Acoustic Phonetics Research Articles

AN ACOUSTIC ANALYSIS OF THE STRESS ON THE PARTICLE مَا /MAː/ IN QURANIC RECITATION BY NON-ARAB SPEAKERS

This study investigates the acoustic stress of the Arabic particle مَا /maː/ in the recitation of the Quran by non-Arabic speakers, focusing on its various grammatical functions. The study highlights the importance of prosody and tajweed in correctly reciting the Quran, emphasizing the nature of stress in conveying the intended meaning of the verses. While there is rich literature on the semantic and syntactic functions of particles in Arabic, phonetic analysis remains largely unexplored. This study uses a qualitative descriptive comparative method by comparing the pronunciation of non-Arab speakers with native speakers. This research aims to provide a deeper insight into the acoustic characteristics of the recitation of the Quran and positively contribute to learning Arabic and the Quran. The findings show that the stress of the particle مَا /maː/ in Surah `Abasa produces some differences between non-Arabic speakers and native speakers. The mismatch between the stress rule on the ما particle and its grammatical function is evidenced by acoustic values that differ from those of native speakers. While these stress differences do not change the meaning of the verse, they do affect the beauty of the Quranic language. The results of this study can also be a reference for further research in acoustic phonetics. In the end, this research is expected to foster a deeper appreciation of the rhythmic beauty of the Quran.

Musical Mirroring of Social Predicaments in Aristotle “GLOC-9” Pollisco Song Compositions through Stylistic Lens

This study was a stylistic analysis aimed at delineating the different social predicaments embedded in the ten (10) song compositions of GLOC-9. Particularly, it sought to: (1) identify the linguistic levels used in cascading the message and style of the songs along with semantics, lexicogrammar, phonology, and acoustic phonetics; (2) determine the stylistic devices under figures of speech used in the songs; (3) define the thematic levels presented in the songs along with the thematic concept and thematic statement; (4) specify the values or morals conveyed in the songs; and (5) discuss the social predicaments embedded in the songs. To further strategize the data gathering, the researchers used the Hallidayan Systemic-Functional Linguistic Theory in order to extract the different linguistic levels in the songs. Thus, the researchers found out that the social predicaments embedded in the song compositions that depicted social realities were: (1) social injustice; (2) violence; (3) prostitution; (4) drug addiction; (5) corruption; (6) gender discrimination; (7) killing; (8) poverty; and (9) brain drain mentality. Ergo, the results being demarcated in this study may help cultivate social awareness and provide positive implications in terms of transcending the minds of every Filipino, which is a crucial determinant in society and more especially in that of the nation.

Statistics in Phonetics

Phonetics is the scientific field concerned with the study of how speech is produced, heard, and perceived. It abounds with data, such as acoustic speech recordings, neuroimaging data, or articulatory data. In this article, we provide an introduction to different areas of phonetics (acoustic phonetics, sociophonetics, speech perception, articulatory phonetics, speech inversion, sound change, and speech technology), an overview of the statistical methods for analyzing their data, and an introduction to the signal processing methods commonly applied to speech recordings. A major transition in the statistical modeling of phonetic data has been the shift from fixed effects to random effects regression models, the modeling of curve data (for instance, via generalized additive mixed models or functional data analysis methods), and the use of Bayesian methods. This shift has been driven in part by the increased focus on large speech corpora in phonetics, which has arisen from machine learning methods such as forced alignment. We conclude by identifying opportunities for future research.

Word Stress in Santri Utterance: A Comparative Analysis of Acoustic Phonetics

Although word stress in Arabic is not phonemic, proper use can minimize communication ambiguity. This study aims to analyze the production of word stress by students of Arabic as a second language (L2) and compare it with native speakers. This comparative study, involved six second-year students of Madrasah Aliyah as research samples. The research data were collected using listening, recording, and note-taking techniques. Then the research data were analyzed using Praat version 6.4.01 to find the stress accurately based on fundamental frequency, duration, and intensity level. The results showed that most L2 learners produced stress correctly on words with light syllables, but incorrectly on heavy and super heavy syllables. On the other hand, the form of word pronunciation also affects stress errors. Words characterized by super heavy syllables and a pause form are typically pronounced with weak stress. In addition, stress errors occur in syllables with double consonants where L2 learners do not apply good enough stress so that they sound like single consonants. These errors occur due to their mother tongue's different word stress systems. The findings are expected to positively impact L2 learners and teachers, by highlighting pronunciation issues, particularly concerning word stress.

How are We Doing Today? Using Natural Speech Analysis to Assess Older Adults’ Subjective Well-Being

The research presents the development and test of a machine learning (ML) model to assess the subjective well-being of older adults based solely on natural speech. The use of such technologies can have a positive impact on healthcare delivery: the proposed ML model is patient-centric and securely uses user-generated data to provide sustainable value not only in the healthcare context but also to address the global challenge of demographic change, especially with respect to healthy aging. The developed model unobtrusively analyzes the vocal characteristics of older adults by utilizing natural language processing but without using speech recognition capabilities and adhering to the highest privacy standards. It is based on theories of subjective well-being, acoustic phonetics, and prosodic theories. The ML models were trained with voice data from volunteer participants and calibrated through the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL), a widely accepted tool for assessing the subjective well-being of human beings. Using WHOQOL scores as a proxy, the developed model provides accurate numerical estimates of individuals’ subjective well-being.Different models were tested and compared. The regression model proves beneficial for detecting unexpected shifts in subjective well-being, whereas the support vector regression model performed best and achieved a mean absolute error of 10.90 with a standard deviation of 2.17. The results enhance the understanding of the subconscious information conveyed through natural speech. This offers multiple applications in healthcare and aging, as well as new ways to collect, analyze, and interpret self-reported user data. Practitioners can use these insights to develop a wealth of innovative products and services to help seniors maintain their independence longer, and physicians can gain much greater insight into changes in their patients’ subjective well-being.

Quantitative assessment of English accent variation: Levenshtein distance and perceptual identification

This is a perceptual study with a basis in acoustic phonetics. It investigates the extent to which accents of English can be quantified by the Levenshtein distance (LD), a string metric. LD defines string similarity by the minimum number of character edits required to transform one string into another. Narrowly transcribed speech samples of English provide the phonetic strings required for LD comparison. For the purposes of the current experiment, 24 speakers representing four English accent varieties are included: Midland American (control), British/Australian, Hindi-influenced, and Mandarin-influenced. High- and low-pass filters are used to augment or attenuate perceptual contribution of high- versus low-frequency information in the speech signal. Predictions stem from published correlations between LD and listeners’ perceptional ratings of intelligibility and native-likeness. For a group of monolingual American English listeners, confusion is expected between Midland American and British/Australian accents due to similarly low LDs, further intensified by low-pass filtering. However, fewer confusions are predicted between Hindi- and Mandarin-influenced English, due to varying L1 influences and the absence/presence of tonal information. This research seeks to explore accent perception, investigating the relationship between manipulated aspects of the speech signal and listener identification.

Fostering the Interplay Between Acoustic Phonetics and AI-Powered Pronunciation Learning: A Teacher-Action Research

Most regular practices of teacher-action research in ELT consist of identifying performance problems and providing specific treatments for the sake of improvement. However, teacher-action research does not dictate a specific methodology. The present teacher-action research is concerned with the implementation of an Advanced Prosody course in the Tunisian higher education context. The course aims to raise students’ awareness of the interplay between experimental phonetics and speech technology in the development of computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) systems and AI-powered pronunciation apps. Students’ engagement with the course as well as their beliefs and attitudes toward the utilization of AI-powered apps to learn English pronunciation were measured through an online survey. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of their responses revealed a high engagement with the course content. Although the participants expressed positive attitudes toward the use of these apps, their responses revealed a dual awareness. They acknowledged the distinct value of the teacher-student connection. They also acknowledged the necessity for teachers to embrace technology and become proficient in its efficient utilization. The findings are discussed within the ongoing debate about the integration of AI in the educational sphere. Keywords: AI-powered pronunciation apps; CAPT systems; acoustic phonetics; prosody

Investigating the Arabic /f/ Pronunciation: A Comparative Analysis of Acoustic Phonetics

This study aims to understand the mispronunciation of the consonant /f/ in Arabic by Javanese Speakers (JS), Sundanese Speakers (SS) and Batak Speakers (BS). The focus is on the sound /f/ as it can shift to /p/ when spoken by speakers of various L1 languages. Javanese, Sundanese, and Batak were chosen because of their prominence in Indonesia. Using a descriptive-evaluative-comparative approach, the researchers analyzed the pronunciation of /f/ by JS, SS, BS, contrasted with a native speaker (NS), Sheikh Misyari bin Rasyid Al-'Afasi. The research data was in the form of sound recordings of the recitation of nine verses of the Quran with the sound /f/, collected using the listen-record-pay-attention technique and analyzed acoustically through Praat. The findings reveal phonetic interference in pronouncing/f/ at the beginning, middle, and end of words by SS and BS. In JS, it only occurs at the beginning and the end. The absence of sound /f/ in the phonological system of local languages can cause this interference. The implication lies in learning to listen and speak Arabic, helping to design strategies to overcome pronunciation errors when encountering foreign sounds in the learner's phonological system.

Acoustic phonetics: Notes on the evolution of /ti̯, ki̯/ yod contexts in Spanish

The explanation for the evolution of /ti̯/ and /ki̯/ yod contexts has been based on articulatory reasons. However, sound change has an important auditory and acoustic basis. This paper deals with two main topics: (a) it examines the confluence of the phonetic realisations of dental and velar stops in /ti̯/ and /ki̯/, and (b) it seeks to determine whether voicing occurs after the assibilation process. The results show that the allophones for /t/ and /k/ display acoustic similarities regarding point of articulation cues, which could explain misperceptions. Voicing also seems to be very frequent in these phonetic realisations, which points to a process simultaneous with assibilation.

Acquisition of the third person singular allomorphs of the simple present tense in English by Panamanian senior-level learners of English

The purpose of this quantitative study with an exploratory and descriptive scope was to apply the concepts of the Markedness Differential Hypothesis (Eckman, 1977) and Similarity Differential Rate Hypothesis (Major & Kim, 1996) in the production of the allomorphs of the third person singular of the English simple present tense by Panamanian Spanish senior-level learners of English. The researchers used a custom-designed book containing images as a research instrument, administering it twice to the sample group. The data collected through this method was subsequently subjected to analysis employing concepts from auditory and acoustic phonetics. The simple descriptive statistics showed that the sample had mastered 64% of the allomorphs of the third-person singular of the English simple present tense. These results could be the base for further research with correlational and explanatory scopes with many participants to confirm or disregard the patterns found in this study.

The Study of Acoustic Phonetics on Frequency Cat Snoring Between Different Ages

Abstract: Cat purring is a sound that has been produced by cats made by several species of felids and two species of genetics. The domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) is one of the most common domestic animals we hear of today. This cat also has its own specialties and uniqueness, among them is that the cat is able to produce very low frequencies and is able to provide benefits to all humans. (Wereski, Mike 2015). The first purpose was to study the frequencies that had been produced by both cats and to identify whether the age of the cats influenced the frequencies that had been produced. The second purpose was To identify whether different cat attitudes would influence the frequency produced by cats. The study subjects were two domestic cats where Domestic Cat A, named molly was a 4 -month -old female cat of mixed breed, while domestic cat B, named spooky, was a 36 - month -old female cat and domestic cat C named Neslo which was 17-month-old female cat.. The two study subjects were different mixed breeds. Both cats are domestic cats which have been cared for and cared for since childhood. The selection of the two cats was based on reasons for differences in age and behavior. Data recording using Iphone SE (2020) brand telephone equipment and for cat frequency data were collected while sleeping. This aims to collect standard cat vocalizations. The purs sound production of older domestic cats is higher than that of young domestic cats. In conclusion, sound can also become louder as the age. The older the cat is, the higher the frequency the cat produces.

The Study of Acoustic Phonetics on Frequency Cat Snoring Between Different Ages

Abstract: Cat purring is a sound that has been produced by cats made by several species of felids and two species of genetics. The domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) is one of the most common domestic animals we hear of today. This cat also has its own specialties and uniqueness, among them is that the cat is able to produce very low frequencies and is able to provide benefits to all humans. (Wereski, Mike 2015). The first purpose was to study the frequencies that had been produced by both cats and to identify whether the age of the cats influenced the frequencies that had been produced. The second purpose was To identify whether different cat attitudes would influence the frequency produced by cats. The study subjects were two domestic cats where Domestic Cat A, named molly was a 4 -month -old female cat of mixed breed, while domestic cat B, named spooky, was a 36 - month -old female cat and domestic cat C named Neslo which was 17-month-old female cat.. The two study subjects were different mixed breeds. Both cats are domestic cats which have been cared for and cared for since childhood. The selection of the two cats was based on reasons for differences in age and behavior. Data recording using Iphone SE (2020) brand telephone equipment and for cat frequency data were collected while sleeping. This aims to collect standard cat vocalizations. The purs sound production of older domestic cats is higher than that of young domestic cats. In conclusion, sound can also become louder as the age. The older the cat is, the higher the frequency the cat produces.

Education in basic acoustics for acoustic phonetics and speech science.

Students in acoustic phonetics and speech science classes often do not have much technical background; an intuitive means to teach acoustic phenomena to them would, thus, be useful. Regarding speech production, physical demonstrations using vocal-tract models have been shown to be an intuitive way to teach acoustic phenomena. In particular, a series of models for different purposes has been developed by Arai over the last 20+ years, including lung models, sound sources, and vocal-tract models, e.g., see Arai [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 131(3), 2444-2454 (2012)]. Different combinations of these models are helpful for teaching a variety of related topics in the classroom. However, there are still barriers to understanding certain concepts. This study examined ways of minimizing technical explanations and mathematical formulations and maximizing intuitive understanding of seven topics. Its findings were incorporated into an education program that was used in an actual lecture conducted online. A comparison of scores of questionnaires filled out by the audience before and after the lecture showed the program's effectiveness, especially in relating how a set of harmonic waves excites a multiple-resonance system and how the vowel /a/ is produced.

An integrated approach for teaching speech spectrogram analysis to engineering students.

Spectrogram analysis is a vital skill for learning speech acoustics. Spectrograms are necessary for visualizing cause-effect relationships between speech articulator movements and the resulting sound produced. However, many interpretation techniques needed to read spectrograms are counterintuitive to engineering students who have been taught to use more rigid mathematical formulas. As a result, spectrogram reading is often challenging for these students who do not have prior background in acoustic phonetics. In this paper, a structured, inclusive framework for teaching spectrogram reading to students of engineering backgrounds is presented. Findings from the implementation of these teaching methods in undergraduate and graduate engineering courses at University of California, Los Angeles are also unveiled.

How to motivate with speech. Findings from acoustic phonetics and pragmatics

In the present work, we describe and discuss two studies in the field of motivating-speech research. The studies investigate voice-quality features (study 1) and pragmatic aspects (study 2) in German motivating speech, thereby adding to the current state-of-the-art in understanding motivating speech and language1. We find indications that a low amount of breathiness, a more periodic signal and a balanced distribution of specific pragmatic elements contribute to a motivating impact in German.

Voice Onset Time of Initial Stops in Najdi Arabic

The voice onset time (VOT), which indicates the durational interval from the stop release to the start of the voicing of the following vowel, has long been a prominent research topic in the field of acoustic phonetics. It has shown to be a reliable universal acoustic parameter in discriminating the stop consonants in numerous languages, like English, German, Korean, and various Arabic varieties. It also has been claimed that other factors, such as place of articulation, gender, and vocalic contexts, may affect the productions of the VOTs of the stop categories. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the VOT values of the Najdi Arabic (NA) stops, particularly the plain stop consonants /b, d, g, t, k/, and the potential effects of the place of articulation, gender, and vocalic contexts on their production. Sixty male and female native NA speakers were recruited in this study. The findings revealed that NA has two types of VOTs: positive VOTs with the voiceless stops and negative VOTs with the voiced stops. They also showed that the VOTs of the NA stops become longer when the articulators move back to the oral cavity and shorter in the front cavity. Lastly, the findings reported that the VOTs with short vowels are significantly shorter than the VOTs with long vowels and that gender does not affect the VOTs of the voiced stops, but does affect the VOTs of their voiceless counterparts. Hopefully, the conclusions reached in this study contribute to a better understanding of this interesting acoustic parameter and to the less acoustic literature on Arabic and its various varieties.

Teaching acoustic phonetics to undergraduates in communication sciences and disorders: Course structure and sample projects

Virtually all undergraduate communication sciences and disorders programs require a course that covers acoustic phonetics. Students typically have a separate phonetics (transcription) course prior to taking the acoustic phonetics course. This paper describes a way to structure an acoustic phonetics course into two halves: a first half that focuses on the source, including basic acoustics (simple harmonic motion, harmonics), vocal fold vibration, modes of phonation, and intonation, and a second half that focuses on the filter, including resonance and tube models, vowel formants, and consonant acoustics. Thus, basic acoustic properties are interwoven with specific examples of speech-related acoustics. In addition, two projects that illustrate concepts from the two halves of the course (one on fundamental frequency and the other on vowel formants) are presented.

On competing indexicalities in southern Peninsular Spanish. A sociophonetic and perceptual analysis of affricate [ts] through time

AbstractThis paper examines linguistic, cognitive, and social factors in the development of an ongoing sound change in Andalusian Spanish related to the crosslinguistically well-known process of syllable coda lenition. The resyllabification of word internal /-s/ when followed by dental plosive /t/, in words such aslingüística[liŋ⋅ˈgujs⋅ti⋅ka] ‘linguistics’ realized as [liŋ⋅ˈguj⋅tsi⋅ka], results in an affricate sound [ts] that may be indexed in different ways within the speech community. Findings are reported from a trend study of two sample surveys separated by a twenty-year time gap, acoustic analysis, and two perception experiments. Acoustic phonetics, historical linguistics, theoretical phonology, and sociolinguistic studies provide the theoretical background to help explain the development of this sound change and its connection with other phonological features of Andalusian Spanish. Development of the affricate allophone is a natural outcome consistent with universal constraints boosted by the recent emergence of a regional koine, where its indexicality is undetermined.

The construction of victim of defamation in court's written verdict

Most countries in the world consider defamation case as a civil domain. Indonesia is still one of the few countries in the world, which classify defamation case as a criminal act. The issue of defamation in Indonesia becomes more complex since there are various regulations governing defamation. Initially, the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP) is the only law that regulates the act of defamation. The establishment of the Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Electronic Information Transactions (the EIT Law) has resulted in a complex situation since it also covers the act of defamation. After the EIT Law came into force in 2009, up until 2014, there have been 71 people charged in court for alleged defamation. Current research is a linguistic study in the context of law to discuss the construction of victims in copies of court decision. The data of the study were taken from two copy-texts of court decisions, which were the result of defamation cases in 2014 and 2015. Data are in the form of texts explaining the position of victims in relation to one of the grounds for judge’s decision. As explained by Coulthard Johnson (2007), Forensic Linguistics includes several levels such as acoustic phonetics, discourse analysis, and semantics. On this basis, data analysis in this study uses a critical discourse analysis (CDA) framework by Fairclough (1997) used with the consideration that the framework features dialectical-relational approaches which can map the patterns of social relations to explain the construction of a party in a discourse. Data interpretation and final conclusions of this study reveal the reproductions of logic of certain parties in a copy of criminal justice decisions; marginalization of victims to balance justice retributively and restoratively; and the establishment of role and position of victims in defamation discourses by ignoring institutional aspects and powerlessness. Thus, it appears that victims are not the center of discourse in the text copies of court decisions. Besides, the victim is the most important part of the defamation case considering that the case was classified as a criminal complaint.

Visualizing the Knowledge Domain of Motor Speech Disorders: A Scientific Review (2000-2019)

Abstract This review visualizes the knowledge domain of motor speech disorders (MSDs) in linguistics between 2000 and 2019 by means of scientometric methods. With topic searches, the study collected 869 bibliographic records and 20, 411 references from Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) of Thomson Reuter. The clustered and visualized document co-citation network of the MSDs knowledge domain in CiteSpace identifies 15 research foci in different periods, including apraxia of speech, acoustics, children, technology, aphemia, childhood apraxia of speech, primary progressive aphasia, speech motor delay, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, rhythm, foreign accent syndrome, phonation, phonological awareness, dose and speech perception. Revolving around linguistics, these foci could be divided into studies on speech characteristics of MSDs in terms of phonology and phonetics, remedies for MSDs in terms of neurolinguistics and acoustic phonetics, dysarthria secondary to neurological diseases based on pathological linguistics, subtypes of apraxia of speech, methods of MSDs based on auditory phonetics and a newly recognized subtype of MSDs. Meanwhile, the emerging trends of MSDs in linguistics are detected by the analysis of reference citation bursts, suggesting growing research in remedies for MSDs with the focus on assessments and effectiveness of treatments, speech characteristics and indexes of dysarthria secondary to neurological diseases and assistance to diagnose apraxia of speech. To sum up, the review has indicated that the acoustic measures to assess MSDs and acoustic remedies for dysarthria may not only be the past foci but also be future trends.