Dialect Research Articles

Realtime Accent Translation

Abstract: Accent Translation in Real-Time is one of the very first projects meant to overcome the barriers erected by regional accents in spoken languages. It uses the state-of-the-art research on speech recognition, NLP, and speech synthesis while translating speech from a source accent into a neutral or target accent in real-time. Accent detection and modification may include the use of deep learning models, like RNNs or transformers. In addition to the regional phonetic features, audio inputs on words with contextual meanings allow the reconstruction of the speech to conserve a desirable accent and continue giving the speaker their identity. Global communication, educational, and accessible applications would cultivate effective, comforting communication, where care for lingual background goes by the board. Project scope: low latency processing and scalabilitywhich should be able to support many languages and varieties of accents that might make it extremely practical yet quite an effective tool in this increasing world. Keywords— Real-Time Accent Translation, Speech Recognition, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Speech Synthesis, Deep Learning, Transformers, Multilingual Support, Low Latency Processing, Accent Identification, Phonetic Mapping, Seq2SeqModels, Voice Synthesis, Ethical Considerations, Global Communication, Accessibility

Supporting Literacy Assessment in West Africa: Using State-of-the-Art Speech Models to Assess Oral Reading Fluency

Abstract This paper reports on a set of three recent experiments utilizing large-scale speech models to assess the oral reading fluency (ORF) of students in Ghana. While ORF is a well-established measure of foundational literacy, assessing it typically requires one-on-one sessions between a student and a trained rater, a process that is time-consuming and costly. Automating the assessment of ORF could support better literacy instruction, particularly in education contexts where formative assessment is uncommon due to large class sizes and limited resources. This research is among the first to examine the use of the most recent versions of large-scale speech models for ORF assessment in the Global South.We find that the best performing model, Whisper V2, with no additional fine-tuning, produces transcriptions of Ghanaian students reading aloud with a Word Error Rate of 10.3. When these transcriptions are used to produce fully automated ORF scores, they closely align with scores generated by expert human raters, with a correlation coefficient of 0.98. These results were achieved on a representative dataset (i.e., students with regional accents, recordings taken in actual classrooms), using a free and publicly available speech with no additional fine-tuning. This model’s strong performance on real-world classroom data, combined with its accessibility and simplified implementation, suggests potential for scaling ORF assessment in lower-resource, linguistically diverse educational contexts.

Stereotyped accent judgements in forensic contexts: listener perceptions of social traits and types of behaviour

This paper reports the findings from a multidisciplinary and cross-institutional Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project called ‘Improving Voice Identification Procedures’ (IVIP). People harbour stereotypes about particular accents, and those judgements may be brought with them into the legal domain. Considering the potential consequences of accent judgements by witnesses and jurors, this study examines the relationship between ratings for characteristics and the likelihood of acting in certain criminal and non-criminal ways. 180 participants completed an accent judgement task, rating 10 regionally-accented British voices on a range of traits and behaviours using a wider variety of accents, behaviours and criminal offences than previous research. Results indicate that evaluations of perceived characteristics based on accent translate into evaluations of likely behaviours. Non-standard UK regional accents are generally perceived more negatively than a standard one, but not universally; non-English accents elicited more positive trait and behaviour ratings than English accents. Furthermore, although accents evaluated as low-status were generally more likely to behave criminally according to listeners, this varied according to the type of crime. The discussion explores the forensic implications of the relationships between perceived status and criminality, as well as discussing the significance of perceptions of perpetrators of sexual offences when compared to other offence types. We emphasise the need for nuanced understanding of how accents are evaluated when it comes to different crime types.

Navigating the Digital Realm: An In-depth Analysis of Pregnancy Apps for Maternal Health and Nutrition

Due to the rise in nuclear families, many pregnant women utilize mobile applications to get information about pregnancy, labour, and postpartum care. The development of a baby takes nine months from egg to zygote to embryo to fetus to newborn (nine months to be precise). Whatever happens during this period before birth, determines what he is going to be like at the time of birth as well as in later life. Pregnancy is therefore of the utmost significance. Aim of the study was to analyze the already existing pregnancy apps for their content and quality provided on health care during pregnancy and proper nutrition care during prenatal period. To analyze these pregnancy apps, 40 apps available on Google Play Store were downloaded and installed on an Android phone. Each and every app is critically assessed by the investigator for its content and quality based on different criteria using self-structured schedule. Majority of the apps available on play store lacked crucial information related to health care and nutrition during pregnancy. However, it was determined that the material which was available was found accurate and relevant but insufficient. Women are increasingly using mobile apps to access information about pregnancy. There are several pregnancy apps available, however they do not meet the needs of Indian mothers who are expecting. These apps offer information, but it is sparse and difficult to understand. Therefore, it is necessary to create a pregnancy app specifically for Indian mothers that offers adequate information in Hindi and regional dialects.

A Study on the Atlas and Influencing Factors of Architectural Color Paintings in Tibetan Timber Dwellings in Yunnan

Architectural color painting is one of the cultural heritages of the Tibetan people. To address the issues of “loss” and “variation” in architectural color paintings during the renovation of traditional Tibetan timber dwellings in Yunnan, it is essential to organize and categorize the forms and cultural content of ethnic minority timber architectural paintings. This approach will help supplement foundational research on the subject. This study, based on linguistic research findings, focuses on the Diqing South Locus Dialect Region as the research area, conducting field investigations in over 30 settlements (involving more than 80 dwellings). This study analyzes patterns, colors, and forms across various architectural elements to develop a detailed atlas of decorative painting patterns. A combined analysis of historical documentation reveals three primary folk causes behind the architectural color paintings of Tibetan timber buildings in Yunnan: (1) primitive worship under animism; (2) decorative norms guided by religious beliefs; and (3) cultural fusion resulting from ethnic heritage. This will help people understand the cultural essence behind architectural paintings, avoiding the cognitive limitation of knowing only their form but not their meaning. This paper aims to raise awareness of the cultural heritage of regional timber buildings, providing a basis for typological accumulation and model references for the protection and transmission of regional timber architectural color paintings.

Veteran Vowels: Early Western Canadian English in World War Oral Histories

This paper examines the origin and historical development of the vowel system of Western Canadian English (WCE). It presents a sociophonetic analysis of interviews with two Western Canadian veterans of the First World War, born in 1890–91, and eight of the Second World War, born in 1917–1923. The data reveal that the comparative uniformity attributed to WCE today emerged gradually over the twentieth century. Initial English-speaking settlement, following the arrival of the railway in 1885 and continuing up to the Great Depression, produced a mix of features reflecting its diverse origins. Canadian Raising and a conservative variant of goat are uniform from the beginning, but the allophonic structure of short-a (trap-bath, including BAG-raising), the low-back merger, the marry-Mary and north-force mergers, fronting of goose and the Low-Back-Merger (or Canadian) Shift are all variable in the veterans’ speech. The sound changes that reduced that variation over the remainder of the twentieth century provide an accessible example of the convergence and levelling that have created new regional dialects from diverse migrant populations throughout history.

Challenges in Pronouncing English /r/ for Chinese Learners

Abstract: Chinese English learners face challenges in pronouncing English /r/ sound. This study explores how regional dialects influence the acquisition of this sound. A literature review is utilised to investigate the perception and production of the English /r/ among Mandarin, Cantonese, and Shanghainese speakers. The participants are all Chinese undergraduate students. In this research, data was collected through various ways, including surveys, pronunciation tests, listening exercises, and interviews. The paper finds that those speakers have different pronunciation performances in /r/. Since there is a similar retroflex approximant in Mandarin, they do better in both perceiving and articulating the /r/ sound. On the other hand, Cantonese and Shanghainese speakers have more difficulties and usually substitute /r/ with /l/ or // sounds. The findings emphasises the impact of regional dialects on English pronunciation and help teachers come up with more effective English pronunciation teaching strategies in the future.

Race Identification in American English.

This study examined the race identification of Southern American English speakers from two geographically distant regions in North Carolina. The purpose of this work is to explore how talkers' self-identified race, talker dialect region, and acoustic speech variables contribute to listener categorization of talker races. Two groups of listeners heard a series of /h/-vowel-/d/ (/hVd/) words produced by Black and White talkers from East and West North Carolina, respectively. Both Southern (North Carolina) and Midland (Indiana) listeners accurately categorized the race of all speakers with greater-than-chance accuracy; however, Western North Carolina Black talkers were categorized with the lowest accuracy, just above chance. The results suggest that similarities in the speech production patterns of West North Carolina Black and White talkers affect the racial categorization of Black, but not White talkers. The results are discussed with respect to the acoustic spectral features of the voices present in the sample population.

A Comparative Analysis of Children’s Identity in Multilingual Settings in Two Distinct Areas of Southern Poland

The functioning of attitudes in multilingual settings has always evoked interest of researches (for example, Dewaele and Li, 2020). Nonetheless, there is still a gap concerning the knowledge about how the process is shaped in the early stages of life. The present paper is about to explore the attitudes of primary school children towards Polish, English, and regional dialect in two distinct areas of southern Poland. The main purpose is to investigate the following issues (i) how the status and the feeling of belonging are reflected in children’s responses, (ii) what their approach is in terms of learning languages (iii) to what extent social desirability influences their views. The study was conducted among two groups of primary school children, aged 7, 8, and 9. The data was gathered in reference to an interview with the students conducted in Polish. Children’s voices were recorded for their subsequent transcription. Findings depict how the status and the sense of belonging are different in each examined area, and how the emotional attachment to dialectal tradition may be rooted in children’s minds. In addition, the outcomes cleared out how children’s attitudes are being formed in multilingual environments, and whether school has a visible influence on those attitudes.

LANGUAGE OF TOTALITARIANISM: NATIONAL LINGUISTIC POLICY IN FASCIST ITALY AND MILITARIST JAPAN

When it comes to creating a notorious ideology, in the hands of those in power, language becomes a tool for consolidating a nation. Fascist Italy and militarist Japan are prime examples of the use of language as a means of uniting people in the name of proclaimed “new” values and ideals. In the present article the authors provide a detailed analysis of language policy in both countries: from the initial desire to unite the inhabitants of the country with the proclaimed order under the aegis of a single nation by means of language, to open hostility to any manifestations of heterogeneity, in particular to regional dialects or dialectal variants of the literary national language, to an open struggle against loan words, even those that had already been firmly established or consolidated in the domestic language. The study attempts to trace what changes happened to Italian and Japanese languages when intransigent parties had come to power with their ideologies; to analyze to what extent the language policies of Italy and Japan in the 1st half of the 20th century are similar and to what extent they differ; and we also summarise the results of such restrictive language policies after the World War II resulted in the said politicians’ defeat.

LINGUISTIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF THE SPOKEN, WRITTEN, AND COMMUNICATIVE USE OF HUNGARIAN IN VOJVODINA

By reviewing the background factors behind the functionality of Hungarian language use in Vojvodina, the study points out the sociological and linguistic factors that determine language use in everyday life. Among the sociological factors, we considered the relationship between language and identity, language and education, language and social communication, as well as the use of economic and legal language, the media, cultural aspects, and the role of the church and national political organizations. Among the linguistic background factors, we discussed the influence of Serbian on Hungarian and the role of the Hungarian regional dialect in the functionality of the language, as well as its community function. As a conclusion of the study, we can say that Hungarians in Vojvodina use Hungarian depending on the given communication situation and the social and linguistic context, that is along the lines of functional and situational language use in the given communication situation.

KAZAKH SPEECH AND RECOGNITION METHODS: ERROR ANALYSIS AND IMPROVEMENT PROSPECTS

This study offers a detailed evaluation of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems for the Kazakh, examining their performance in recognizing the phonetic and linguistic features unique to the language. The Kazakh language presents specific challenges for ASR due to its complex phonology, vowel harmony, and the presence of multiple regional dialects. To address these challenges, a comparative analysis of three leading ASR systems were conducted—Kaldi, Mozilla DeepSpeech, and Google Speech-to-Text API—using a dataset of 101 recordings of spoken the Kazakh text. This study focuses on the systems' word error rates (WER), identifying common misrecognitions, especially with the Kazakh-specific phonemes like "қ," "ң," and "ү." Kaldi and Mozilla DeepSpeech exhibited high WERs, particularly struggling with Kazakh’s vowel harmony and consonant distinctions, while Google Speech-to-Text achieved of the lowest WER among the three. However, none of the systems demonstrated accuracy levels sufficient for practical applications, as errors in recognizing Kazakh’s agglutinative morphology and case endings remained pervasive. To improve these outcomes, a series of enhancements are proposed, including adapting acoustic models to better reflect Kazakh’s phonetic and morphological traits, integrating dialect-specific data, and employing machine learning methods such as transfer learning and hybrid models. Additional steps include refining data preprocessing and increasing dataset diversity to capture Kazakh’s linguistic nuances more accurately. By addressing these limitations, the ASR systems can better handle complex sentence structures and regional speech variations. This research thus provides a foundation for advancing Kazakh ASR technologies and contributes insights that are vital for developing inclusive, effective ASR systems capable of supporting linguistically diverse users.

Digital Evolution: Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Local Dialects and Lexicon; An Examination of Central Kurdish Language

This study suggests a digital linguistic approach to multi-mediated communication (MMC), drawing on a case study of language variation on social media. In the early 21st century, social media (SM) has significantly impacted various aspects of human life, including language, as articulated within the theoretical framework of digital linguistics and language variation. This study explores the influence of SM on Kurdish local dialects in Iraqi Kurdistan, with a focus on vocabulary evolution and the ongoing challenge of dialect standardization. Given the high unemployment rates in Iraq, which have led to increased SM engagement, this research examines how these platforms affect dialect usage across diverse demographic groups. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the study integrates qualitative content analysis and quantitative surveys to assess SM's role in shaping linguistic practices. Findings reveal thatolder generations are more likely to maintain traditional dialects, while younger users increasingly adopt standardized Kurdish forms. The study highlights SM's dual impact: promoting linguistic convergence while posing risks to dialectal diversity. It emphasizes the need for a balanced approach that supports regional dialects alongside the benefits of standardization, advocating for strategic initiatives to preserve linguistic heritage while adapting to digital influences.

Advancing AI-Driven Linguistic Analysis: Developing and Annotating Comprehensive Arabic Dialect Corpora for Gulf Countries and Saudi Arabia

This study harnesses the linguistic diversity of Arabic dialects to create two expansive corpora from X (formerly Twitter). The Gulf Arabic Corpus (GAC-6) includes around 1.7 million tweets from six Gulf countries—Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain—capturing a wide range of linguistic variations. The Saudi Dialect Corpus (SDC-5) comprises 790,000 tweets, offering in-depth insights into five major regional dialects of Saudi Arabia: Hijazi, Najdi, Southern, Northern, and Eastern, reflecting the complex linguistic landscape of the region. Both corpora are thoroughly annotated with dialect-specific seed words and geolocation data, achieving high levels of accuracy, as indicated by Cohen’s Kappa scores of 0.78 for GAC-6 and 0.90 for SDC-5. The annotation process leverages AI-driven techniques, including machine learning algorithms for automated dialect recognition and feature extraction, to enhance the granularity and precision of the data. These resources significantly contribute to the field of Arabic dialectology and facilitate the development of AI algorithms for linguistic data analysis, enhancing AI system design and efficiency. The data provided by this research are crucial for advancing AI methodologies, supporting diverse applications in the realm of next-generation AI technologies.

Dynamic acoustic vowel distances within and across dialects.

Vowels vary in their acoustic similarity across regional dialects of American English, such that some vowels are more similar to one another in some dialects than others. Acoustic vowel distance measures typically evaluate vowel similarity at a discrete time point, resulting in distance estimates that may not fully capture vowel similarity in formant trajectory dynamics. In the current study, language and accent distance measures, which evaluate acoustic distances between talkers over time, were applied to the evaluation of vowel category similarity within talkers. These vowel category distances were then compared across dialects, and their utility in capturing predicted patterns of regional dialect variation in American English was examined. Dynamic time warping of mel-frequency cepstral coefficients was used to assess acoustic distance across the frequency spectrum and captured predicted Southern American English vowel similarity. Root-mean-square distance and generalized additive mixed models were used to assess acoustic distance for selected formant trajectories and captured predicted Southern, New England, and Northern American English vowel similarity. Generalized additive mixed models captured the most predicted variation, but, unlike the other measures, do not return a single acoustic distance value. All three measures are potentially useful for understanding variation in vowel category similarity across dialects.

Whistling in alveolar fricatives: Evidence from two speech modes

The tongue constriction observed in alveolar fricatives, forming an unstable jet and boundary layer at the teeth, can be accompanied by a front cavity feedback mechanism that reinforces this instability, generating a narrow-bandwidth peak as observed in whistling. This study presents new evidence of a generalised use of this mechanism in speech, based on acoustic recordings of eight female speakers from the same dialectal region in Portugal. Sustained fricatives /s, z/, six disyllabic words, six sentences and a phonetically balanced text, were produced in voiced and whispered speech modes. Variation of the multitaper Power Spectral Density of not whistled/ whistled fricative pairs was assessed using Functional Principal Component Analysis. The first of two principal components explained 93.3% of the /s/ variance and 90.4% of the /z/ variance. Results also revealed the following regarding the first shape descriptor used to model the curves: /s/ – sd = 969.55, R2 = 0.170, p = 0.000, /z/ – sd = 931.41, R2 = 0.105, p = 0.000; and the second shape descriptor: /s/ – sd = 257.32, R2 = 0.009, p = 0.248, /z/ – sd = 299.57, R2 = 0.051, p = 0.007. Whistled fricatives were observed both in voiced and whispered speech, so this does not seem to be a mechanism used to compensate for a weaker source strength as typically observed in whispered speech. Nevertheless, reconstructed not whistled/whistled curve pairs were significantly different.

Can the Match Between Social Media Influencer’s Accent and Brand Personality shape Brand Attitudes? A Stereotype Theory and the Construal Level Theory Perspective

This study investigates the interaction effect of influencers’ regional accents and restaurant brand personality on brand attitudes, utilizing the underlying premises of the stereotype theory and the construal level theory. Four experimental studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of different regional accents of social media influencers on brand attitudes, as well as to examine the mediating role of processing fluency and the moderating role of psychological distance. Findings demonstrate that when a southern-accented (vs. northern-accented) Chinese influencer is matched with a sophisticated (vs. rugged) restaurant brand, consumers have higher processing fluency, which causes a more positive brand attitude. Findings further demonstrate the moderating effect of psychological distance. Closer (vs. farther) psychological distance results in a more positive effect of the interaction between influencer regional accent and restaurant brand personality on brand attitudes. Findings will enrich the knowledge on consumer psychology and behavior in the hospitality and tourism field.

Attitudes and Perceptions of Language Varieties: A Case Study of Ekegusii Dialects in Kisii County

Purpose: The size of the territory considered to be home for speakers of Ekegusii in Kenya is about 2230 square kilometres. The sheer size of the territory and also compounded by the fact that the terrain is mountainous makes contact between people from extreme ends of the territory a rare occurrence. Methodology: This state of affairs contributes a great deal to the birth of regional dialects. Ekegusii has two notable regional dialects; Maate and Rogoro. This paper examines the attitudes and perceptions of speakers of the two varieties of the language as reflected in their speech behaviours. The study employed Language Use and Attitude Questionnaire (LUAQ) by Fishman (1965) to elicit attitudes and perceptions of speakers towards their dialect and that of the others. Findings: It emerged that there is disparity in the treatment and perception of the dialects; Rogoro dialect speakers are favourably treated and their dialect is perceived to be superior to Maate dialect. The situation is attributed to the immense institutional support Rogoro dialect enjoys from the mainstream community. Unique Contribution to theory, practice and policy: Thus, it has a strong network of speakers in a vast area as opposed to Maate dialect which is prevalent in South Mugirango only, a small portion of the entire territory. Speakers of Maate dialect do not perceive their variety as being any lesser but are aware of the preferential bias accorded to Rogoro dialect at the expense of theirs. The bias is manifested in, among other instances, distribution of limited resources such as government jobs and opportunities for social mobility in the region where the two dialects are spoken.

CHASTUSHKA AS A TEXT OF RUSSIAN FOLKLORE LINGUISTICS

Chastushka is a traditional form of Russian folk poetry that encapsulates humor, social commentary, and cultural reflection in a compact verse structure. This study delves into the historical origins and evolution of chastushka, examining its significance in Russian culture. We explore the linguistic features that define chastushka, including its rhyme schemes, rhythm, and use of colloquial language, which offer insights into regional dialects and the socio-linguistic landscape of Russia. The performance aspect of chastushka is also analyzed, highlighting its role in communal gatherings and celebrations, where spontaneity and audience interaction contribute to its enduring popularity. By investigating thematic elements such as love, daily life, and political satire, the research illustrates how chastushka serves as both entertainment and a medium for social reflection. This article underscores the importance of chastushka in understanding not only Russian folklore but also the dynamic relationship between language and culture. Through a comprehensive analysis, this study aims to contribute to the field of folklore linguistics and foster appreciation for this rich cultural tradition.

A Study of the Regional Characteristics of Liu Xiaogeng's Choral Music Works

Background and Aim: This article takes the regional characteristics of Liu Xiaogeng's choral music works as the main research subject, aiming to sort out the regional music characteristics and regional performance characteristics of Liu Xiaogeng's choral music works, to better guide the creation of contemporary Chinese choral music works. Materials and Methods: The research method of this thesis is mainly the literature analysis method and qualitative analysis method. The literature analysis method is mainly used to collect and sort out the information about Liu Xiaogeng's choral music works, which mainly comes from China Knowledge Network, Yunnan Provincial Library, Yunnan Provincial Museum of Literature and Art, the Internet, publishers, and purchased books. The qualitative analysis method is mainly used to screen the regional dialect characteristics, regional music style characteristics, regional music theme characteristics, and regional music cultural characteristics used in the relevant literature to classify the categories. Results: The main purpose of the study is to refine and summarise the regional characteristics of Liu Xiaogeng's choral music works, which include four aspects, namely, regional dialect characteristics, regional music style characteristics, regional music theme characteristics, and regional music cultural characteristics. Conclusion: Liu Xiaoqeng composes his works with the regional dialect liner notes, folk songs, or ditties of Yunnan Province as his main materials. These dialect liner notes, folk songs, or ditties have very different regional language characteristics and distinctive modal music styles. It is these characteristics that make Liu Xiaogeng's choral music works have distinctive regional characteristics.