In Malayalam, a Dravidian languages spoken in India, there is a contrast in vowel length, as in [ka[retroflex lateral approximant]i] 'game' and [ka:[retroflex lateral approximant]i] 'goddess of death'. This vowel length contrast is the basis for any theory of stress placement in Malayalam. A listener acceptability study was performed to determine how acceptable vowel duration variation was to native speakers. It was found that listeners prefer a long vowel to have a longer duration than a short vowel. It was also found that listeners only accepted short vowel reduction and/or deletion when it was next to a vowel of contrasting length. Implications of these findings are discussed. A listener acceptability study was performed to determine how acceptable vowel duration variation was to native speakers. It was found that listeners prefer a long vowel to have a longer duration than a short vowel. It was also found that listeners only accepted short vowel reduction and/or deletion when it was next to a vowel of contrasting length. Implications of these findings are discussed. / text

This dissertation presents the results of a study conducted on the speech of male and female students training to become Drill Instructors (hereafter DIs) in the United States Marine Corps. Both high amplitude and low pitch are reported to be important characteristics of the DI Command Voice; these characteristics are also strongly associated with masculinity (Hicks 1997). However, previous research argues that female DIs do not view these qualities as the most important characteristics of the Command Voice. They focus instead on being "direct" (Hicks 1997, Hicks Kennard 1999). The question I address is whether or not the Command Voice taught in DI School is used differently by female and male DI students in authoritative speech.The data were recorded at the DI School in Parris Island, South Carolina. Six subjects participated in the study. The two factors considered were sex and speech style, which included: 1) teachback: high-amplitude recitations of training procedures, 2) locker-box discussion: a speech style used in academic settings, 3) interviews, and 4) a reading sample. Both vowel duration and peak pitch measurements were done in each speech style; measurements on larger thirty-second "chunks" of discourse were taken for mean pitch, standard deviation of pitch, range of pitch, and speaking rate for each speaker in each speech style. There was a significant main effect on vowel duration for all subjects except for one male and a significant main effect on peak pitch for all subjects. For discourse measurements of pitch, there was a significant main effect for mean pitch, standard deviation of pitch, and pitch range.Pair-wise comparisons resulted in significant differences in peak pitch for all subjects in all speech styles. Both females and males exhibited the same pattern for both vowel and discourse pitch measurements, from highest to lowest pitch: teachbacks, lockerbox discussion, reading sample, and interview. However, females' vowels were significantly longer in the most authoritative speech style--precisely where males had their shortest vowel duration. This difference suggests that in authoritative speech, females use vowel duration as part of the "directness" in authority, where males do not.

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In this research, Communicative Accommodation Theory (CAT) is investigated while native speakers address nonnative peers. For the intentions of this research, three native speakers of Canadian English were asked to have conversations with native and nonnative peers. The conversations were in the form of giving directions on the map. Later on, the participants’ formants and vowel durations were measured and used for comparing native-nonnative peer effect(s) on the speakers’ vowel formants and duration. Based on the analyses, it is suggested that accommodation may take place based on providing stereotypical vowel durations and formants, as well as reducing inter-token variations in the nonnative peer context.

In this research, Communicative Accommodation Theory (CAT) is investigated while native speakers address nonnative peers. For the intentions of this research, three native speakers of Canadian English were asked to have conversations with native and nonnative peers. The conversations were in the form of giving directions on the map. Later on, the participants’ formants and vowel durations were measured and used for comparing native-nonnative peer effect(s) on the speakers’ vowel formants and duration. Based on the analyses, it is suggested that accommodation may take place based on providing stereotypical vowel durations and formants, as well as reducing inter-token variations in the nonnative peer context.

(English) The dissertation explores the vowel system of Czech L3 Spanish, focusing on three facets of its architecture: vowel quality (following SLM by Flege 1995, 1999, 2003), vowel quantity and vocalic sequences between words. Preliminary studies (Čechová 2013, 2014) suggest that there might be some evidence for the Mechanism of Equivalence in Czech L3 Spanish, since the vowel spaces of both languages consist of the same categories, with different phonetic realizations. Hence, the more similar the sounds are, the harder it is to capture the relevant difference, necessary to attain native-like pronunciation. Vowel quantity, being traditionally associated with the phonological feature of length in Czech (Palková 1994), is not present in Spanish, and compensating for that property, some Czech speakers tend to pronounce accented syllables with extraordinarily longer durations. Finally, vowel sequences in Spanish are usually subjetct to resyllabification, whereas Czech prefers glottalization to keep morphemes of words separated. These predictions were tested in 22 university Czech students with advanced level of Spanish (C1-C1). Subsequent analysis revealed consistent inclination towards L1 in terms of vowel quality, in less extent in vowel quantity, and although the prevalecent strategy for majority...

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.

I beskrivningar av somaliska noteras i vissa kontexter en dialektal variation i vokalkvalitet och duration mellan sydsomaliska (benadiri) och nordsomaliska. Modersmålstalare av somaliska bekräftar noterade dialektala skillnader i vokalkvalitet och duration, och anser att det finns en possessivändelse på benadiri eey vilken skiljer sig från den nordsomaliska motsvarigheten ay. Undersökningen syftade till att ta reda på om och på vilket sätt vokalkvalitet och duration varierar, i diftongen ay i de somaliska dialekterna sydsomaliska (benadiri) och nordsomaliska. Studien begränsades till mätning av vokalkvalitet och duration i possessivändelsen -ay. Värden för F1 och F2 i diftongens initialfas, såväl som diftongens duration, mättes i uttal som av modersmålstalare kategoriserats som nordsomaliska respektive sydsomaliska. De uppmätta skillnaderna i vokalkvalitet motsvarade förväntningarna. Genomsnittliga värden för F1 och F2 var lägre respektive högre i samtliga mätgrupper för de uttal som av modersmålstalare klassificerats som sydliga, än för de som klassificerats som nordliga. Det noterades dock att avståndet mellan diftongerna i nordliga och sydliga uttal var betydligt större i ordet aabahay än i hooyaday. Orsaken till detta bör utredas vidare, med fokus på kontextuella skillnader. Endast en obetydlig genomsnittlig durationsskillnad uppmättes. Ett förväntat samband i längdskillnad mellan sydligt och nordligt klassificerade uttal kunde således ej konstateras. / Descriptions of the Somali dialects include a variation in vowel quality and duration, between southern Somali (Benadiri) and northern Somali. Native speakers of Somali confirm noted variations and describe a possessive ending eey in Benadiri, different from the northern Somali equivalent ay. This survey aimed to investigate if, and how, vowel quality and duration vary in the diphthong ay in southern Somali and northern Somali. This study was limited to measuring vowel quality and duration of the possessive ending -ay. Values of F1 and F2 in the initial phase of the diphthong, as well as the duration, were measured in pronunciations, which native speakers have labeled as northern or southern respectively. The measured differences in vowel quality were in line with the expectations. Mean values of F1 and F2 were lower/higher in all measuring groups for the pronunciations labeled as southern, than for those labeled as northern. It was noted, however, that the distance between the diphthongs in northern and southern Somali, was significantly larger in the word aabahay than in hooyaday. The reason for this should be investigated further, focusing on contextual differences. The expected difference in duration between the southern and northern pronunciations could not be found. / <p>Institutionen för lingvistik</p><p>Examensarbete för kandidatexamen 15 hp</p><p>Fonetik</p><p>Kandidatprogram i lingvistik</p><p>Vårterminen 2013</p><p>Handledare: Mattias Heldner</p><p>Examinator: Henrik Liljegren</p><p>English title: Vowel quality and duration of diphthongs in Benadiri and northern Somali </p>

Thesis (DLitt (African Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation is an experimental investigation of vowel duration. It focuses on phonetic and phonological aspects of vowel duration in Civili, and African language spoken in Gabon and some of its neighboring countries. It attempts to bring new insights into the phenomenon of vowel lengthening, and to assess the implictions of these insights for standardizing the orthography of this language. ...