This paper examines the acoustic characteristics that differentiate the four tones of Burmese: high, low, creaky and stopped. The majority of previous work on Burmese tone is impressionistic but recently has become experimental. There are conflicting analyses of how the tones are distinguished. In particular, there is disagreement about the f0 contour of the high and low tones, the consistency of creakiness in the creaky and stopped tones, the role of f0 in distinguishing the creaky and stopped tones, and the vowel quality of the stopped tone. Recordings were made of four native speakers of Burmese, aged 24-30, who read sentences containing a carrier word with one of the four tones and one of two vowels, /a/ and /i/. Seven variables were measured: f0 contour (onset, offset, peak f0, peak delay), duration, voice quality, and vowel quality. It was found that the high and low tones are differentiated from the creaky and stopped tones by onset f0, peak f0, relative peak delay, duration, and voice quality. The high and low tones are distinguished from one another by offset f0, peak f0, relative peak delay, and voice quality. The creaky and stopped tones appear to be differentiated from one another mainly by vowel quality. This paper adds necessary acoustic analysis to the literature on Burmese tone, with the finding that a variety of characteristics is used to distinguish each tone. The findings of this experiment also add to the current understanding of the interactions between tone and phonation, as well as phonation and vowel quality. / text

Unlike some Asian languages (e.g., Korean), English has lexical stress manifested by four acoustic features: duration, intensity, F0 (pitch), and vowel quality. Lexical stress has been known to have significant influences on native English speakers’ recognition of spoken words. According to Cutler (2015), lexical stress has both suprasegmental and segmental features: Suprasegmental features include duration, intensity, and F0 while vowel quality is considered a segmental feature. However, it is still unclear which lexical features are more responsible for spoken word recognition. This study examined which features, suprasegmental features or vowel quality of English, are a more significant influencer in spoken word recognition using English loanwords in Korean, which lack the prominence of any syllable realized by these features. Additionally, this study investigated the claimed advantage of the strong-weak stress pattern over a weak-strong pattern. To that end, two experiments were conducted. First, a parallel acoustic comparison was made between disyllabic English words and their corresponding English loanwords in Korean in order to investigate whether Korean has lexical stress features similar to those of English. 10 Korean and 10 English native speakers read 20 disyllabic words: the English loanwords in Korean by Korean participants and the source English words by American participants. The results showed that the differences of acoustic values between the syllables of the English words were significantly larger than those of the English loanwords. That is, the relative prominence of the stressed syllable over the unstressed syllable in English was not found in Korean. Additionally, the results indicated that Korean does not have a reduced vowel such as /ə/ in English, which is a critical feature of English vowel quality. In Experiment II, 16 English loanwords were used to create three versions of a spoken word recognition experiment, which was administered using the online survey platform, Qualtrics. Each version had a different type of manipulation: unmanipulated English loanwords, English loanwords with suprasegemental manipulation or English loanwords with vowel quality manipulation. 117 American English hearers identified the spoken words of one of the versions assigned to them; their success rates and reaction times (RT) were recorded. A binominal regression test was used for the analysis of success rates, and the Kruskal-Wallis H test for the response times. The results indicated that as far as success rates are concerned, both suprasegmental features and vowel quality play a role in recognizing spoken English words. However, when these two features were compared, vowel quality seemed to be a much stronger player. As for stress patterns, no significant differences were found in success rates across the three sets of manipulation. Moreover, this study did not find any significant difference in RTs either across the three manipulation sets or the two stress patterns. This study offered many applied implications in ESL, especially for teaching English pronunciation in Korea.

(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...

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>

This thesis focuses on the realization of high front vowel in Czech and Spanish, with respect to second language acquisition. In the first part, general theoretical concepts are explained, such as fossilization, SLA, critical period, and SLA model designed by Flege (1995) and also a comparison of the Spanish and Czech vowel is given. As Czech and Spanish vocalic systems are very similar, the subtile phonetic differences are to be detected in the second part where realizations of these two vowels in selected consonantal contexts are analysed. Key words: Second Language Acquisition, Phonetics, Interlanguage, Spanish, high front vowel.

本論文為以共振峰頻率資料來研究台灣華語母音音質之聲學研究。 本研究的受試者為六名生長在台灣台北市的男性華語母語使用者。本研究使用的測試字為70個包含所有韻母型態的單音節字。語音資料是利用KAY CSL 4100 (KAY Electronics)來錄製及分析。本研究所採用的資料為獨立發音且無聲母的測試字。 根據共振峰頻率資料本研究得到以下有關台灣華語母音音質的發現。首先研究的部分為音標所隱含的語音對比。在齒槽（alveolar）及後齒槽（post-alveolar）組的舌尖母音（apical vowels）間並沒有發現音質上的顯著差別，但統計及其它證據支持低母音裡的前後對比及中母音裡的半開（open-mid）及半閉（closed-mid）對比的存在。 其次，研究的結果也包括語音環境中的音段對於母音音質的影響。結果發現韻母中的元素，包含母音前介音、母音後介音、及韻尾鼻音，都對母音有不同的語音制約（conditioning）。另外，本研究發現順同化（progressive assimilation）比逆同化（regressive assimilation）對於低母音音質有較大的影響。 第三，本研究藉由與之前聲學研究的結果作比較來討論台灣母音音質的改變。結果發現硬顎及後硬顎組的舌尖母音間的音質差異隨著時間縮小終至於消失。此外，研究發現半閉母音及半開母音在母音高度及母音前後相對位置出現反轉。共振峰頻率的比較顯示這種反轉的原因為半閉母音[e]在音質上的改變。然而，我們需要進一步的研究才能對這些音質的改變有合理的解釋。 最後，本研究以共振峰頻率的形式描述及紀錄了當代台灣華語表層母音的音質。希望這些資料能對台灣華語母音的研究有所貢獻。 / This thesis is an acoustic study that investigates the vowel quality of Taiwan Mandarin vowels with formant frequency data. The subjects of this study included six male native Mandarin speakers born and raised in Taipei city, Taiwan. Testing items used in this study were 70 syllables that involve all combinations of segment in the syllable final. The speech data were recorded and analyzed with KAY CSL 4100 (KAY Electronics). The data discussed in this study were testing items produced in citation form without initial consonant. The vowel qualities of Taiwan Mandarin surface vowel were measured and analyzed. Several results concerning the vowel quality of Taiwan Mandarin surface vowel phones were reported based on the formant frequency data. Firstly, the distinction between vowel phones implied by their transcription was examined. The difference in vowel quality was not observed in the alveolar and post-alveolar groups of apical vowels, while the front-back distinction in low vowels and the open-mid and closed-mid distinction in mid vowels were found with statistic and other evidence. Secondly, the conditioning of segments in the neighboring environments on the vowel quality was investigated. It is found that elements in the syllable final, including pre-nuclear, post-nuclear glide and coda nasals, generally have different types of conditioning on the vowel. In addition, the progressive assimilation was found have greater influence on the vowel quality of low vowel phones than the regressive assimilation. Thirdly, the change in vowel quality was discussed through the comparison with results in previous acoustic studies. The difference in vowel backness between the alveolar and post-alveolar groups of apical vowels were found to be decreasing and eventually disappeared. Besides, the relative vowel height and backness of closed-mid and open-mid vowel were found to be in reverse compared with that in the literature. Comparison in formant frequencies showed that this reverse lay in the change of vowel quality in the close-mid [e]. However, further investigations were needed to offer reasonable explanations for the change. Finally, the vowel qualities of present Taiwan Mandarin surface vowel phones were described and recorded as the formant frequency data presented in this study. Hopefully, the data could contribute to the study of vowels in Taiwan Mandarin.

Dans cette étude, nous analysons dans quelle mesure l’exploitation d’un chant populaire, pourrait aider les élèves francophones dans la lecture de textes en allemand. L’exercice musical peut-il contribuer à faciliter la prononciation des voyelles de la langue allemande et ainsi permettre de remédier aux nombreuses difficultés mentionnées dans la littérature et repérées en classe ? L’expérimentation décrite ici a été menée dans une classe bilingue de Strasbourg. Vingt élèves d’une même classe ont été répartis en deux groupes. Le premier groupe avait pour objectif l’apprentissage de la chanson « La Belle au Bois Dormant » tandis que le deuxième s’est focalisé sur la lecture et la compréhension du même texte, sans usage du chant. Les sujets ont été enregistrés pendant la lecture du texte en amont (test T1) et en aval (test T2) de l’expérimentation. Nous avons également examiné l’impact d’un support multimédia élaboré en 2008. Cet outil est supposé pouvoir constituer une aide à l’apprentissage de la lecture par le biais d’exercices adaptés et d’une version chantée dite « karaoké ». La spécificité des résultats des tests T1 et T2 dans chacun des groupes (éléments musicaux, accents d’intensité, premiers et seconds formants) ainsi que la comparaison de deux séquences incluant /a/ d’une part et /a:/ d’autre part, confortent les hypothèses issues de la psycholinguistique, des neurosciences, de la sociolinguistique et de la pédagogie ainsi que d’expériences antérieures : la musique a effectivement un impact sur la qualité vocalique d’une langue accentuelle comme l’allemand. / In this research, we try to analyse how a popular lullaby could be helpful for 7 years-old French pupils while reading German texts. Could musical entertainment enhance the abilities to pronounce more successfully the vowels of German and also to avoid many of current difficulties described by many authors and observed at school?The experimentation we describe here was achieved in a bilingual class in Strasbourg. Twenty learners were divided into 2 groups. The 1st group had to learn the song about the story of “The Sleeping Beauty”, whereas the other group had to understand and read the same text, but without singing it. The subjects were recorded while reading the text of the song before the experimentation (test T1) and a few days after the end of the experimentation (test T2). We also examined the role of multimedia material developed in 2008 and containing a karaoke version of the song and exercises meant to facilitate learning to read. The specificity of T1 and T2 in each group (musical features, accentuation, formant frequencies) and the comparison of two similar sequences containing /a/ on the one hand and /a:/ on the other hand, lead us to the conclusion that, as predicted from theories in psycholinguistics, neurosciences, sociolinguistics, pedagogy and previous experiences, music definitely has an effect upon the quality of vowel pronunciation of a specific stress-timed language like German (L2).

This thesis provides a comparative analysis of vowel quality in South African English (SAE) using the following data: firstly, the existing impressionistic literature on SAE and other relevant accents of English, the former of which is subject to a critical review; secondly, acoustic data from a similar range of accents, including new SAE data, collected and instrumentally analyzed specifically for the purposes of this research. These various data are used to position, on both a descriptive and theoretical level, the SAE vowel system. In addition, and in the service of providing a careful reconstruction of the linguistic history of this variety, it offers a three-stage koin´eization model which helps, in many respects, to illuminate the respective roles played by endogenous and exogenous factors in SAE’s development. More generally, the analysis is focussed on rendering explicit the extent to which the synchronic status and diachronic development of SAE more generally, and SAE vowel quality more particularly, provides support for a number of descriptive and theoretical frameworks, including those provided in Labov (1994), Torgersen and Kerswill (2004), Trudgill (2004) and Schneider (2003; 2007). With respect to these frameworks, and based on the results of the analysis, it proposes an extension to Schneider’s (2007) Dynamic Model, shows Trudgill’s (2004) model of new-dialect formation to be inadequate in accounting for some of the SAE data, provides evidence that SAE is a possibly imminent but ‘conservative’ member of Torgersen and Kerswill’s (2004) SECS-Shift and uses SAE data to question the applicability of the SECS-Shift to FOOT-Fronting. Furthermore, this thesis provides evidence that SAE has undergone an indexicallydriven arrestment of the Diphthong and Southern Shifts and a subsequent and related diffusion of GenSAE values at the expense of BrSAE ones. Similarly, it shows that SAE’s possible participation in the SECS-Shift constitutes an effective chain-shift reversal ‘from above’. It stresses that, in order to understand such phenomena, recourse needs to be made to a theory of indexicality that takes into account the unique sociohistorical development of SAE and its speakers. Lastly, the adoption of the three-stage koin´eization model mentioned above highlights the merits of considering both endogenous and exogenous factors in the historical reconstruction of new-dialect formation and, for research into SAE in particular, strengthens the case for further investigation into the possible effects of 19th-century Afrikaans/Dutch, Yiddish and north-of-English dialects on the formation of modern SAE. / Thesis (Ph.D. (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This thesis provides a comparative analysis of vowel quality in South African English (SAE) using the following data: firstly, the existing impressionistic literature on SAE and other relevant accents of English, the former of which is subject to a critical review; secondly, acoustic data from a similar range of accents, including new SAE data, collected and instrumentally analyzed specifically for the purposes of this research. These various data are used to position, on both a descriptive and theoretical level, the SAE vowel system. In addition, and in the service of providing a careful reconstruction of the linguistic history of this variety, it offers a three-stage koin´eization model which helps, in many respects, to illuminate the respective roles played by endogenous and exogenous factors in SAE’s development. More generally, the analysis is focussed on rendering explicit the extent to which the synchronic status and diachronic development of SAE more generally, and SAE vowel quality more particularly, provides support for a number of descriptive and theoretical frameworks, including those provided in Labov (1994), Torgersen and Kerswill (2004), Trudgill (2004) and Schneider (2003; 2007). With respect to these frameworks, and based on the results of the analysis, it proposes an extension to Schneider’s (2007) Dynamic Model, shows Trudgill’s (2004) model of new-dialect formation to be inadequate in accounting for some of the SAE data, provides evidence that SAE is a possibly imminent but ‘conservative’ member of Torgersen and Kerswill’s (2004) SECS-Shift and uses SAE data to question the applicability of the SECS-Shift to FOOT-Fronting. Furthermore, this thesis provides evidence that SAE has undergone an indexicallydriven arrestment of the Diphthong and Southern Shifts and a subsequent and related diffusion of GenSAE values at the expense of BrSAE ones. Similarly, it shows that SAE’s possible participation in the SECS-Shift constitutes an effective chain-shift reversal ‘from above’. It stresses that, in order to understand such phenomena, recourse needs to be made to a theory of indexicality that takes into account the unique sociohistorical development of SAE and its speakers. Lastly, the adoption of the three-stage koin´eization model mentioned above highlights the merits of considering both endogenous and exogenous factors in the historical reconstruction of new-dialect formation and, for research into SAE in particular, strengthens the case for further investigation into the possible effects of 19th-century Afrikaans/Dutch, Yiddish and north-of-English dialects on the formation of modern SAE. / Thesis (Ph.D. (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

本論文為以共振峰頻率資料來研究海陸腔客語母音音質之聲學研究。 語言學的文獻中，以共振峰頻率資料來研究世界上各種語言的母音的音質已經有相當豐富的文獻，在過去五十年來，前人在客語的語音及音韻系統上已經有豐富的研究成果。但以聲學資料來對海陸客語做描述的文獻相當缺乏。 本研究的受試者為居住在新竹縣新埔鎮，六位以海陸腔客家話為母語的人士，其中有三名男性及三名女性。本研究使用了32個測試字，包含了單元音、雙合元音及三合元音。語音資料是利用KAY CSL 4100 (KAY Electronics)來做分析。本研究測試字包含的音節結構有:CV, CVV, CVVC, CVC, 以及CVVV。測試字在實驗的過程中，被受試者單獨發音，或是放在句子中間。在實驗資料完成分析後，我們以Origin 6.0軟體繪出海陸腔客語母音的聲學空間圖。 根據供振峰研究資料，本研究得到以下有關海陸腔客語母音音質的表現。首先關於單元音，海陸腔客語共有六個單元音: [i], [e], [ɨ], [a], [o], 以及 [u]。其次，海陸腔客語共有十一個雙元音: [ie], [ia], [io], [iu], [eu], [ai], [au], [oi], [ui], [ue], 以及 [ua]。我們比較單元音及雙元音的聲學空間圖(vowel space)後，發現相同的母音在雙母音的環境下，由於受到鄰近母音發音位置的影響，在聲學空間上，比起在單母音的時候，變的更高低，或更前或後。第三，三母音[iai], [iau]和[uai]在聲譜圖上的表現，第一個母音[i]和[u]都比其後的兩個母音，長度來的相對的短一些，表現很像是滑音[j]和[w]。 最後，本研究以共振峰聲學頻率的形式描述及記錄了當代海陸腔客語母音的音質，前人的研究中，以楊時逢(1952)最能說明本研究所提供的聲學資料。希望這些資料能對海陸腔客語母音的研究有所貢獻。 / This thesis is an acoustic study that investigates the vowel quality of Hai-lu Hakka vowels with formant frequency data. The acoustic method has been widely applied to the study of vowel quality of languages worldwide. In the past 50 years, Hakka researchers have yielded rich results in phonological system and phonetic description of Hakka, but there are relatively fewer research focus on the acoustic properties and characteristics of vowel phones in Hai-lu Hakka. The subjects of this study included three male and three female native Hai-lu Hakka speakers. Testing items used in this study were 32 syllables that involve monophthongs, diphthongs, and triphthongs. The speech data were analyzed by using KAY CSL 4100 (KAY Electronics). The data discussed in this study were testing items produced in citation form and sentence form, including the following syllable structures: CV, CVC, CVV, CVVC, and CVVV. The vowel qualities of Hai-lu Hakka vowels were measured and analyzed, and the acoustic vowel space of Hai-lu Hakka is plotted by the software Origin 6.0. Several results concerning the vowel quality of Hai-lu Hakka vowels were reported based on the formant frequency data. Firstly, there are six monophthongs in the vowel system of Hailu Hakka: [i], [e], [ɨ], [a], [o], and [u]. Secondly, there are eleven diphthongs in the vowel system of Hai-lu Hakka : [ie], [ia], [io], [iu], [eu], [ai], [au], [oi], [ui], [ue], and [ua]. By comparing the relative position of the vowel in a diphthong and the corresponding vowel as in a monophthong, we found that the second vowel in a diphthong tend to be higher or lower, more fontal or back, and it is possibly due to the coarticulatory influence of the adjacent phones.the Thirdly, as shown in the spectrogram of the three tripthongs [iai], [iau] and [uai], the duration of [i] in [iai55], [i] in [tʰiau55] and [u] in [kuai55] are relatively shorter than the rest two vowels in the same syllable, as [ai] in [iai55], [au] in [tʰiau55] and [ai] in [kuai55]. In these CVVV syllables, [u] and [i] are similar to glides or so-called semi-vowels, or approximants [j] and [w] as shown in the spectrogram. Finally, the vowel system in Yang (1957) is more suitable for accounting for the data in this study. Hopefully, the vowel formant data presented in this study will contribute to the study of vowels in Hakka.