Carrier Sentence Research Articles

Plosive (de-)voicing and f0 perturbations in Tokyo Japanese: Positional variation, cue enhancement, and contrast recovery

This study addresses the two-way laryngeal contrast of plosives in Tokyo Japanese, which is commonly analyzed as a “true voicing” language. We examine how voicing-related properties of the plosive and f0 of the following vowel varied with the position in the word and in the sentence. We compare word-initial with word-medial positions for words in citation (between two pauses) and for two prosodic conditions in a carrier sentence: with vs. without a preceding pause. In word-initial position, unlike in a typical “true-voicing” language such as French, voiced plosives in Tokyo Japanese show a high devoicing rate, while voiceless plosives are moderately aspirated. A combination of VOT and f0 of the following vowel is used to distinguish the two plosive series. In word-medial position, voiced plosives are frequently prevoiced and voiceless plosives are unaspirated, while f0 does not differ after the two plosive series. This positional variation suggests that the onset-induced f0 effect is enhanced in word-initial position, where the VOT cue is not sufficient, but not in word-medial position, where the plosive voicing contrast is robustly marked by presence vs. absence of phonetic voicing. The differential use of cues in different environments in Tokyo Japanese provides another piece of evidence for the complexity of phonetic implementations of the voicing contrast. Finally, we discuss the enhancement of f0 perturbations as a source of a potential tonal development and ask whether such a development would take place in Tokyo Japanese.

The development of tone and intonation in Mandarin-speaking children—A pilot study

Mandarin is a tone language in which fundamental frequency (F0) is used to contrast lexical meaning and to convey intonation information. When tone and intonation interact, speakers maintain the shape of the F0 contour for word meaning contrasts but manipulate the magnitude of F0 change to meet intonation requirements. This pilot study provided a new perspective on tone acquisition by exploring phonetic characteristics of tone in different intonation contexts by Mandarin children who have acquired phonological contrasts. Three-, five- and eight-year-old monolingual Mandarin-speaking children and adults participated in this pilot study. Production of monosyllabic Tone 2 (rising F0) and Tone 4 (falling F0) words in isolation and in carrier sentences with interrogative (rising) and declarative (falling) intonation were elicited. Magnitude of F0 change, duration and intensity of the target words were acoustically measured and analyzed. Results suggested (1) a physiological basis of phonatory production where Tone 2 and falling intonation were produced more accurately; (2) lexical first strategy in the youngest children who prioritize tone accuracy over intonation accuracy; and (3) usage of developmentally appropriate and controllable acoustic cues first (e.g., Duration).Mandarin is a tone language in which fundamental frequency (F0) is used to contrast lexical meaning and to convey intonation information. When tone and intonation interact, speakers maintain the shape of the F0 contour for word meaning contrasts but manipulate the magnitude of F0 change to meet intonation requirements. This pilot study provided a new perspective on tone acquisition by exploring phonetic characteristics of tone in different intonation contexts by Mandarin children who have acquired phonological contrasts. Three-, five- and eight-year-old monolingual Mandarin-speaking children and adults participated in this pilot study. Production of monosyllabic Tone 2 (rising F0) and Tone 4 (falling F0) words in isolation and in carrier sentences with interrogative (rising) and declarative (falling) intonation were elicited. Magnitude of F0 change, duration and intensity of the target words were acoustically measured and analyzed. Results suggested (1) a physiological basis of phonatory production where ...

Spanish and English bilinguals: Between L1 and L2?

The present study explores the vowel and intonation systems of heritage Spanish speakers in California based on a corpus of semi-directed interviews, to establish whether one language influences the other, or whether their English and for Spanish are closer to the monolingual speakers’ system of either language. There is some limited evidence that the vowel systems of Spanish in Spanish heritage speakers of Mexican descent in California is indeed very similar to the system of monolingual Mexican Spanish speakers (in pitch, duration, F1 and F2 values)—their English vowel system, however, and especially the front vowels, is not completely comparable to the published values for monolingual American English speakers’ vowels (Miglio, 2011). Intonation in bilingual Spanish has been shown to be influenced by English pitch movement, as well as signalling information structure (Gries and Miglio, 2015). This study widens the scope of the previous ones using data from natural speech as opposed to carrier sentences read out loud, and uses unpublished data from the same regional varieties of both English and Spanish, as spoken in California (monolingual English, bilingual English-Spanish), and in Mexico (monolingual Spanish) by individuals in the same age group and of comparable socio-cultural background.The present study explores the vowel and intonation systems of heritage Spanish speakers in California based on a corpus of semi-directed interviews, to establish whether one language influences the other, or whether their English and for Spanish are closer to the monolingual speakers’ system of either language. There is some limited evidence that the vowel systems of Spanish in Spanish heritage speakers of Mexican descent in California is indeed very similar to the system of monolingual Mexican Spanish speakers (in pitch, duration, F1 and F2 values)—their English vowel system, however, and especially the front vowels, is not completely comparable to the published values for monolingual American English speakers’ vowels (Miglio, 2011). Intonation in bilingual Spanish has been shown to be influenced by English pitch movement, as well as signalling information structure (Gries and Miglio, 2015). This study widens the scope of the previous ones using data from natural speech as opposed to carrier sentences r...

Effects of focus and tone on vowel space in Chongming Chinese

The formant frequencies of vowels are prone to change according to contexts, but the effects of focus on vowel space are rarely studied. This study attempts to investigate how focus and tone may influence the vowel space in Chongming Chinese with a production experiment. Chongming Chinese is a Chinese dialect with a complex tonal system. Twelve syllables with the vowel /ae/ were chosen and the syllables spread over eight lexical tones (two level tones, four contour tones, and two checked tones). The target syllables were embedded in carrier sentences with different preceding and following syllables. Four focus conditions were manipulated: broad focus, initial focus, medial focus, and final focus. During the experiment, twelve participants were elicited with precursor questions to produce sentences with different focus locations. The frequencies of the first two formants (F1 and F2) were extracted over the middle 50 ms of the vowel interval for each target syllable. Formant tracks were calculated with the Burg algorithm in Praat. F1 and F2 values under each focus condition and tone will be compared. It is hypothesized that F1 and F2 will be increased under focus because focus might make the vowels more open and front. The formant frequencies of vowels are prone to change according to contexts, but the effects of focus on vowel space are rarely studied. This study attempts to investigate how focus and tone may influence the vowel space in Chongming Chinese with a production experiment. Chongming Chinese is a Chinese dialect with a complex tonal system. Twelve syllables with the vowel /ae/ were chosen and the syllables spread over eight lexical tones (two level tones, four contour tones, and two checked tones). The target syllables were embedded in carrier sentences with different preceding and following syllables. Four focus conditions were manipulated: broad focus, initial focus, medial focus, and final focus. During the experiment, twelve participants were elicited with precursor questions to produce sentences with different focus locations. The frequencies of the first two formants (F1 and F2) were extracted over the middle 50 ms of the vowel interval for each target syllable. Formant tracks were calculated with the B...

Tracking sources of formant frequency variation in data from a time-controlled speech production task

Vowel formant structure is particularly sensitive to influence from neighboring segments in connected speech. Statistical models can successfully account for acoustic variability from multiple simultaneous sources of variance, such as anticipatory effects of following consonants and vowels (see, for example, Cole et al., 2010). Statistical approaches have also been developed to predict context segments from static measures of spectral variation like mean or midpoint formant frequencies. This study examines shifts in the relative strength of these sources of variance over the course of the target vowel, and compares previous approaches to predicting the identity of upcoming segments with a novel approach which is cumulatively informed by formant frequency variation as it unfolds temporally. Data are from 32 participants who produced target-context word sequences (permutations of …V1C#hV2…, where V1 = [ɛ], C = [θ f], and V2 = [i ɛ ae ɑ u], e.g., “deaf-heating”) within a carrier sentence. Timing and prosody were strictly controlled by entraining the syllable rate to a metronome. Context word onset was always [h], which has no intrinsic supralaryngeal articulation and only begins foot-initial syllables in English. This ensured a consistent prosodic boundary between target and context words and prevented resyllabification of C across words.

Context integration deficit in tone perception in Cantonese speakers with congenital amusia.

Congenital amusia is a neuro-developmental disorder of pitch processing. This study investigated how this deficit affects lexical tone perception with and without context. Twenty-three Cantonese-speaking amusics and 23 controls were tested on the identification of high-variation tone stimuli in isolation vs in a carrier sentence. The controls generally achieved a higher accuracy with context than in isolation, suggesting that speech context facilitated tone identification. In contrast, amusics generally failed to benefit from the context, despite some variation among different tones. These findings provide insights into the underlying deficits of amusia, revealing a context integration deficit of tone perception in amusia.

A aerodinâmica das consoantes nasais [m] e [n] do português brasileiro

Este estudo tem como objetivo uma caracterização aerodinâmica das consoantes nasais [m] e [n] do português brasileiro, com o uso de tecnologias computadorizadas e coleta simultânea de dados acústicos e aerodinâmicos, em uma perspectiva dinâmica de produção da fala. As gravações envolveram cinco adultos, com idades entre 25 e 52 anos, três do sexo feminino e dois do sexo masculino. O corpus incluiu 20 logatomas em frases-veículo, variando o contexto de tonicidade e o da vogal precedente. Os dados de fala foram coletados por meio da Estação EVA (Evaluation Vocale Assistée) e do piezoelétrico. Dos dados advindos da Estação EVA, foram investigadas configurações de curvas de fluxo aéreo oral (FAO) e de fluxo aéreo nasal (FAN); e dos dados advindos do piezoelétrico, foram analisados valores das curvas de FAN. Os resultados indicaram, para ambos os sexos, semelhanças entre as consoantes [m] e [n]: muito baixa amplitude nas curvas de FAO, indicando oclusão na passagem de ar pela cavidade oral; e curvas de FAN com configuração plana em sua extensão e com maior amplitude em relação às vogais adjacentes. Assim, o comportamento aerodinâmico do FAN na produção das consoantes [m] e [n] permitiu a inferência articulatória de que o gesto vélico dessas consoantes seja formado por três tempos: abertura, platô e fechamento. Ainda, foram confirmadas diferenças significativas entre parâmetros aerodinâmicos relativos às consoantes [m] e [n], quanto ao contexto de tonicidade e ao da vogal precedente. As características aerodinâmicas apontaram, portanto, para a natureza dinâmica das consoantes nasais do português brasileiro.

Effects of delay time and intensity difference on recognition of overlapped speech sound

Speech sound transmitted from an outdoor loudspeaker is sometimes difficult to recognize because it is overlapped by a time-delayed speech sound from other loudspeakers. This difficulty is assumed to depend on a delay time and an intensity difference between the original and overlapping time-delayed sounds. To clarify the effects of a delay time and an intensity difference on speech recognition, a listening experiment was conducted with 21 Japanese adults using 105 Japanese spoken words in a carrier sentence, with delay times and intensity differences ranging between 0–250 ms and 0–9 dB, respectively. The experiment revealed that recognition ratios are significantly lower for delay times of 100–250 ms than for 0 ms. Similarly, the ratios are significantly lower for intensity differences of 0–6 dB than for 9 dB. These results suggest that speech sound from an outdoor loudspeaker is difficult to recognize in a large area where the difference of distances from two loudspeakers ranges between 34 and 85 m and the intensity difference between the original and overlapping time-delayed sound is less than 6 dB. [This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP15K12494, JP15H03207, JP17K02705, and by Aichi-Shukutoku University Cooperative Research Grant 2017-2018.]

Acoustic properties of singleton and geminate ejective stops in Tsova-Tush

Tsova-Tush, also known as Batsbi, is an underdescribed Northeast Caucasian language spoken by a few hundred people in Zemo Alvani, Georgia. The Tsova-Tush phoneme inventory includes four geminate stops that contrast with singletons at the same place of articulation: /tʰː t'ː qʰː q'ː/. The existence of geminate ejective stops is particularly interesting, as such phonemes are cross-linguistically rare, having been reported in only 13 of the 2,155 phoneme inventories sampled by PHOIBLE (http://phoible.org/). The present study characterizes these stops in Tsova-Tush based on high-quality audio recordings of four Tsova-Tush speakers producing a list of 65 target words in a carrier sentence. The following measures were statistically compared: closure duration, VOT, duration of the preceding vowel, and f 0 and H1*-H2* in the following vowel. Preliminary results from three speakers suggest that ejectives are characterized by shorter VOT, a shorter preceding vowel, and a difference in both f 0 and H1*-H2* in the following vowel, with marked interspeaker variation in the latter measures. This study provides the first detailed description of this typologically interesting two-by-two contrast (singleton aspirates, geminate aspirates, singleton ejectives, geminate ejectives) at two places of articulation (dental and uvular) in an underdescribed language.

Testing the Hyperarticulation and Prosodic Hypotheses of Child-Directed Speech: Insights From the Perceptual and Acoustic Characteristics of Child-Directed Cantonese Tones

The function of child-directed speech has been debated for decades. This study examined the perceptual and acoustic characteristics of child- and adult-directed Cantonese tones to test the hyperarticulation and prosodic hypotheses that have been proposed to account for the acoustic modifications in child-directed speech. Sixty-two mother-child dyads participated in the study. The mothers verbally labeled 30 pictures in monosyllabic isolated words and in the final position of a carrier sentence to the experimenter and their 1- to 5-year-old children. The 8,634 adult- and child-directed productions were low-pass filtered to eliminate lexical information and presented to 5 judges for tone identification. Acoustic analysis was performed on the productions. Acoustically, child-directed tones were produced with an elevated pitch, and the pitch level decreased as the child's age increased. Acoustic contrasts between phonetically similar and more confusing tones were not enhanced in child-directed speech, and unexpectedly, child-directed tones were identified with a lower accuracy than adult-directed tones. The perceptual errors of child-directed tones mirrored the errors found in identifying tones excised from sentence-final position, which had a pitch-lowering effect on the tones. The lower perceptual accuracy, the lack of enhanced acoustic contrasts in confusing tone pairs, and the similarities in the error patterns in identifying tones in child-directed speech and tones in utterance-final position suggest that the acoustic modifications in child-directed tones are prosodic effects serving pragmatic purposes. The findings reject the hyperarticulation hypothesis and support the prosodic hypothesis of child-directed speech.

Non-durational acoustic correlates of word-initial consonant gemination in Kelantan Malay: The potential roles of amplitude and f0

This study reports on non-durational acoustic correlates of typologically rare word-initial consonant gemination in Kelantan Malay (KM) by focusing on two acoustic parameters – amplitude and f0. Given the unusual characteristics of the word-initial consonant contrast and its potential maintenance in domain-initial environments, this study sets to examine the extent to which amplitude and f0 can potentially characterise such a contrast in KM in addition to the cross-linguistically established acoustic correlate of closure duration. The production data involved elicited materials from sixteen KM native speakers. RMS and f0 values were measured at the start of the vowel following stops and sonorants produced in isolation (i.e. utterance-initial position) and in a carrier sentence (i.e. utterance-medial position). Results indicate that the consonant contrast is reflected in systematic differences in (i) vowel onset amplitude and f0 following the target consonant and (ii) the ratios of amplitude and f0 across two syllables of disyllabic words. There are also effects of utterance position, manner of articulation and voicing type on the magnitude of contrast between singletons and geminates with utterance-initial voiceless stops generally showing the greatest magnitude difference. The conclusion is drawn that the KM word-initial singleton/geminate consonant contrast can be associated with a set of acoustic parameters alongside closure duration.

The acoustics of primary and secondary stress in Modern Hebrew

Abstract This study investigates the acoustic realization of primary and secondary stress in polysyllabic words in Modern Hebrew (MH). The study focuses on the production of target words embedded in a meaningful carrier sentence, with three primary stress types: ultimate, penultimate and antepenultimate stress. We measured the duration, intensity and F0 of each vowel. Results show that duration is the sole reliable cue for stress in MH, and that there is no phonetic realization of secondary stress in MH, and therefore no true surface alternating pattern. These findings may have phonological implications regarding the prosodic organization of language, and provide a solid basis for future studies on the perception of primary and secondary stress by speakers.

Effect of L1 phonation contrast on production of L2 English stops

This work examines the influence of native phonation contrast type on the production of English stops in different phonetic contexts/reading styles. Proficient English speakers from four different L1 language backgrounds produced words in three different contexts: words in isolation, phrase-final in a carrier sentence, and in a reading passage. Language backgrounds were representative of three types of phonation contrasts: Mandarin (aspiration contrast: [pʰ ~ p]), Tagalog (voicing contrast: [p ~ b]), and Urdu (4-way phonation contrast [pʰ ~ p ~ bʰ ~ b]). 11 participants from each group were compared with a control group of L1 English speakers. Aspiration and closure voicing were measured. All groups produced English voiceless stops as aspirated; however, there was considerable variation in the voiced stops, with Mandarin speakers producing less voicing, and Urdu and Tagalog speakers producing more voicing, than English speakers across speech styles, showing an asymmetrical influence of L1 phonation on production of the English contrast, in line with other recent work.

Spectral patterns of the American English diphthong /aɪ/ as a function of coda voicing produced by native Korean speakers

This study aimed to investigate how native speakers of Korean who learned English as a second language realize spectral differences in the American English diphthong /ai/ as a function of coda voicing. Ten Korean learners of English and eight native speakers of American English participated in a production experiment. The monosyllabic words “bite” (/bait/) and “bide” (/baid/) were read along with filler words in isolation and in a carrier sentence. The native group demonstrated significantly smaller F1 and larger F2 before /t/ than /d/ both in the nucleus /a/ and in the offglide /i/ (Moreton 2004). The learner group did not show statistically significant spectral changes in the nucleus and the offglide. Also, the native group significantly reduced the temporal distance between the nucleus and the offglide, and showed spectral peripheralization in the offglide before /t/ than /d/ (Pycha and Dahan 2016). However, the learner group did not show native-like reduction of the temporal distance between the nucleus and the offglide and spectral peripheralization in the offglide. Although the non-native speakers in this study exhibited some durational changes as a function of coda voicing, they did not learn the fine phonetic details regarding the gestural timing and spectral patterns in the diphthong. A considerable degree of individual variation in the learner group and speaking context effects were also found. It was interpreted that the Hyperarticulation hypothesis (Thomas 2000; Moreton 2004) and the Gestural Timing hypothesis (Pycha and Dahan 2016) could provide indices modelling the non-native phenomena found in this study as not attaining native-like phonetic values and gradual approach to the values concerning the spectral and durational aspects in /ai/ as a function of coda voicing. (Ewha Womans University)

Entrained theta oscillations guide perception of subsequent speech: behavioural evidence from rate normalisation

ABSTRACTThis psychoacoustic study provides behavioural evidence that neural entrainment in the theta range (3–9 Hz) causally shapes speech perception. Adopting the “rate normalization” paradigm (presenting compressed carrier sentences followed by uncompressed target words), we show that uniform compression of a speech carrier to syllable rates inside the theta range influences perception of subsequent uncompressed targets, but compression outside theta range does not. However, the influence of carriers – compressed outside theta range – on target perception is salvaged when carriers are “repackaged” to have a packet rate inside theta. This suggests that the brain can only successfully entrain to syllable/packet rates within theta range, with a causal influence on the perception of subsequent speech, in line with recent neuroimaging data. Thus, this study points to a central role for sustained theta entrainment in rate normalisation and contributes to our understanding of the functional role of brain oscillations in speech perception.

Acquisition of Japanese quantity contrasts by L1 Cantonese speakers

This article explores the acquisition of Japanese vowel and consonant quantity contrasts by Cantonese learners. Our goal is to examine whether transfer from first language (L1) is possible when L1 experience is phonemic but restricted to a small set of sounds (short vs. long vowels) and when the experience is non-phonemic, derived only at morpheme boundaries (short vs. long consonants). We recruited 20 Cantonese learners (beginner and advanced learners) and 5 native speakers of Japanese, who produced target stimuli varying in consonant and vowel quantity framed in a carrier sentence. The resultant data were converted into several durational ratios for analyses. Results showed that both the beginners and advanced learners were able to distinguish between short vs. long vowels and consonants in Japanese, but only the native speakers enhanced the contrasts in slower speech. It was also found that in most cases the learners were able to lengthen the vowel before a geminate (i.e. long consonant), a secondary cue to Japanese consonant quantity known to be rare across languages. These results are discussed in terms of current theories of second language acquisition.

Southern stops: Phonation type differences in Mississippi

While the voicing contrast between American English word-initial stops is often described as relatively uniform across speakers (e.g., voiced segments are produced with short positive VOTs while voiceless segments are produced with long positive VOTs), considerable sociophonetic variation exists. The current study investigates variation in the VOT of voiced and voiceless word-initial stops in pot, bot, tot, dot, cot, gotproduced in isolation and in carrier sentences. Participants included 40 native English speakers from Mississippi grouped according to their self-identified gender and ethnicity. As previously reported, African American speakers produced significantly more voiced stops with negative VOTs and more fully voiced closures preceding voiced stops than Caucasian American speakers. While speakers did not differ in their production of voiceless VOT when words were read in isolation, African American speakers maintained closure voicing preceding voiceless stops far more often than Caucasian American speakers. No gender differences were found. These data suggest this voicing variation is due to robust dialectal differences. The possibility that speakers who exhibit more prevoicing and more fully voiced closures are prolonging closure voicing through laryngeal lowering or nasal venting is explored through the examination of pitch and intensity trajectories within the closure and within the following vowel.

Lexical tone and stuttering in Cantonese

ABSTRACTCantonese is a tone language, in which the variation of the fundamental frequency contour of a syllable can change meaning. There are six different lexical tones in Cantonese. While research with Western languages has shown an association between stuttering and syllabic stress, nothing is known about whether stuttering in Cantonese speakers is associated with one or more of the six lexical tones. Such an association has been reported in conversational speech in Mandarin, which is also a tone language, but which varies markedly from Cantonese. Twenty-four native Cantonese-speaking adults who stutter participated in this study, ranging in age from 18–33 years. There were 18 men and 6 women. Participants read aloud 13 Cantonese syllables, each of which was produced with six contrastive lexical tones. All 78 syllables were embedded in the same carrier sentence, to reduce the influence of suprasegmental or linguistic stress, and were presented in random order. No significant differences were found for stuttering moments across the six lexical tones. It is suggested that this is because lexical tones, at least in Cantonese, do not place the task demands on the speech motor system that typify varying syllabic stress in Western languages: variations not only in fundamental frequency, but also in duration and intensity. The findings of this study suggest that treatments for adults who stutter in Western languages, such as speech restructuring, can be used with Cantonese speakers without undue attention to lexical tone.

A PRODUÇÃO DA VOGAL ÁTONA FINAL /e/ EM PORTUGUÊS BRASILEIRO (L1) E ESPANHOL (L2) – UM ESTUDO EXPLORATÓRIO

This article presents the results of an experiment on the production of Spanish (L2) word-final /e/ by Southern Brazilian learners. We aimed to the test the effects of two variables, i.e., cognate status and L2 experience in a formal teaching context (Group A: three years of study; Group B: between four and six years of study). The production of the final vowels of the target words, inserted in carrier sentences, were analyzed acoustically. The results showed an effect of language, which indicates that Spanish learners distinguish between the unstressed vowel /e/ in Portuguese and Spanish in terms of height and frontness/backness. However, no effect was found for cognate status and L2 experience. These results raise a discussion on the role of the cognate status variable in the oral productions of more experienced learners. --- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12957/matraga.2017.28550

F0 perturbation effect in Initial Fricatives of Serbian – An Acoustic Analysis

The present paper explores the phenomenon of perturbation of fundamental frequency in fricative obstruents in Serbian. The recordings include two reading conditions of target tokens with initial fricative and all vowels from the Serbian phonetic inventory. Two measurements were performed on the recorded data: the first measurement includes the first five oscillating periods of the post-fricative vowel and the second every centisecond of the first 120 ms of the vowel. We explored the dependence of pitch values on underlying voicing of initial fricatives, vowel quality, place of articulation and phonological context. The quality of the vowel affects the fundamental frequency in a way that high vowels have higher f0 values and the opposite. The place of articulation is not a significant factor of f0 change. More statistically significant results were obtained in reading words in a carrier sentence than reading them in isolation. The contour of f0 is shown to be falling after voiceless, and falling or level after voiced fricatives, except one case of rising f0 after voiced fricatives. The perturbation effect is found to be 60 ms into the vowel. With this fact in mind, we concluded that f0 perturbation is utilized to enhance the voicing contrast of prevocalic fricatives. The patterning of voiceless unaspirated and voiceless aspirated consonants in other languages classifies the f0 cue as one of the [voice] rather than [spread] features.