition des consonnes en français. Le corpus de cette thèse est constitué des productions spontanées longitudinales (pendant 16 et 28 mois) de deux enfants francophones. L’analyse a dégagé deux grandes étapes dans le parcours d’acquisition des contrastes consonantiques. Chacune d’elle repose sur l’intervention d’un principe associé aux traits distinctifs. La première étape rend compte de l’acquisition isolée des contrastes opposant les consonnes, dont l’ordre est guidé par le principe de hiérarchie des traits, exprimé par leur robustesse : plus un trait est robuste, plus il sera acquis rapidement. L’acquisition d’un trait suppose également l’acquisition des deux valeurs de ce trait par l’intervention du principe d’évitement de la marque : la valeur non-marquée de chaque trait sera acquise avant la valeur marquée. La seconde étape consiste en la diffusion, à l’ensemble du système, d’un trait acquis de façon isolée. Cette diffusion est guidée par le principe d’économie des traits : plus un trait participe à l’économie du système, plus il se diffusera rapidement. Afin d’extraire de l’input de l’enfant, l’information utile nous permettant d’exprimer l’actualisation de chaque principe dans la langue, nous avons conçu des calculs de fréquence des traits. Nous avons établi un lien entre l’expression des principes de hiérarchie, d’évitement de la marque et d’économie, et ces différentes fréquences des traits dans le langage adressé à l’enfant. En appréhendant l’acquisition consonantique comme l’acquisition de contrastes au sein d’un système, nous avons modélisé le parcours d’acquisition des consonnes grâce aux traits distinctifs et à leurs principes associés, en le mettant en regard des travaux sur la structuration des inventaires sonores adultes. / This work focuses on consonantal acquisition of monolingual French-speaking children. Its aim is to show that the use of distinctive features and their associated principles (feature hierarchy, markedness avoidance, feature economy) captures the path of consonantal acquisition in French. The data of this dissertation consist of spontaneous longitudinal productions (during 16 and 28 months) of two French-speaking children. Analysis of the data reveals two main stages in the acquisitional path of consonantal contrasts. Each of these stages relies on the intervention of a principle associated with distinctive features. The first stage captures the isolated acquisition of contrasts between consonants. The order of the acquisition of contrasts is guided by the feature hierarchy principle, which is expressed by feature robustness: the more robust a feature is, the faster it will be acquired. The acquisition of a feature also implies the acquisition of its two values through the intervention of the avoidance of markedness principle: the unmarked value of a feature will be acquired before the marked value. The second stage of the feature acquisition path consists in the distribution of a feature - acquired in an isolated way - throughout the whole system. This distribution is guided by the economy feature principle: the more a feature participates in the system economy, the more rapidly it will diffuse. In order to extract the relevant information from the child’s input that allows us to express the realisation of each principle into the language, we designed feature frequency calculations. We established a link between the expression of the hierarchy, markedness avoidance and economy principles and the different feature frequencies in child-directed speech. By approaching consonantal acquisition as contrast acquisition within an entire system, we were able to model the consonantal acquisition path based on distinctive features and their associated principles, paralleling it with work on the structure of adult sound inventories.

Bakalauro darbe analizuojami specialiojo pedagogo veiklos ypatumai mokyklos vaiko gerovės komisijoje. Tyrime dalyvavo bendrojo lavinimo mokyklos vaiko gerovės komisijos nariai iš Vilniaus rajono (6 specialieji pedagogai, 2 logopedai, 1 psichologas, 1 socialinis pedagogas, 2 pavaduotojos ugdymui). Teorinė darbo dalis atskleidžia specialiosios pedagoginės pagalbos ypatumus šiuolaikinėje mokykloje, parodo vaiko gerovės komisijos vaidmenį koordinuojant specialiąją pedagoginę pagalbą ir užtikrinant jos veiksmingumą, nustato specialiojo pedagogo funkcijos mokykloje, pristato specialųjį pedagogą kaip vaiko gerovės komisijos komandos narį. Naudojant interviu metodą, atskleidžiami specialiojo pedagogo veiklos parametrai, bei jo veiklos struktūros komponentai vaiko gerovės komisijoje. Taip pat vaiko gerovės komisijos narių požiūris į specialiosios pedagoginės pagalbos veiksmingumą mokyklos vaiko gerovės komisijoje. Analizuojant Vilniaus rajono bendrojo ugdymo mokyklų atsakymų kokybinio tyrimo rezultatus, buvo pastebėta, kad vaiko gerovės komisijos nariai specialiojo pedagogo veiklos parametrus vaiko gerovės komisijoje supranta ir apibūdina kaip platų, daugialypį procesą. Apklausti informantai teigia, jog specialiųjų pedagogų veiklos sritis ir pobūdis yra labai platus. Išryškėja tokios veiklos sritys, kaip darbas su SUP mokiniais, mokytojais, tėvais/šeima/įtėviais, darbas komandoje, tai pat išryškėja dar viena veiklos sritis – dokumentų tvarkymas, o kalbant apie specialiojo pedagogo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This thesis analyzes the distinctive features of the Special Education Teacher's activities in the School’s Children Welfare Council. The research was made using the interview method. Interviews were conducted with members of Children Welfare Commission from different basic education schools of the Vilnius district (6 special education teachers, 2 speech therapists, 1 psychologist, 1 social educator, 2 deputy directors for educational matters). The theoretical part reveals the features of special educational support within a contemporary school, demonstrates the role of the School’s Children Welfare Commission in coordinating special educational support measures as well as in ensuring their efficiency. It also discusses the functions of the Special Education Teacher within a school, introduces her (him) as a member of the School’s Children Welfare Council. The interviews conducted reveal the parameters of a Special Education Teacher as well as the components being part of the structure of the activity within the School’s Children Welfare Council. They also provide an evaluation of the efficiency of special educational support within the School’s Children Welfare Council by the council members. The results of the qualitative research of the answers made by representatives of schools of the Vilnius district showed that the council members perceive and describe the parameters of the Special Education Teachers within the School’s Children Welfare Council as a broad and... [to full text]