Orientador: Plínio Almeida Barbosa / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-17T11:33:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Constantini_AnaCarolina_M.pdf: 2679463 bytes, checksum: 65309a00a02f2cde6ee2a55f9414e50f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: O presente trabalho teve como objetivo principal estudar a estruturação rítmica de enunciados de repórteres da TV Universitária - Unicamp que passaram por intervenção fonoaudiológica para aprimoramento vocal. O projeto foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética e Pesquisa da FCM (CEP/FCM/UNICAMP 211/2005). O estudo da estruturação rítmica desses enunciados se deu pela análise da evolução dos picos de duração de unidades do tamanho da sílaba (doravante Unidades VV), que compreendem o segmento acústico que vai de um onset vocálico até onset imediatamente seguinte, incluindo as consoantes entre eles (Barbosa, 2006). As unidades VV revelam informações sobre a estruturação rítmica de enunciados (Barbosa, 1994; 1996), fato que justifica o estudo dessas unidades dentro de enunciados telejornalísticos com a finalidade de conhecer a organização rítmica deste tipo de narração. A partir da análise da evolução da duração das Unidades VV no discurso telejornalístico, foram traçados outros objetivos, como a relação da duração com a curva entoacional da leitura do texto, para cuja notação utilizamos o sistema DaTo (Lucente, 2007;2008). Em seguida, foram aplicados testes perceptivos com a finalidade de investigar como as estratégias utilizadas pelos sujeitos estudados eram percebidas pelo ouvinte. Outro ponto estudado foi a relação entre sintaxe e prosódia, a partir da Gramática de Dependência (Tesnière, 1965) e seu uso em dados do português brasileiro (Barbosa 2006). Após a análise dos resultados mostramos que os sujeitos realizam mudanças consistentes em pontos específicos do texto narrado na condição pós-intervenção. As mudanças se caracterizam pelo aumento do valor da duração de unidades VV em posições específicas de acento frasal, aumento da variação da curva da frequência fundamental para realização de ênfases. Essas mesmas ênfases foram julgadas por ouvintes a fim de saber a repercussão das mudanças observadas na análise acústica. Em relação aos dados correlacionando a sintaxe e a prosódia, as marcas de dependência mais encontradas foram IDF (marcador entre fim de sentença e início da próxima sentença) e DfD (marcador encontrado entre governante, um nome, por exemplo, e e governado, por exemplo, um adjetivo posposto). Os resultados obtidos mostram que após o aprimoramento vocal, os sujeitos tornaram-se mais expressivos ao narrarem o texto, melhoraram o conhecimento em relação aos parâmetros prosódicos que podem ser utilizados em suas narrações para compor o fonoestilo que desejam incorporar / Abstract: The objective of this work was the study of the rhythmic organization of announcements of TV broadcast from the Unicamp Universitary TV. Two students of journalism passed by vocal training workshops with a speech therapist. The vocal training workshops intended to improve phonoarticulatory aspects involved in journalistic announcement. The study of the rhythmic organization of the announcements was done by analyzing the duration of Vowel-to-Vowel Units (VV units) throughout the utterances before and after the training. These units reveal the rhythmic organization of announcements in Brazilian Portuguese (henceforth BP) and they include the acoustic segments that start at a vowel onset to the next vowel onset (Barbosa, 1994;1996; 2006). Besides duration, the relationship between the melodic contour and the duration of VV units (using the DaTo notation system by Lucente, 2007; 2008) was investigated too. Perceptual tests were applied to try to reveal how the strategies used by the subjects to read the announcement would be interpreted by the listeners. Another aspect studied was the relationship between prosody and syntax according to the Dependency Grammar (Tesnière, 1965) theory (DG theory) as used by (Barbosa, 2006) to investigate this relationship in BP. Results showed that the duration of specific VV units related to emphatic expression were higher in the utterances produced after training. These changes were located in stressed syllable position where the fundamental frequency also varies more in the case of particular emphasis. As to the relation with syntax, the most common DG marks founded were IDF (between utterances) and DfD (between a head and its right dependent). Results showed that after training the subjects became more expressive to read the announcement and they improve their knowledge about prosodic aspects that are involved in journalistic phonostyle / Mestrado / Linguistica / Mestre em Linguística

The purpose of this diploma thesis is to analyse the ability of the human ear to hear slight rhythm deviations in speech and non-speech phrases. The first part contains theoretical background for the study of speech rhythm and summarizes the research that has been already conducted in this area. It focuses especially on the perceptual nature of rhythm, the concept of P-centers, and provides a comparative study of speech rhythm and musical rhythm and their common properties and functions. The theoretical part is concluded with the analysis of potential influences of linguistic and musical training on the production and perception of rhythm, and hypotheses and research questions are formulated. The practical part contains a perceptual experiment designed to examine the ability to identify rhythm manipulations in short speech and non-speech, i.e. percussive, phrases. Short English phrases are selected and their rhythmically altered counterparts are prepared. Participants are then presented with pairs of speech or non-speech phrases and a task to identify rhythmical discrepancies between them. The results highlighted several differences between the nature of speech and non-speech rhythm. While the presence of stressed syllables enhances perception of rhythm deviations in speech, this is not the case...

Cette thèse a deux objectifs principaux. En premier lieu, on voudrait offrir un aperçu des connaissances académiques actuelles, tant théoriques qu'empiriques, des processus d’accommodation linguistique entre interlocuteurs, au sens général, et des caractéristiques rythmiques de la langue espagnole, en particulier. En second lieu, on présente deux études empiriques conçues pour analyser l’influence de la régularité rythmique au niveau des phrases et de l’arrangement phonologique sur les processus d’accommodation linguistique. Dans l'ensemble, les données rassemblées dans cette thèse indiquent que les phrases avec un rythme régulier, disposées en groupes accentuels, produisent une plus grande ressemblance entre les hispanophones en matière de rythme et de l’étendue de la F0, par rapport aux phrases avec un rythme irrégulier et aux phrases disposées en pieds accentuels. De plus, certains faits connus concernant les femmes ayant une moyenne de F0 supérieure, une étendue de F0 plus large, et un débit de parole plus lent quant aux hommes ont également été observés au cours de la première expérience. En outre, une valeur inférieure de la moyenne de F0 et une étendue de F0 plus étroite ont été observées lors de l’utilisation de phrases avec un rythme régulier et de phrases disposées en groupes accentuels, par rapport aux conditions expérimentales opposées. En ce qui concerne la tâche de perception, les phrases des dyades mixtes ont été notées de manière plus similaire les unes aux autres par rapport aux phrases des dyades de femmes et des dyades d’hommes (parmi d'autres résultats trouvés). / This thesis has two principal aims. In the first place, we would like to offer an overview of the current academic knowledge, both theoretical and empirical, of the processes of linguistic accommodation between interlocutors, in a general sense, and of the rhythmic characteristics of the Spanish language, in particular. In the second place, we present two empirical studies designed to analyze the influence of sentence-level rhythmic regularity and phonological phrasing on the processes of linguistic accommodation. Taken together, the data gathered in this thesis indicate that regular rhythmic sentences, arranged in accentual groups, generate a greater amount of resemblance between Spanish speakers in terms of rhythm and F0 range, with respect to irregular rhythmic sentences and sentences arranged in accentual feet. Moreover, a lower value of F0 mean and a narrower F0 range were observed during the use of both regular rhythmic sentences and sentences arranged in accentual groups compared to the opposite conditions. In addition, some known facts related to women having a higher F0 mean, a wider F0 range, and speaking slower regarding men were also found during the first experiment. As for the perceptual task, sentences of mixed dyads were rated more similar to each other with respect to sentences of female only and male only dyads (among other patterns found).

Les modèles actuels de perception de la parole suggèrent un couplage étroit entre les rythmes cérébraux, caractérisés par les oscillations neuronales, et le rythme de la parole, permettant de segmenter le flux verbal continu en unités linguistiques pertinentes pour la reconnaissance. En particulier, les modulations lentes d’amplitude de l’enveloppe temporelle de la parole, véhiculant l’information syllabique et prosodique, sont capables d’« entrainer » les oscillations corticales auditives dans la bande de fréquence thêta (4-7 Hz), échantillonnant le signal verbal en unités syllabiques. L’information temporelle qui caractérise la parole joue un rôle fondamental dans l’acquisition et le développement du langage ; un déficit de traitement des indices rythmiques de la parole a d’ailleurs été décrit dans les troubles développementaux du langage. L’objectif de ce travail de thèse était de mieux comprendre les processus neurocognitifs sous-tendant la perception du rythme de la parole naturelle chez l’enfant présentant un développement langagier typique ou atypique (dysphasie) dans trois études. Une première étude en magnétoencéphalographie (MEG) a permis de dévoiler la dynamique corticale oscillatoire chez des enfants francophones neurotypiques (8-13 ans) lors de l’écoute de phrases naturellement produites à un débit normal ou rapide. Nos résultats suggèrent l’existence de deux phénomènes d’« entrainment » des oscillations sur l’enveloppe temporelle de la parole à débit normal, l’un dans la bande thêta au sein des régions auditives droites, l’autre dans une bande centrée sur le débit syllabique moyen des stimuli dans les régions temporales antérieures gauches. Dans la condition de parole rapide, une synchronisation cortico-acoustique a été mise en évidence dans la bande thêta au sein des régions (pré)motrices gauches, reflétant le rôle de la voie dorsale d’intégration sensori-motrice dans les conditions d’écoute difficiles mais aussi dans le développement du langage oral. Les deux études suivantes ont été réalisées chez des enfants présentant une dysphasie expressive (8-13 ans) afin de tester l’hypothèse d’un trouble de traitement du rythme syllabique chez ces enfants, potentiellement sous-tendu par une dynamique corticale oscillatoire atypique. Dans une étude comportementale, nous avons évalué les capacités des enfants dysphasiques à décoder de la parole naturellement produite à débit normal ou rapide, ou accélérée artificiellement. Nous avons montré des performances réduites chez ces enfants, en regard d’enfants neurotypiques, pour traiter des phrases accélérées naturellement et artificiellement, suggérant un déficit d’extraction du rythme de la parole lorsque la fréquence des modulations de l’enveloppe temporelle augmente. Une étude en MEG, identique à celle réalisée chez les enfants neurotypiques, nous a permis d’apporter de premiers éléments en faveur de cette interprétation en révélant un traitement cortical atypique de l’information syllabique dans la dysphasie, qui pourrait rendre compte des troubles phonologiques et morpho-syntaxiques souvent décrits dans ce trouble neuro-développemental. Une synchronisation réduite des oscillations thêta du cortex auditif a ainsi été mise en évidence chez les enfants dysphasiques par rapport à leurs pairs lors de la perception de parole à débit normal. L’absence d’alignement de l’activité oscillatoire des régions prémotrices sur l’enveloppe temporelle des phrases à débit rapide nous a en outre conduit à émettre l’hypothèse d’un dysfonctionnement de la voie dorsale chez ces enfants. Dans l’ensemble, ce travail de thèse fournit donc, pour la première fois à notre connaissance, des preuves expérimentales (i) de la synchronisation entre rythmes corticaux et rythme de la parole naturelle chez les enfants à développement langagier typique et (ii) d’une dynamique oscillatoire atypique lors de la perception de parole à débit normal et rapide chez les enfants dysphasiques. / Current models of speech perception suggest a close correspondence between brain rhythms, characterized by neuronal oscillations, and speech rhythm, which would allow the brain to parse the incoming speech signal into relevant linguistic units for decoding. Slow amplitude modulations in speech temporal envelope, which convey syllabic and prosodic information, have been shown to entrain oscillatory activity of auditory cortex in the theta frequency band (4-7 Hz), sampling the acoustic signal into syllable-sized units. Temporal information in speech is a foundation for oral language acquisition and development; accordingly, deficits in processing speech rhythmic cues have been described in developmental language disorders. This thesis sought to throw light on the neurocognitive processes underlying the perception of natural speech in children with typical and atypical language development (Specific Language Impairment – SLI – or Developmental Language Disorder – DLD) in three experimental studies. In a first magnetoencephalography (MEG) study, we unraveled the oscillatory dynamics in a group of French-speaking typically-developing children aged 8 to 13 years old during listening to naturally-produced sentences either at a normal or fast rate. Our results suggested two types of entrainment of cortical oscillations on the temporal envelope of normal rate speech: the first one occurred in the theta band in right auditory cortex whereas the second one was found in a frequency band centered on the mean syllabic rate of our stimuli in left anterior temporal regions. As to the fast rate condition, we showed cortico-acoustic coupling in the theta band in left (pre)motor areas, reflecting the role of the sensorimotor dorsal pathway in challenging listening conditions as well as in language development. In two other studies, we tested the hypothesis of an impairment to process speech syllabic rhythm, potentially underpinned by atypical oscillatory cortical dynamics, in children with developmental language disorders mainly at the expressive level. In a behavioral study, we examined how French-speaking children with expressive DLD (8-13 years old) processed speech naturally produced at a normal or fast rate, or artificially accelerated. Our results showed poorer performance to decode fast sentences, either accelerated naturally or artificially, in these children as compared to their typically-developing peers, which suggests a deficit in extracting speech syllabic information with increased modulation frequency in the amplitude envelope. The last study, identical to the first one in MEG conducted in typically-developing children, provided the first piece of evidence in favor of this interpretation by showing atypical cortical processing of syllabic information in children with DLD, which may account for the phonological and morpho-syntactic deficits frequently described in this developmental disorder. Reduced alignment of theta oscillatory activity in auditory cortex to normal rate speech has indeed been evidenced in children with DLD as compared to typically-developing children. Lack of synchronization of oscillations in left (pre)motor regions to amplitude envelope of fast rate sentences was also observed, which we interpreted as potential dysfunction of the dorsal stream in this population. To the best of our knowledge, the findings obtained in this thesis therefore provide first experimental evidence for (i) coupling between brain rhythms and rhythm of naturally produced speech in typically-developing children and (ii) atypical oscillatory cortical dynamics underlying normal and fast rate speech in children with developmental language disorders.