Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Psychology, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Not available / text

As a scientific field, phonetics systematically analyzes human speech sounds using segmental distinctions and state of the art technology. Ideally, these analyses are based on cross-linguistic data from a wide variety of language families. This dissertation provides the first phonetic analysis of Southern Ute, a severely endangered Uto-Aztecan language and presents the only published discussion of language policies and revitalization efforts on the Southern Ute reservation, located in Southwestern Colorado. This research is important because although there are 1,419 enrolled members of the Southern Ute tribe, according to a 2002 informal language survey, there are only forty remaining speakers, who are all over the age of sixty. It is important to note that the previous work on Southern Ute, three dictionaries (Goss 1961, Givon 1979, Charney 1996), one grammar (Givon 1980), one dissertation (Goss 1972) and a collection of traditional narratives (Givon 1985), does not include phonetic analysis or discussion of language policy or revitalization efforts on the Southern Ute reservation. This research benefits the Southern Ute community, the linguistic community and other indigenous communities in two ways. First, it provides a model for phonetic analysis of an endangered language utilizing fluent speaker intuition about stress. Second, the language policies and revitalization discussion adds to revitalization resources especially in the area of curriculum development. In the theoretical domain, Southern Ute offers rich data. It is imperative that Southern Ute phonetic properties are analyzed, documented and archived before the small number of fluent speakers die, leaving no digital audio recordings behind for future generations.

This thesis investigates the phonetic and phonological properties of laryngeal distinctions in the consonant inventory of Tahltan, a northern Athapaskan language. This thesis does not examine the phonetic properties of all Tahltan consonants. Instead, this thesis focuses on the phonetic acoustic properties of plain stop consonants, which have been described inconsistently in Tahltan, to determine their laryngeal specification. This thesis also examines the observed patterns of behavior governing syllable structure to help determine the laryngeal specification of consonants in Tahltan. In addition, several morphophonemic processes are examined to determine the phonological laryngeal specification of consonants in Tahltan. Based on the phonetic findings, and observed patterns of behavior governing syllable structure, I will argue that stop consonants in Tahltan exhibit four laryngeal articulations: voiced, voiceless unaspirated voiceless aspirated and glottalized. Based on the morphophonemic evidence, I will argue that fricative consonants exhibit two laryngeal articulations: voiced and voiceless. Furthermore, I will argue that glottal stop is specified for the laryngeal specification [constricted glottis] (henceforth [CG]) and that [h] is specified for the laryngeal specification [spread glottis] (henceforth [SG]).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xx, 351 p.; also includes graphics Includes bibliographical references (leaves 344-351). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

This dissertation argues that the affrication of /t/ and /d/ before /ɹ/ is an active sound change in progress that has been phonologized. Despite numerous references to it in the literature, no experimental work has been undertaken to investigate the phenomenon. This dissertation aims to fill that gap. Conducted over three separate studies, the research presented in subsequent chapters explores three specific questions: Q1: Apparent Time Study – Is the phenomenon of /tɹ/ and /dɹ/ affrication in English a sound change in progress? Q2: Production Study – Are English /t/ and /d/ in /tɹ/ and /dɹ/ clusters articulated like prevocalic [t] and [d], like prevocalic [tʃ] and [dʒ], like neither, or like both? Q3: Perception Study – Do English speakers categorize affricated variants of /t/ found in /tɹ/ clusters as T or CH? Chapter 2 presents results from an Apparent Time Study, which examines sociolinguistic interview data from a corpus of Raleigh, North Carolina English speakers of different ages, all born in the 20th century. The Raleigh corpus is considered to be a suitable choice for conducting this investigation for several reasons. First, it is expected that the phonetic motivation for /tɹ/ and /dɹ/ affrication will be present in any English-speaking community. Second, Raleigh experienced an influx of technology workers to the area from Northern regions of the United States in the middle of the 20th century, following the development of Research Triangle Park (RTP), making it plausible that the resulting dialect contact may have led to the introduction of novel affricated variants to the region. Third, /tɹ/ affrication has been implicated in s-retraction (in /stɹ/ clusters), which is a sound change in progress that has been reported in Raleigh English. The Apparent Time Study aims to determine whether /tɹ/ and /dɹ/ affrication, if present, is a sound change in progress and/or whether the emergence of affricated variants may have been the result of dialect contact. Building on these findings, Chapter 3 presents results from a Production Study conducted in Raleigh, North Carolina, which captures audio, ultrasound, and video data in order to investigate how English speakers’ /tɹ/ and /dɹ/ sequences are coarticulated. The Production Study provides an opportunity to find out how affricated variants of /t/ and /d/ before /ɹ/ are articulated. Chapter 4 presents results from a Perception Study, which explores how listeners (from the Production Study) categorize affricated variants of /t/ spliced from before /ɹ/. Chapter 5 compares results from across studies, and Chapter 6 provides a general discussion and conclusion.

Orientador: Plínio Almeida Barbosa / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T03:48:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Constantini_AnaCarolina_D.pdf: 2193643 bytes, checksum: c28fc92dc576ce19800b7b9ebea2f365 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: A prosódia é uma informação fônica que está além do nível do segmento, e é usualmente estudada a partir da análise de três parâmetros fonético-acústicos clássicos: frequência fundamental, intensidade e duração. Embora estudada para muitas finalidades, a prosódia geralmente não é a primeira opção de investigação quando se busca conhecer mais sobre diferenças entre variedades de uma mesma língua, por exemplo. Desta forma, o presente trabalho pretende preencher essa lacuna no que diz respeito aos estudos prosódicos para caracterizar e diferenciar variedades faladas no Brasil. O objetivo desta tese de Doutorado foi estudar parâmetros prosódicos que pudessem caracterizar e posteriormente diferenciar sujeitos de diferentes variedades faladas do português brasileiro. Em um segundo momento, ruído aditivo foi incluído nas mesmas amostras de fala utilizadas para caracterizar a prosódia de diferentes variedades do português brasileiro, com o objetivo de entender melhor como os parâmetros prosódicos se comportam quando há inclusão de ruído nas amostras de fala, situação muito comum na área da Fonética Forense. O objetivo secundário da pesquisa foi aplicar testes perceptivos a ouvintes do português brasileiro com a finalidade de saber se eles seriam capazes de reconhecer e categorizar a origem dos falantes de acordo com suas falas. Analisamos amostras de fala espontânea de 35 sujeitos, do sexo masculino, de sete regiões brasileiras: São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, Distrito Federal, Região Nordeste e Região Norte. Todas as amostras de fala foram segmentadas em unidades Vogal-Vogal (unidade VV), unidades do tamanho da sílaba que compreendem um segmento que vai do início de uma vogal até o início da vogal imediatamente seguinte, incluindo as consoantes entre elas. O script BeatExtractor foi utilizado para este fim. Posteriormente, outro script (ProsodicDescriptorExtractor) foi executado para extrair oito medidas prosódico-acústicas das amostras de fala: taxa de elocução (unidades VV/s), média de z-score suavizado de duração de unidade VV, desvio-padrão de z-score suavizado de duração de unidade VV, assimetria de z-score suavizado de duração de unidade VV, taxa de proeminência (picos de z-score/s), mediana de frequência fundamental, ênfase espectral e taxa de unidades VV não proeminentes por segundo. Após a análise estatística, os resultados mostraram que cinco dos oito parâmetros conseguiram identificar ao menos uma variedade estudada e assim, diferenciá-la de outras. A mediana de F0 e a ênfase espectral foram capazes de criar dois grandes grupos que separaram DF e Região Norte de todas as outras variedades (exceto pela não diferenciação de DF e Paraná), mostrando que DF e Norte possuem valores maiores de ênfase espectral, bem como têm valores de F0 maiores que os falantes de outras variedades. Assimetria de z-score suavizado e taxa de unidades VV não proeminentes/s foram os parâmetros que colocaram DF e Norte em grupos diferentes. O desvio-padrão de z-score apontou para uma diferença entre dialetos falados na região Norte do Brasil e da Região Sul: a região Norte se diferenciou de SP, DF e Nordeste e SP, que, por sua vez, se diferenciou do PR. Concluímos, portanto, que os parâmetros prosódicos podem revelar características próprias de variedades faladas no Brasil. A análise das amostras de fala em diferentes relações sinal-ruído mostrou que mediana de F0 e ênfase espectral são os parâmetros que sofrem maior perturbação quando a relação sinal-ruído é baixa, sendo que os valores de ênfase espectral chegaram a sofrer mudanças de 154% em relação a seus valores originais. O resultado mostrou que a análise da estrutura rítmica é a mais robusta quando há presença de ruído nas amostras de fala. Por fim, os testes perceptivos foram aplicados em 20 falantes do português brasileiro e a variedade mais reconhecida foi a variedade falada no Rio de Janeiro, que chegou a apresentar 90% de acerto, seguida pela variedade falada no Nordeste do Brasil. Constatamos que a proximidade da região de origem dos ouvintes com a região da variedade presente no teste facilita a identificação correta da variedade / Abstract: Prosody is usually studied by means of three classic parameters: fundamental frequency, intensity and duration. As for as dialectology is concerned, prosody has not been the main focus of the research on different dialects. Our goal is to characterize and differentiate Brazilian Portuguese varieties using prosodic parameters. In order to do that, we analyzed the recordings of spontaneous speech from 35 male subjects from seven different Brazilian regions: São Paulo (SP), Minas Gerais (MG), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Paraná (PR), Distrito Federal (DF), Northeast (NE) and North (N). The speech samples were segmented in Vowel-to-Vowel units (VV units) using the BeatExtractor script. Later, the ProsodicDescriptorExtractor script was used to extract eight prosodic measures which are: speech rate (VV units/s), mean, standard deviation and skewness of the normalized z-score, prominence rate (peaks of z-score/s), median of fundamental frequency, spectral emphasis and rate of non prominent VV units/s. The statistical analysis revealed that five prosodic parameters were able to identify at least one variety and then differentiate it from the others. Fundamental frequency median and spectral emphasis created two groups which separated N and DF (DF is located at West-Central region, near North region) from all the other varieties, considering that N and DF were characterized by high values of these two parameters. On the other hand, skewness of z-score and rate of non prominent VV units/s set DF and N in different groups. Standard deviation of z-score pointed to differences between North varieties and South varieties. We concluded that prosodic parameters can be useful to differentiate Brazilian Portuguese varieties. Another goal of the current study was to analyze the spontaneous speech 'recordings in distinct signal-to-noise ratios. The analysis has shown that Gaussian, additive noise modifies the values for median of F0 and spectral emphasis (the least has changed 154% related to the original values). The results revealed that the rhythmic organization of the speech chain is more indicated to the analysis of acoustic parameters in the presence of noise. Finally, 20 listeners were recruited to answer a perceptual test (free classification test) about the different varieties spoken in Brazil (we used the same spontaneous speech recordings to run the perceptual test). Rio de Janeiro was the most recognized variety, which presented 90% of correct answers, followed by the NE variety. The closeness of the listeners¿ own origin to the regions of the spoken varieties contributed to correct identifications / Doutorado / Linguistica / Doutora em Linguística

Orientador: Eleonora Cavalcante Albano / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T18:11:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pessotti_AntonioCarlosSilvano_D.pdf: 3351765 bytes, checksum: dfc6656e57053e749ba0a5598827d29e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Neste estudo observam-se os efeitos decorrentes do treinamento e da prática vocal profissional, tendo por base três hipóteses que evidenciem semelhanças e diferenças entre fala e canto: 1) a fala é diferente entre grupos, 2) o canto é semelhante entre grupos, 3) fala e canto possuem semelhanças e diferenças influenciadas por formação musical e treinamento. Foi escolhida a canção Conselhos (Carlos Gomes), cujo texto foi lido e cantado cinco vezes por três grupos, cada qual com cinco informantes: cantoras solistas (SOL), cantoras coralistas (COR) e locutoras de rádio (LOC). Os dados obtidos da partitura da canção foram analisados com procedimentos não paramétricos. Os dados acústicos das gravações de fala e canto (com e sem acompanhamento) foram analisados com procedimentos paramétricos. As análises não-paramétricas mostraram que a partitura musical mantém as restrições linguísticas, sem perda da função fonológica nem da pertinência linguística. As diferenças observadas na análise da duração de fala corroboram a primeira hipótese. Tais diferenças sugerem influência de treinamento, distinção dos grupos com prática profissional, e manutenção da hierarquia prosódica. A gradiência entre os grupos na análise da entoação da fala separa cantoras das locutoras, e indicam influência do treinamento vocal profissional. A análise das estimativas de espaço vocálico evidenciou as tônicas, usadas pelos grupos como marcadores de expressividade. A intensidade na fala ressaltou locutoras e solistas como grupos com prática vocal profissional. As solistas se destacam na fala com valores elevados dos formantes e proximidade tonal com a partitura, fato que poderia explicar a tendência das cantoras com maior prática e treinamento em ler um texto próximo ao canto. A análise da duração global no canto sem acompanhamento mostra semelhança entre as cantoras que reflete a segunda hipótese, referente à formação musical. As diferenças de duração das variáveis linguísticas no canto refletem a influência da prática e do treinamento. A análise da entoação indicou que as coralistas atrelam a afinação à pulsação rítmica, e, o acompanhamento facilita essa tarefa. A análise das estimativas de espaço vocálico no canto mostrou áreas semelhantes entre os grupos. A distinção entre eles aparece nas tônicas, menos centralizadas pelas solistas, e, ainda, com intensidade e formantes mais altos. A comparação entre dados acústicos e estimativas da partitura no canto mostrou as solistas com entoação próxima à partitura. As tônicas foram melhor investigadas na fala, no canto, e entre as modalidades. Na fala, as diferenças entre os grupos são explicadas pela formação, pois solistas e locutoras são treinadas para produzir maior abertura oral. As consequências articulatórias seriam o abaixamento de laringe e redução do espaço faríngeo. A investigação das tônicas no canto mostrou formantes elevados para as solistas, implicando em estiramento labial (ou elevação de laringe, prática não recomendada pela pedagogia do canto). A comparação entre modalidades indicou influência da proficiência musical ou do treinamento vocal, em busca de postura vocal confortável. Esses resultados na fala e no canto indicam possível transferência gestual do canto para a fala, e vice-versa, tal como ocorre na aquisição de segunda língua. Tal fenômeno resultaria de adaptação biomecânica, coerentemente com a Fonologia Gestual / Abstract: The aim of this study is to observe the effects of training and professional voice practice, the basis of three scenarios that show similarities and differences in spoken and sung productions: 1) speech is different among groups, 2) singing is similar in the two groups of singers, 3) speech and singing have similarities and differences influenced by musical education and training. Conselhos, a song by Carlos Gomes, was chosen to constitute the corpus, whose text was read and sung five times by three groups, each with five subjects: solo singers (SOL), choir singers (COR) and news broadcasters (LOC). The data obtained from the musical score were analyzed with nonparametric procedures, and the data from acoustic recordings of speech and singing (with and without accompaniment) were analyzed using parametric procedures. Non-parametric analysis showed that the musical score maintains language restrictions, without loss of phonological function or linguistic relevance. Differences observed in the analysis of spoken duration support the first hypothesis. Such differences suggest the influence of training distinctions based on professional practice and maintenance of the prosodic hierarchy. Analysis of speech intonation shows gradient performance among groups, and separates singers from broadcasters, as well as indicate the influence of professional vocal training. The analysis of vowel space estimations shows the stressed vowels as expressiveness markers used by both groups. The intensity in speech distinguishes broadcasters and soloists such as groups with professional vocal practioneers. The soloists stand out with high values in intensity and formants. The way of keeping close to the score may explain the tendency of singers with more practice and training to read a text with an intonation that reminds the melody. Analysis of overall duration in singing without accompaniment shows that the similarity between groups reflects the second hypothesis, referring to musical training. Differences in duration of the linguistic variables in singing reflect the influence of practice and training. The analysis indicated that pitch singers' intonation ties the musical score, and accompaniment makes it easy. The analysis of vowel space area estimations in singing showed similar between groups. The distinction between them appears in the tonic vowels, more centralized by the soloists, and with higher intensity and formants. The comparison between acoustic data and estimations of the musical score in singing showed the soloists with similar pitch to the score. The stressed vowels were investigated in speech, singing, and between modalities. In speech, the differences between groups are explained by their background, as soloists and broadcasters are trained to open their mouth widely. The articulatory consequences would be the larynx lowering and reduction of pharyngeal space. Research results indicate the stressed vowels in singing have higher formants for soloists, resulting in stretching (or lifting of the larynx). The results of these comparisons indicate the influence of music proficiency or vocal training seeking a comfortable vocal space. These results, observed in the speech and singing, suggest gestural transference between singing to speech, and vice-versa, as occurs in second language acquisition. This phenomenon could be the result of bio-mechanical adaptation, consistent with the Gestural Phonology / Doutorado / Linguistica / Doutor em Linguística

TITLE: Teaching of French pronunciation aimed at nasal vowels SUMMARY: The thesis deals with the issues of French pronunciation teaching at Czech schools. The theoretical part is aimed at teaching of pronunciation, the key concepts of phonetics and its importance in learning of foreign language. Then the thesis deals with the base of French phonetic system, especially the nasal vowels, the comparison of Czech and French phonetics and the main methods of teaching phonetics. The nasal vowels and their pronunciation are the starting point for the practical part - research in the field of the ability of Czech students to recognize and pronounce the nasal vowels in a good way. The research is based on 95 recordings of Czech students from different classes (from high school to bachelor's programme). KEYWORDS: French language, phonetics, phonology, teaching of phonetics, nasal vowels

This study focuses on the phonetics of creaky voice saliency and the perceptual sociolinguistic indexes that are evoked during creaky voice use. This study consists of two experiments: the first a listener judgment based Likert scale, the second an AXB study. The first experiment used modal and creaky voice statement-of-fact tokens to determine whether the speaker is or isn’t x characteristic (intelligent, feminine, educated, masculine, hesitant, and confident). This study found that both male and female speakers were found to be less intelligent, less educated, less feminine, more masculine, less confident, and more hesitant when using creaky voice phonation as compared to the modal register. Participants also rated male and female speakers as statistically different. During the second experiment the participants listened to continuums that went from modal register to extreme creaky voice (based on F0 levels). Participants performed an AXB task to determine ability at distinguishing levels of creaky voice along the continuum. This study found that participants were less able to correctly detect the level of creaky voice in the female speaker for the lower half of the continuum when compared to the male speaker.