Este trabalho se insere no âmbito dos estudos a respeito da formação de palavras e pretende analisar a estrutura morfossintática de diminutivos e aumentativos do português brasileiro construídos com os formadores -inh/-zinh e -ã/-zã, respectivamente. Mais especificamente, o recorte empírico feito na tese pode ser dividido em duas grandes linhas: uma que aborda a interação entre as marcas de diminutivo e de aumentativo com as marcas de gênero/classe nominal e outra que contempla a (im)possibilidade de que as formações diminutivas e aumentativas sejam não-composicionalmente interpretadas. Para tanto, reanalisamos o estatuto das noções de gênero e classe nominal, propondo que elas ocupam a mesma posição na estrutura sintática. Tal posição é identificada como uma projeção de gênero, que é parte da projeção estendida do nome. Os formadores de diminutivo e aumentativo são analisados com base nas relações que estabelecem com esse núcleo sintático de gênero. A hipótese de base é a de que nuances na relação entre os formadores avaliativos e o núcleo de gênero revelam aspectos significantes da posição estrutural ocupada por cada um deles. Em linhas gerais, propomos que o diminutivo -inh se diferencia dos outros formadores por compartilhar com a raiz o mesmo núcleo de gênero. Essa estrutura é capaz de dar conta, entre outros fatos empíricos, da possibilidade de que a vogal final da forma diminutiva seja idêntica à vogal final da forma não-diminutiva, ainda que tal vogal seja condicionada pela raiz. Por outro lado, a vogal final que completa o aumentativo -ã reflete os padrões gerais da língua, independentemente da raiz presente na derivação. Tomamos esse fato como evidência de que o aumentativo e a raiz possuem núcleos independentes de gênero. No que diz respeito às construções aumentativas e diminutivas encabeçadas pela consoante -z, a presença de núcleos de gênero independentes na estrutura sintática é ainda mais clara, uma vez que tanto a vogal que completa a raiz, como a vogal que completa as formas -zinh e -zã são fonologicamente realizadas. Assim como no caso das formações com -ã, a vogal que completa os formadores de grau encabeçados por -z é completamente independente da raiz que participa da formação, seguindo o padrão mais geral da língua. Esses fatores fazem a análise do aumentativo -ã e a análise das formas encabeçadas por -z bastante similares uma à outra: tais formas possuem, em sua estrutura sintática, um núcleo de gênero que é independente daquele que categoriza a raiz. No entanto, há diferenças no comportamento dessas formas que acabam por separar de um lado o aumentativo -ã e, de outro, as formas -zinh e -zã. Propomos que tais diferenças são derivadas do fato de o primeiro formador se anexar abaixo do núcleo de número, enquanto os dois últimos entram na estrutura depois que ela já possui um núcleo de número. Por fim, dentro de uma visão localista de gramática, em que a atribuição de significado não-composicional deverá ser licenciada dentro de domínios bem definidos, discutimos a composicionalidade das formações partir das posições sintáticas atribuídas a cada um dos formadores em questão. / This work is inserted within the scope of the studies that investigate word formation, and aims to analyze the morphosyntactic structure of diminutives and augmentatives in Brazilian Portuguese built with the formatives -inh/-zinh, and -ã/-za, respectively. More specifically, the empirical path of this thesis can be divided into two main lines: one that addresses the interaction of diminutive and augmentative with the notions of gender/noun classes, and one that addresses the (im)possibility of a non-compositional interpretation being attributed to the structure. In order to do so, it was necessary to review the status of notions like gender and noun class in the grammar, and the formal representation attributed to them. I propose that gender and noun class occupy the very same position in the syntactic structure. This position is identified as a gender projection, which is part of the extended projection of the noun. Diminutive and augmentative markers are, then, analyzed based on the relations they establish with the syntactic gender head. The underlying hypothesis is that differences in the relation established between the evaluative formatives and the gender head reveal important aspects of the structural position that hosts each of them. More specifically, I propose that the diminutive -inh differs from other formatives, because it shares with the root the same gender head. In this sense, -inh is attached to the same gender projection responsible for categorizing the root. This structure is capable of accounting, among other empirical facts, for the possibility that the final vowel of diminutive and nondiminutive forms is identical, even if it is a root-conditioned element. On the other hand, the final vowel that completes -ã augmentatives always reflects the general gender pattern of the language, quite independently of the root. I take this as evidence that, unlike the diminutive, the augmentative and the root have independent gender heads. Thus, the syntactic structure proposed for the augmentative formation has two gender heads: one that attaches to the root, and another one that attaches directly to the augmentative. The distance between the root and the gender head that follows the augmentative is responsible for the default phonological realization of the final vowel of the augmentative. In the same sense, in the diminutive and augmentative formations built with -zinh and -zã, the presence of two independent gender heads is even clearer, since they can be phonologically identified in the output form. It is proposed, then, that, just as in is the case of the -ã forms, the vowel completing -zinh and -zã occupies a gender head that is independent from the one that categorizes the root. Differences in the behavior of these forms point to a split between -ã on one side, and -zinh/-zã on the other. We propose that these differences are derived from the fact that while -ã attaches below a number head, -zinh/-zã, on the other hand, attaches above a number head. Finally, within a localist view of grammar, in which the licensing of noncompositional meaning must be conditioned by local domains of syntactic structure, the possibility and impossibility of non-compositional interpretation being attributed to diminutive and augmentative formations is derived from the syntactic positions assigned to each of the formatives.

This thesis investigates the relationship between social meaning and linguistic change. An important observation regarding spoken languages is that they are constantly changing: the way we speak differs from generation to generation. A second important observation is that spoken utterances convey social as well as denotational meaning: the way we speak communicates something about who we are. How, if at all, are these two characteristics of spoken languages related? Many sociolinguistic studies have argued that the social meaning of linguistic features is central to explaining the spread of linguistic innovations. A novel form might be heard as more prestigious than the older form, or it may become associated with specific social stereotypes relevant to the community in which the change occurs. It is argued that this association between a linguistic variant and social meaning leads speakers to adopt or reject the innovation, inhibiting or facilitating the spread of the change. In contrast, a number of scholars have argued that social meaning is epiphenomenal to many linguistic changes, which are instead driven by an automatic process of convergence in face-to-face interaction. The issue that such arguments raise is that many studies proposing a role of social meaning in the spread of linguistic innovations rely on production data as their primary source of evidence. Observing the variable adoption of innovations across different groups of speakers (e.g. by gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status), a researcher might draw on their knowledge of the social history of the community under study to infer the role of social meaning in that change. In many cases, the observed patterns of could equally be explained by the social structure of the community under study, which constrains who speaks to whom. Are linguistic changes facilitated and inhibited by social meaning? Or is it rather the case that social meaning arises as a consequence of linguistic change, without necessarily influencing the change itself? This thesis explores these questions through a study of vocalic change in York, Northern England, focusing on the fronting and diphthongization of the tense back vowels /u/ and /o/. It presents a systematic comparison of the social meanings listeners assign to innovations (captured using perceptual methods), their social attitudes with regard to those meanings (captured through sociolinguistic interviews), and their use of those forms in production (captured through acoustic analysis). It is argued that evidence of a consistent relationship between these factors would support the proposal that social meaning plays a role in linguistic change. The results of this combined analysis of sociolinguistic perception, social attitudes and speech production provide clear evidence of diachronic /u/ and /o/ fronting in this community, and show that variation in these two vowels is associated with a range of social meanings in perception. These meanings are underpinned by the notion of 'Broad Yorkshire' speech, a socially-recognized speech register linked to notions of authentic local identity and social class. Monophthongal /o/, diphthongal /u/, and back variants of both vowels are shown to be associated with this register, implying that a speaker who adopts an innovative form will likely be heard as less 'Broad'. However, there is no clear evidence that speakers' attitudes toward regional identity or social class have any influence on their adoption of innovations, nor that that their ability to recognise the social meaning of fronting in perception is related to their production behaviour. The fronting of /u/ is spreading in a socially-uniform manner in production, unaffected by any social factor tested except for age. The fronting of /o/ is conditioned by social network structure - speakers with more diverse social networks are more likely to adopt the innovative form, while speakers with closer social ties to York are more likely to retain a back variant. These findings demonstrate that York speakers hear back forms of /u/ and /o/ as more 'local' and 'working class' than fronter realizations, and express strong attitudes toward the values and practices associated with regional identity and social class. However, these factors do not appear to influence their adoption of linguistic innovations in any straightforward manner, contrasting the predictions of an account of linguistic change where social meaning plays a central role in facilitating or inhibiting the propagation of linguistic innovations. Based on these results, the thesis argues that many linguistic changes may spread through the production patterns of a speech community without the direct influence of social meaning, and advocates for the combined analysis of sociolinguistic perception, social attitudes and speech production in future work.

This thesis investigates sociolinguistic variation among highly fluent Slovak-English bilingual women and also long-term immigrants residing in Edinburgh, Scotland. The present study adds to existing literature on urban migratory experiences (Block, 2008; Forsberg, Lundell and Bartning, 2015; Howley, 2015), comparing cross-cultural variation of immigrants' speech with their local peers (Drummond, 2010, 2012; Meyerhoff et al., 2009), by exploring linguistic and social constraints on language attitudes and accent acquisition among bilingual Slovak immigrants. Sociolinguistic interview data were obtained from 32 women, ages 22-46: 20 Slovak immigrants, 8 Edinburgh Scottish participants, and 6 bilingual Slovak teachers of English in Slovakia. By considering linguistic and social factors that influence Slovak immigrants' variation, in this thesis I ask not just whether and to what extent do local language communities shape immigrants' identity, but also how their identity affects their language attitudes and pronunciation. The thesis pays particular attention to how implicit and explicit language attitudes combine to establish what Block (2008) called a "multidimensional" identity in immigrants. Further investigation establishes a link between identity and production (Redinger and Llamas, 2014; Podesva et al., 2015) by drawing on the variationist sociolinguistic methodologies set out by Labov (1966, 2001, 2006). Implicit language attitudes were collected via a Verbal Guise Task (VGT), during which participants evaluated speakers of foreign and native English accents (Campbell- Kibler, 2006; McKenzie, 2015; McKenzie and Carrie, 2018). Explicit attitudes were collected via a questionnaire designed to elicit attitudes in a casual setting (Dörnyei and Csizér, 2012). The combination of methodologies revealed that immigrant participants in the study held complex attitudes and motivations in relation to their host country. The results for language attitudes suggested that long-term Slovak immigrants experienced shifts to their identity while residing in Scotland, with most adopting a transnational identity that made them amenable to local language communities while maintaining connections with their home country. Their identity represented a degree of integration with Scottish communities, but transnational immigrants often felt separate from both home and host countries as a result. The present study also explores connection between identity and production which is now well recognised (Kobiałka, 2016; Regan, 2016; Regan and Ni Chasaide, 2010; Bucholtz, 2011). Immigrant participants' pronunciations of FACE and GOAT vowel lexical sets (Wells, 1982) were evaluated in comparison to two language groups that represented different standards of pronunciation: native Scottish participants in Edinburgh, with more monophthongal pronunciations (Schützler, 2015); and English-Slovak bilinguals residing in Trnava, Slovakia, whose vowel productions were highly diphthongal and similar to Received Pronunciation (RP) constructions. Comparative study of pronunciations revealed that the immigrants' FACE and GOAT realisations were relatively more monophthongal than the non-immigrant Slovak group, yet more diphthongal than the native Scottish group - effectively making immigrant Slovaks' mean pronunciations separate and distinct from both native standard varieties. However, the immigrant's pronunciations varied widely, and data modelling revealed associations between key social factors and pronunciation. Settings of high formality, strong European and Slovak identities, and intentions to return to Slovakia were associated with relatively more diphthongal pronunciations. Decreased formality, strong Scottish identities, and lack of formal education before immigration were associated with relatively more monophthongal pronunciations. Key findings in the study reinforce observations of multi-cultural identities in longterm Slovak immigrants. Drawing on work that explores variation in language attitudes (Clark and Schleef, 2010) and production in migratory settings (Meyerhoff and Schleef, 2014), I argue that there is a tendency for immigrants to shape their multi-cultural identities in response to linguistic and social contexts. However, internal contexts such as self-definition were equally important in shaping identities, which in turn affected language attitudes and pronunciation.

The phenomenon of an ongoing sound change leads in some cases to the pronunciation of short ö becoming more like that of short u. This thesis examines the relationship between short ö and u in Uppland Swedish. The localities included in the investigation were Uppsala, Norrtälje, Östervåla and Gräsö. In particular, the thesis examines the effects of age, gender and social status on the acquisition of a pronunciation where the phonemes are produced in a similar way, and whether the change occurs earlier in some words than others. The informants on Gräsö appear to have the highest occurrence of the merger, while those in Norrtälje are best at keeping ö and u apart. In general, men have a smaller difference between ö and u than women. Three different age groups were analysed and the results show that the oldest informants have the largest difference between ö and u and the youngest informants have the smallest difference. There are no significant differences between the three social status groups, but there is a tendency for those with the lowest social status to be better at keeping the phonemes apart than those with the highest social status. 13 minimal (or near-minimal) pairs were analysed to investigate whether the phonetic context has an effect on the degree to which ö and u are becoming more similar. The study shows that the smallest phonetic difference is found for word pairs with r occurring in the preceding or following context. The largest phonetic distance was found in word pairs beginning with a vowel. The study also examined whether there is a relationship between production, perception and attitude to u-sounding ö in Uppsala. By combining the production test results with the informants’ categorisation of u and ö in the perception test, the study shows that the informants with a small phonetic distance in their own speech were better at categorising stimuli correctly than the speakers who had a larger phonetic distance between ö and u in their own speech.

There is a lot of research made on second language (L2) learning (Jesney, 2004). However the relationship between foreign accent, intelligibility and acoustics within pronunciation tutoring is quite an unresearched area (Thorén, 2008). The aim of the study was to analyze how a course in Swedish pronunciation affected foreign accent, intelligibility and acoustics among L2-learners of Swedish. A total of 41 people participated in the study: 16 L2-learners, 4 native Swedish speakers consisting a control group and 21 perceptual assessors with Swedish as native language. The L2-learners foreign accent and intelligibility were rated by the listeners before and after a course in Swedish pronunciation on an eight-point Likert-scale. The listeners also answered a questionnaire on factors potentially affecting the ratings. The acoustic measurements were made on ten words that were read aloud consisting of long and short allophones of five Swedish vowels. Formants, vowel duration and fundamental frequency were measured for the three closest and the three furthest from native pronunciation rated L2-learners. The results indicate that a class in Swedish pronunciation significantly decreased the L2-learners foreign accent. A strong correlation between the foreign accent and intelligibility ratings was found. Despite a strong correlation, no significant improvement concerning intelligibility could be established. The only factor that affected the intelligibility ratings were the assessor’s geographic affiliation. People from the western part of Sweden rated the intelligibility as less intelligible than raters from the eastern part of Sweden. The results from some of the acoustic measurements corresponded with the assessors ratings of foreign accent and intelligibility. The L2-learner rated as closest to native pronunciation was also the one with acousticly measured results close to the reference values regarding vowel duration (Elert, 1964; Gårding et al, 1974; Kügler, 2007; Thorén, i.d.) and fundamental frequency (Pegoraro Krook, 1988). The conclusion is that Swedish pronunciation tutoring should be focused on exercises that increase intelligibility because exercises that improve the foreign accent not necessarily increase the intelligibility. / Det finns en hel del forskning kring andraspråksinlärning (Jesney, 2004). Dock är förhållandet mellan brytning, förståelighet och akustiska variabler ett område som inte är lika väl beforskat inom uttalsundervisning i svenska (Thorén, 2008). Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka hur en kurs i svenskt uttal påverkade brytning, förståelighet och akustiskt mätbara parametrar hos personer med svenska som andraspråk. Totalt medverkade 41 personer i studien varav 16 stycken var andraspråkstalare, 4 stycken var kontrollpersoner och resterande 21 var modersmålstalare av svenska som agerade lyssnarbedömare. Lyssnarbedömarnas skattningar baserades på två inspelningar av andraspråkstalarnas spontantal före och efter en kurs i svenskt uttal. Bedömningen gjordes på en åttagradig Likert-skala gällande grad av brytning samt förståelighet. Bedömarna fick även fylla i ett frågeformulär gällande vilka faktorer som potentiellt kunde påverka skattningen av brytning och förståelighet. De akustiska mätningarna gjordes på tio upplästa ord innehållande fem av svenskans vokaler. Formanter, vokalduration samt grundtonsfrekvens undersöktes hos sex andraspråkstalare, där de tre närmst respektive tre längst ifrån ett modersmålslikt svenskt uttal analyserades. Resultaten i föreliggande studie visade att kursen i svenskt uttal signifikant minskade andraspråkstalarnas brytning. Det fanns dessutom en tydlig korrelation mellan brytning- och förståelighetsskattningarna. Trots detta kunde ingen signifikant förbättring gällande kursdeltagarnas förståelighet påvisas. Den enda faktor som visade sig påverka förståelighetsskattningarna var bedömarnas geografiska tillhörighet där personer från västra Sverige bedömde förståeligheten som sämre jämfört med personer från östra Sverige. Resultaten från några av de akustiska mätningarna överensstämde med bedömarnas uppfattning av kursdeltagarnas grad av brytning och förståelighet. Det betydde att den som skattats närmast ett modersmålslikt svenskt uttal av lyssnarbedömarna också låg närmast referensvärdena vid den akustiska analysen gällande vokalduration (Elert, 1964; Gårding et al, 1974; Kügler, 2007; Thorén, i.d.) och grundtonsfrekvens (Pegoraro Krook, 1988). Slutsatsen i denna studie är att uttalsundervisning i svenska bör fokuseras på övningar som förbättrar förståelighet då övningar som förbättrar brytning inte nödvändigtvis gynnar förståeligheten.

Στην παρούσα εργασία μελετήθηκε το θέμα της φωνηεντικής ιεραρχίας στην Ελληνική και τις διαλέκτους της και ο ρόλος της στην αντιμετώπιση της χασμωδίας. Η χασμωδία δημιουργείται στην ελληνική λόγω της γειτνίασης φωνηέντων και λύνεται μέσω φωνολογικών διαδικασιών όπως η έκθλιψη, η αφαίρεση, η εισαγωγή / επένθεση, η συνίζηση, η τροπή, η φωνηεντική αρμονία, η αφομοίωση κ.ά.Υπάρχουν όπως αναφέρθηκε μέσω και παραδειγμάτων και οι περιπτώσεις διατήρησης της χασμωδίας. Εξετάσαμε την κλίμακα ηχηρότητας η οποία καθορίζει τον ισχυρό ή ασθενή χαρακτήρα του φωνήεντος ανάλογα με τη θέση που κατέχει στην εν λόγω κλίμακα. Το ποιο από τα φωνήεντα θα φύγει εξαρτάται από τη θέση που κατέχει στην κλίμακα ισχύος ή κλίμακα ηχηρότητας. Η εν λόγω κλίμακα καθορίζεται ως η ακόλουθη: a > o > u > e > i ή i > e. Εξετάσαμε επίσης τον τρόπο με τον οποίο η ισχύς αυτή επηρεάζεται από διάφορους παράγοντες όπως η σύνταξη, το είδος του λόγου, ο τόνος, ο βαθμός ανοίγματος των φωνηέντων, η θέση τους στη λέξη, ο τόπος άρθρωσής τους, το λόγιο στοιχείο, ο μορφολογικός ρόλος, η σημασιολογία καθώς και ο παράγοντας σύνθεση, και επομένως είναι αυτοί οι παράγοντες βάσει της έρευνάς μας και πάντα με βάση τα δεδομένα που έχουμε στη διάθεσή μας που φαίνεται ότι καθορίζουν την ισχύ ή όχι της ιεραρχίας και τη διατήρηση ή όχι του φαινομένου της χασμωδίας. Επίσης αναφέρθηκε ότι και στα αρχαία ελληνικά αλλά και σε διαλέκτους της ελληνικής συμβαίνουν διαδικασίες φωνολογικές με σκοπό την αντιμετώπιση της χασμωδίας - ενώ παρατηρούμε ταυτόχρονα ότι αυτό δεν συμβαίνει πάντα με αποτέλεσμα να έχουμε και διατήρηση της χασμωδίας. Αναφέρονται παραδείγματα - όσο αυτό είναι δυνατό μέσα από την έρευνα και τις πηγές - ούτως ώστε μέσα πάντα από τα ίδια τα γλωσσολογικά δεδομένα, μέσα από τα κείμενα, να αποδεικνύεται κατά πόσον ισχύουν οι κανόνες και οι θεωρητικές θέσεις. Ξεκινούμε λοιπόν από τη μια μεριά από τις θεωρητικές θέσεις, τους κανόνες και από την άλλη όμως ταυτόχρονα αντλούμε πληροφορίες για το βαθμό εφαρμογής τους από τα ίδια τα γλωσσικά δεδομένα της ελληνικής και των διαλέκτων και από δεδομένα σε παλαιότερες χρονικές φάσεις αποδεικνύοντας μέσα από αυτό και μέσα από την κανονικότητα των φαινομένων διαχρονικά, τη συνέχεια της γλώσσας μας. / The present study explores the validity of vowel hierarchy in Greek and its dialects, as well as its role in dealing with hiatus. Hiatus emerges in adjacent vowels and it is resolved through phonological processes such as vowel deletion, vowel epenthesis, fusion, substitution, vowel harmony, assimilation etc., though there are instances in which hiatus is retained. The Sonority Scale (SS) is also investigated given that the (SS) determines the strong or weak status of the vowel, which, in turn, is driven by the position of the vowel in the SS. In other words, vowel loss is governed by its degree of sonority. In most, studies the vowel SS is considered to be the following: a > o > u > e > i ή i > e. Moreover, we examined the extent to which vowel sonority and the SS are circumscribed by other extra-phonological and phonological factors, such as the syntax, the semantics and the morphology of the language, the general linguistic context, the position of the vowels on the vowel space/ triangle, as well as their place of articulation. Additionally, we discuss phonological processes which repair hiatus occuring in Ancient Greek and its dialects and we test the conditions under which this happens. We present interesting data which lead us to adopt specific theoretical approaches regarding the vowel hierarchy. Finally, we evaluate the validity of the vowel hierarchy in the diachrony of Greek.

The pronunciation dictionary is a key resource required during the development of an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system. In this thesis, we adapt a British English pronunciation dictionary to Standard South African English (SSAE), as a case study in dialect adaptation. Our investigation leads us in three different directions: dictionary verification, phoneme redundancy evaluation and phoneme adaptation. A pronunciation dictionary should be verified for correctness before its implementation in experiments or applications. However, employing a human to verify a full pronunciation dictionary is an indulgent process which cannot always be accommodated. In our dictionary verification research we attempt to reduce the human effort required in the verification of a pronunciation dictionary by implementing automatic and semi-automatic techniques that find and isolate possible erroneous entries in the dictionary. We identify a number of new techniques that are very efficient in identifying errors, and apply them to a public domain British English pronunciation dictionary. Investigating phoneme redundancy involves looking into the possibility that not all phoneme distinctions are required in SSAE, and investigating different methods of analysing these distinctions. The methods that are investigated include both data driven and knowledge based pronunciation suggestions for a pronunciation dictionary used in an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system. This investigation facilitates a deeper linguistic insight into the pronunciation of phonemes in SSAE. Finally, we investigate phoneme adaptation by adapting the KIT phoneme between two dialects of English through the implementation of a set of adaptation rules. Adaptation rules are extracted from literature but also formulated through an investigation of the linguistic phenomena in the data. We achieve a 93% predictive accuracy, which is significantly higher than the 71 % achievable through the implementation of previously identified rules. The adaptation of a British pronunciation dictionary to SSAE represents the final step of developing a SSAE pronunciation dictionary, which is the aim of this thesis. In addition, an ASR system utilising the dictionary is developed, achieving an unconstrained phoneme accuracy of 79.7%. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Computer Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The pronunciation dictionary is a key resource required during the development of an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system. In this thesis, we adapt a British English pronunciation dictionary to Standard South African English (SSAE), as a case study in dialect adaptation. Our investigation leads us in three different directions: dictionary verification, phoneme redundancy evaluation and phoneme adaptation. A pronunciation dictionary should be verified for correctness before its implementation in experiments or applications. However, employing a human to verify a full pronunciation dictionary is an indulgent process which cannot always be accommodated. In our dictionary verification research we attempt to reduce the human effort required in the verification of a pronunciation dictionary by implementing automatic and semi-automatic techniques that find and isolate possible erroneous entries in the dictionary. We identify a number of new techniques that are very efficient in identifying errors, and apply them to a public domain British English pronunciation dictionary. Investigating phoneme redundancy involves looking into the possibility that not all phoneme distinctions are required in SSAE, and investigating different methods of analysing these distinctions. The methods that are investigated include both data driven and knowledge based pronunciation suggestions for a pronunciation dictionary used in an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system. This investigation facilitates a deeper linguistic insight into the pronunciation of phonemes in SSAE. Finally, we investigate phoneme adaptation by adapting the KIT phoneme between two dialects of English through the implementation of a set of adaptation rules. Adaptation rules are extracted from literature but also formulated through an investigation of the linguistic phenomena in the data. We achieve a 93% predictive accuracy, which is significantly higher than the 71 % achievable through the implementation of previously identified rules. The adaptation of a British pronunciation dictionary to SSAE represents the final step of developing a SSAE pronunciation dictionary, which is the aim of this thesis. In addition, an ASR system utilising the dictionary is developed, achieving an unconstrained phoneme accuracy of 79.7%. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Computer Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:43:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2125510 bytes, checksum: aa04eddf6c4ebfdab57270cd91d4cd05 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-06-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This paper describes the behavior of variable medial post-stressed vowel in nouns, in the dialect of the town of Sapé, located in the state of Paraiba. In this context, there were done two analyses. The first one is a variationist, in order to verify the effects of deletion of the medial post-stressed vowel, and compare the results with other studies of similar nature. To do so, we adopted the theoretical basis in Labov (1972) and Weinreich; Labov; Herzog (1968). The second analysis, phonological character, focused on analyzing the processes triggered either by resistance to syncope - the raising and rounding of the medial post-stressed vowels, based on Câmara Jr. (2002 [1970]) and Battisti; Vieira (2005) the former one is an occurrence of syncope: assimilation, resyllabification and restructuring of the feet, from two theoretical models Metrical Phonology: The Selkirk (1982) on the syllable, and Hayes (1995) on the accent. Under the Sociolinguistics Variation point of view, one analyzed statistically, linguistic and social variables that favor the deletion of the medial post-stressed vowel. The results were compared to those of other studies that aimed to investigate the same phenomenon, but with speech data from other regions of Brazil. It was found that the fact of year of schooling is the most important one in the medial poststressed vowels deletion in three out of four works under study, as well as the following phonological context, which was considered the most conducive to the process focused on this study. But Amaral (1999) and Lima (2008) state that the liquid vibrant is the most vibrant favoring the process of deletion, while Silva (2006) and Ramos (2009), state that the liquid side is the one. Thus, after the erasure process it occurs medial post-stressed vowel, the consonantal segment remaining after the deletion is incorporated herein to the stressed syllable, either to attack the unstressed final syllable, through resyllabification, causing a restructuring of syllabic feet, transforming them into penultimate stressed words as, respectively: música ~ musca and xícara ~ xicra. whenever this deletion does not occur, the medial post-stressed vowels [e] and [o] face prosecution for opening, for example, in a.bó.b[o].ra ~ a.bó.b[o].ra, and revolt in ár.v[o].re ~ ár.v[o]re. It is through this process of assimilation that a segment assimilates characteristics of the previous segment, as in física ~ [fizga], and/or segment, as in música ~ [musca]. / O presente trabalho descreve o comportamento variável das vogais postônicas mediais, em nomes, no dialeto da cidade de Sapé, localizada no interior do estado da Paraíba. Nesse contexto, objetivaram-se duas análises: uma variacionista, a fim de verificar os efeitos do apagamento da vogal postônica medial e comparar os resultados com outros estudos de mesma natureza. Para tanto, foram adotadas as propostas teóricas de Labov (1972) e de Weinreich, Labov e Herzog (1968). A segunda análise, de caráter fonológico, visou analisar os processos desencadeados ora pela resistência à síncope o alçamento e o arredondamento das vogais postônicas mediais, a partir da discussão de Câmara (2002 [1970]) e de Battisti e Vieira (2005) ora pela ocorrência da síncope: assimilação, ressilabação e reestruturação dos pés, a partir de dois modelos teóricos da Fonologia Métrica: o de Selkirk (1982), sobre sílaba, e o de Hayes (1995), sobre o acento. Sob a égide da Sociolinguística Variacionista, analisaram-se, estatisticamente, as variáveis linguísticas e sociais que favorecem o apagamento da vogal postônica medial. Os resultados foram comparados com os de outros trabalhos que tiveram por objetivo investigar o mesmo fenômeno, porém com dados de fala de outras regiões do Brasil. Constatou-se que o fator ano de escolarização é o mais relevante no processo de apagamento da vogal postônica medial em três dos quatro trabalhos em estudo, assim como o contexto fonológico seguinte, que foi tido por todos como sendo o mais propício ao processo aqui em estudo. Porém Amaral (1999) e Lima (2008) apontam a líquida vibrante como a mais favorecedora do processo de apagamento, ao passo que Silva (2006) e Ramos (2009), a líquida lateral. Assim sendo, depois de ocorrer o processo de apagamento da postônica medial, o segmento consonantal restante após o apagamento é incorporado ora à sílaba tônica, ora ao ataque da sílaba átona final, por meio da ressilabação, o que provoca uma reestruturação dos pés silábicos, transformando-as em palavras paroxítonas, como, respectivamente, em: música ~ musca e xícara ~ xicra. Quando não ocorre esse apagamento, as vogais [e] e [o] postônicas mediais sofrem processos de abertura, como por exemplo, em a.bó.b[o].ra ~ a.bó.b[o].ra, e de alçamento, em ár.v[o].re ~ ár.v[o].re. É por esse processo de assimilação que um segmento assimila características do segmento precedente, como em fizica ~ fizga, e/ou do segmento seguinte, como em música ~ musca.

Den underliggande idén för denna studie är frågan om en ljudrelaterad grammatik kan undervisas via fonologiska övningar och diktamen för att förbättra den mekaniska skrivförmågan och om språkundervisningsmetoder för årskurs 1–2 kan också utnyttjas för äldre elever. Huvudsyftet med den här studien är att undersöka hur sverigefinska elever behärskar ljud av standardfinska med fokus på långa och korta vokaler och konsonanter samt diftonger. Dessutom är målet att testa en diktamensmetod som bedömer utgångsnivån av elevernas färdighetsnivå för att skriva korta och långa vokaler och konsonanter samt diftonger. Forskningsfrågorna är följande: 1) Vilka slags avvikelser jämfört med standardfinska finns i sverigefinska elevers skrivning av korta och långa vokaler och konsonanter samt diftonger? 2) Hur mycket avvikelser jämfört med standard finska finns i sverigefinska elevers skrivning av korta och långa vokaler och konsonanter samt diftonger? 3) Vilken typ av korrelation kan man hitta mellan avvikelser jämfört med standard finska och externa bakrundsvariabler. Denna studie av vilken teoretisk bakgrund läggs på fonologi, pedagogik och sociolingvistik har ett särskilt fokus på sverigefinsk kultur och flerspråkighet. Huvudmaterialet samlades in genom en diktamensövning med 22 skolelever i åldern 9–13 år och analyserades med hjälp av ordstrukturanalys. Utöver detta analyserades ett berättande textprov från tio elever. Bakgrundsinformation samlades in från föräldrar och jämfördes med resultaten av ordstrukturanalysen med hjälp av en implikationsskala. Studien visar att de viktigaste avvikelserna kring långa vokaler och konsonanter är de saknade bokstäverna, dvs enkelskrivning av ljuden. De mest utmanande långa vokalerna är oo, ee, yy och ää och de långa konsonanterna ss, rr och nn. Dessutom sker omkastning mellan bokstäver: för vokaler u > o, o > å och y > u och för konsonanter: m > n och kk > ck. De mest utmanande diftongerna är yi, ey, ie, uo, yö, öy, äy och iy och de lättaste att hantera är ai, oi, au, eu och öi. Dessutom blandas ibland o ihop u, u ihop y och ä ihop e. Det verkar som att bakgrundsvariablerna inte visar någon betydande korrelation med de språkliga färdigheterna vid hantering av vokaler, konsonanter och diftonger. Hur som helst säger en försiktig tolkning att det verkar ha en positiv effekt om man har lärt sig språket under de första tre åren och om man använder språket med släktingar. / The underlying idea of this study is a question if phoneme related grammar can be taught via phonological exercises and dictations in order to improve mechanical writing skills and if language teaching methods for grade 1–2 can also be utilized for older students. The main objective of this study is to study the command of standard Finnish phonemes among Sweden Finn pupils, focusing on long and short vowels and consonants, and diphthongs. In addition, the target is to test a dictation method which assesses the starting level of pupils’ competence in writing short and long vowels and consonants, and diphthongs. The research questions are the following: 1) What kind of deviations compared to standard Finnish can be found in Sweden Finn pupils’ writing of short and long vowels and consonants and diphthongs? 2) How much of the deviations compared to standard Finnish can be found in Sweden Finn pupils’ writing of short and long vowels and consonants and diphthongs? 3) What kind of correlation can be found between these deviations, compared to standard Finnish and the background variables? The theoretical background of this study is based on phonology, educational science and sociolinguistic, and it has its special focus on Swedish-Finnish culture and multilingualism. The main data was collected with a dictation from 22 pupils aged 9–13 years old and analyzed by using word structure analysis. In addition to this the narratives of text samples by ten pupils were analyzed. Background information was collected from parents and compared with the results of the word structure analysis, by using an implication scale. The study shows that the main deviations regarding long vowels and consonants are missing letters, that is, the use of single letters where two are expected.  The most challenging long vowels are oo, ee, yy and ää and the long consonants ss, rr and nn. In addition, a replacement between letters appears: with vowels u > o, o > å and y > u and with consonants: m > n and kk > ck.The most challenging diphthongs are yi, ey, ie, uo, yö, öy, äy and iy, and the easiest to manage are ai, oi, au, eu and öi. Besides this some disorders between o and u, u and y and ä and e appear. It seems that background variables do not show any significant dependencies on competences in managing vowels, consonants and diphthongs. However with a cautious interpretation, there seems to be a positive effect if the language have been learnt during the first three years and if the language is used with relatives.