Accent Production Research Articles

Playing With Fire Compounds: The Tonal Accents of Compounds in (North) Norwegian Preschoolers' Role-Play Register.

Prosodic features are some of the most salient features of dialect variation in Norway. It is therefore no wonder that the switch in prosodic systems is what is first recognized by caretakers and scholars when Norwegian children code-switch to something resembling the dialect of the capital (henceforth Urban East Norwegian, UEN) in role-play. With a focus on the system of lexical tonal accents, this paper investigates the spontaneous speech of North Norwegian children engaging in peer social role-play. By investigating F0 contours extracted from a corpus of spontaneous peer play, and comparing them with elicited baseline reference contours, this paper makes the case that children fail to apply the target tonal accent consistent with UEN in compounds in role-play, although the production of tonal accents otherwise seems to be phonetically target like UEN. Put in other words, they perform in accordance with UEN phonetics, but not UEN morpho-phonology.

Acoustic Identification of Sentence Accent in Speakers with Dysarthria: Cross-Population Validation and Severity Related Patterns.

Dysprosody is a hallmark of dysarthria, which can affect the intelligibility and naturalness of speech. This includes sentence accent, which helps to draw listeners’ attention to important information in the message. Although some studies have investigated this feature, we currently lack properly validated automated procedures that can distinguish between subtle performance differences observed across speakers with dysarthria. This study aims for cross-population validation of a set of acoustic features that have previously been shown to correlate with sentence accent. In addition, the impact of dysarthria severity levels on sentence accent production is investigated. Two groups of adults were analysed (Dutch and English speakers). Fifty-eight participants with dysarthria and 30 healthy control participants (HCP) produced sentences with varying accent positions. All speech samples were evaluated perceptually and analysed acoustically with an algorithm that extracts ten meaningful prosodic features and allows a classification between accented and unaccented syllables based on a linear combination of these parameters. The data were statistically analysed using discriminant analysis. Within the Dutch and English dysarthric population, the algorithm correctly identified 82.8 and 91.9% of the accented target syllables, respectively, indicating that the capacity to discriminate between accented and unaccented syllables in a sentence is consistent with perceptual impressions. Moreover, different strategies for accent production across dysarthria severity levels could be demonstrated, which is an important step toward a better understanding of the nature of the deficit and the automatic classification of dysarthria severity using prosodic features.

Pitch accent disorder observed in a Japanese patient due to traumatic head injury

ABSTRACT Background Suprasegmental features are often affected by brain damage, and are typically accompanied by motor speech disorders such as dysarthria, apraxia of speech (AOS), and foreign accent syndrome (FAS). However, there is no report of a selective pitch accent disorder without motor speech impairments or FAS. Aims We describe a female Japanese patient who developed a selective pitch accent disorder without motor speech impairments or FAS, with accompanying mild Wernicke’s aphasia due to head injury, in order to investigate the mechanism of pitch accent disorder based on speech production models. Methods & Procedures We analysed her spontaneous speech, confrontation naming, repetition, reading aloud, and the error patterns in her pitch accents in two sessions. Additionally, we gave her a reading aloud test of homonyms with different accent patterns and an auditory discrimination task of pitch accents. Outcomes & Results The patient exhibited a significant recovery from aphasia, and paraphasia was observed to almost disappear, although the pitch accent errors remained in all speech modalities. While she was able to auditorily distinguish between correct and incorrect pitch accents, she was unaware of her own abnormally accented speech. The results of the analysis of the error patterns in her pitch accents revealed that they, even if incorrect for the selected words, did not actually deviate from the correct patterns in the Osaka dialect, her native dialect. Conclusions Our observations suggest that the process of pitch accent production may be independent of that of phoneme production. Moreover, it may be that her accent abnormalities were not produced randomly during the process of articulation, but instead may have been due to a problem in selecting pitch accent patterns from the repertoire of Osaka accent patterns allocated to the corresponding words. This suggests that the patient’s pitch accent disorder was a problem in a higher level of linguistic processing, i.e., lexical pitch accent encoding, rather than the motor control of speech production.

Accuracy and Stability in English Speakers' Production of Japanese Pitch Accent.

Standard Japanese uses pitch accent to distinguish words such as initially-accented hashi “chopsticks” and finally-accented hashi “bridge.” Research on the second language acquisition of pitch accent shows considerable variation: in accuracy scores in identification, in different dominant accent types in production, and in the unstable accent types of repeated words. This study investigates pitch accent production in English-speaking learners of Japanese, asking how accuracy and stability vary (a) with amount of Japanese experience and (b) between learners. Two groups of learners (13 less experienced; 8 more experienced) produced 180 words in three contexts (e.g., ame “rain,” ame da “it’s rain,” and ame ga furu “rain falls”). Three Japanese phoneticians identified the accent types of the words that the learners produced. The results showed no difference in accuracy or stability between the two groups and little inter-learner variation in accuracy: all had low accuracy. Although some learners had relatively high stability, they did not maintain accent type contrasts across contexts. These results suggest that first language English speakers do not encode pitch accent in long-term memory, raising questions for future research and language teaching.

Acoustic features to characterize sentence accent production in dysarthric speech

This study investigated acoustic features and prosodic strategies used by both healthy speakers and speakers with dysarthria, to produce a perceptually-detectable sentence accent. Accordingly, 80 adult speakers (50 with a speech impairment) were asked to produce 3 pairs of sentences with different accent positions. All speech samples were perceptually judged by three experts, and were acoustically analyzed. The fundamental frequency, intensity, and duration were not only analyzed within the syllable, but also in contrast with the previous syllable, and in contrast with the entire sentence. These features were used as input for a linear discriminant analysis. This newly-developed acoustic approach reveals that healthy speakers mainly rely on the following features to produce a perceptually-detectable accent: a change in frequency within the target syllable, with a simultaneous increase of intensity and contrast in the frequency between the target syllable and the previous syllable. Speakers with dysarthria mainly use the contrast in frequency and intensity between the target syllable and the previous syllable, rather than the contrasting with the rest of the sentence. They also use durational parameters as an element in prosodic accent production. Although both groups use some common features, they differ significantly (p < 0.01) in the way they realize accent production. The results of this study show that sentence accent production in dysarthric speech can be adequately described by a set of acoustic features. Until now, such description in the literature was primarily based on perceptual evaluations. The current approach may assist in objective assessments and more appropriate therapy methods.

Acoustic features to characterize sentence accent production in dysarthric speech

Acoustic features to characterize sentence accent production in dysarthric speech

Detecting Foreign Accents in Song

This paper presents three experiments exploring the perception and production of accents in song. In a perception experiment, participants listened to passages sung and spoken by native and non-native speakers of English. The participants did better at identifying native speakers when listening to the spoken passages. Accents were also judged as more native-like in song than in speech. In addition, two production experiments compared the acoustic characteristics (pitch, duration, F1 and F2) of sung and spoken vowels, produced by native and non-native speakers of English. Both native and non-native speakers changed the pitch and duration of their vowels when singing; the vowel quality was not consistently shifted. Together, the results indicate that the melody imposed by the song impacts the suprasegmental properties of pronunciation whereas the segmental properties remain largely intact. Based on these results, we conclude that a main reason why accents are more difficult to detect in song than in speech is that the rhythm and melody imposed by the song mask intonational cues to accent.

Phonological and grammatical production in children with developmental language disorder and children with hearing impairment

Children with hearing impairment (HI) are at an increased risk of developing speech and language problems similar to those of children with developmental language disorder (DLD), including difficulties with phonology and grammar. This study investigated similarities and differences in phonological and grammatical production between children with bilateral sensorineural HI ( n = 14) and children with DLD ( n = 30) between 4-6 years of age and age-matched controls with typical language development and normal hearing (TLD) ( n = 29), all with Swedish as their first language. Production of consonants, vowels, stress patterns and tonal word accents was assessed in a picture naming task, and in a word and nonword repetition task. Grammatical production was assessed for verb and noun morphology, and syntax. While performance for both children with HI and DLD were generally significantly below that of the controls with TLD, production of accents and syntax emerged as relative strengths. There were few differences between the between the children with HI and DLD, but noun–adjective agreement in predicative was more challenging for the children with HI. The results have implications for language assessment and planning of intervention.

Production and reproduction of Japanese pitch-accent by German, Italian, Vietnam, and Swahili speakers

Japanese pitch accent is lexically distinctive. JFL learners should know the position of the accent to pronounce the words correctly, which is said to be very difficult. In our experiment, we investigate the effectiveness of showing the accent mark to help learners’ pronunciations. We compared the ability of perception, production and reproduction of pitch accent by JFLs of four different languages. 42 Japanese words were presented on a PC screen and 30 subjects participated in three tasks of the experiments. Task 1 was to pronounce the words without any suggestion, task 2 was to imitate the model pronunciation with seeing the accent marks. Task 3 was to pronounce by just seeing the accent marks. The results of task 1 show the percentage of correct accent position was only around 40%, but it rose up to around 90 % in task 2 and fell again in task 3 but still significantly higher than in task 1. The results of task 1 showed different patterns of phonetic interference, task 2 showed that the subjects could ...

Learning to Comprehend Foreign‐Accented Speech by Means of Production and Listening Training

The effects of production and listening training on the subsequent comprehension of foreign‐accented speech were investigated in a training‐test paradigm. During training, German nonnative (L2) and English native (L1) participants listened to a story spoken by a German speaker who replaced all English /θ/s with /t/ (e.g., *teft for theft) or they produced the story themselves with the t‐substitutes. During test, participants made auditory lexical decisions to English words with t‐substitutes. L2 participants’ reaction times to words from the training were significantly faster after having produced the story than after no training; having listened to the short story also resulted in faster reaction times, but less strongly so. For L1 participants, the facilitatory effect of training did not differ significantly between production and listening training. Thus, only for L2 participants, the effect of accent production for adaptation was superior to accent listening.

Functional foreign accent syndrome

Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is a rare disorder where the affected person speaks in an accent that the listener perceives as foreign. Although most cases have left hemisphere lesions, some...

On Voice-onset Time as a Cue to Foreign Accent in Spanish: Native and Nonnative Perceptions

Although previous research has documented the relationship between voice-onset time (VOT) and the production of foreign accent in English and Spanish, less is known about the role of this cue in perception. VOT refers to the aspiration that occurs between the release of a stop consonant and the beginning of the following segment. In Spanish and English, voiceless stop VOTs differ cross-linguistically in the duration of the aspiration. This study presents a quantitative analysis of VOT as it is associated with the degree of foreign accent perceived by 26 native speakers of Spanish and 160 native English speakers learning Spanish. The results show that both listener groups perceived and used VOT duration differences in their judgments of degree of foreign accent in Spanish, although nonnative listeners’ assessments varied according to their course enrollment. The findings suggest that language learners have a concept of what constitutes native-like Spanish and native-like VOTs in Spanish, information that they draw on in judging foreign accent. These results have implications for language instructors and adult language learners as well.

United States accents compared: The relation of acoustic distances and perceptual tasks

This project investigates correlations between accent production and perception by comparing two sets of data: acoustic distances of American dialectal speech samples, measured using Euclidean distances of each vocalic stimuli's first three formants across a trajectory, and perceptual data in the form of online survey material and EEG tests which judge the differences between the same varieties. The speech samples used consist of six sentences from eight regions of the United States; each sentence containing phonological features that may be marked as perceptually relevant for dialect classification. Here, we examine the preliminary outcomes from such perceptual tests performed by naive listeners, which include free classification, identification, perceived difference and ranking similarity, as well as attitude judgment tasks. Additionally, EEG tests were carried out to evaluate the relation between acoustic distance of accents and ERPs. Of special interest here is the relation between a non-regionally sp...

Difficulties of Pronunciation of Slovenian Speakers in Learning Italian Language

Phonetics plays an important role in the field of language teaching since it not only facilitates the development of an accurate and conscious pronunciation but is also helpful to the teacher as it prevents the pronunciation difficulties students might encounter. The aim of this article is to find an answer to the question why Slovenian speakers learning Italian experience particular phonetic and phonological difficulties. The theoretical part presents the orthoepic situation of Slovenian and Italian, a brief phonetic and phonological analysis of the two languages with the description of speech sounds and their production, the position and function of accent, as well as some phonetic and phonological phenomena of Italian and Slovenian languages. The practical part consists of an analysis of audio recordings of three Slovenian speakers with the aim of identifying possible major difficulties.Key words: phonetics, phonology, pronunciation, Italian, Slovenian

German pitches in English: Production and perception of cross-varietal differences in L2

The present study examines the effect of cross-varietal prosodic characteristics of two German varieties, Northern Standard German (NG) and Swiss German (SG), on the production and perception of foreign accent in L2 Belfast English. The analysis of production data revealed differences in the realisation of nuclear pitch accents in L1 German and L2 English produced by the two groups of speakers. Foreign accent ratings of L2 English sentences produced by NG speakers with no or extensive experience, native Belfast English speakers and SG speakers were obtained from native Belfast English listeners. The findings showed that segmental and prosodic characteristics play a role in the perception of foreign accent. In addition, they can be more similar across languages than across varieties of the same language. This in turn affects which and how cross-varietal differences in L1 impact on the degree of perceived foreign accentedness. The results are consistent with a usage-based account.

Production and Perception of Japanese Accents by Korean Speakers

Production and Perception of Japanese Accents by Korean Speakers

Foreign accent production and perception: An acoustic analysis of non-native Japanese

What are the characteristics of non-native speech and what contributes to the perception of foreign accent by native speakers? In this study, two experiments are conducted to characterize the acoustic features of non-native Japanese production and to examine how these non-native features influence native Japanese perception of foreign accent. In the production experiment, stop consonants and vowel formants were compared between native Japanese speakers and English speakers with 2 and 4 yr of Japanese instruction. The second experiment examines native listener judgments of foreign accent using a visual analog scale. Preliminary analysis reveals that in both stop consonant and vowel production, learners vary considerably from native speakers, specifically in the production of /k/ and /t/ voice onset time, F1 of /e/, and F2 of /u/ and /i/. These features are correlated with judgment ratings by native Japanese listeners. The findings reveal that even after significant experience in the L2 classroom, speakers still struggle to achieve native-like production of various segments, offering insight into specific problem areas which native English speakers might encounter when learning Japanese pronunciation.

The Effect of Word Accent Production on Reading Performance in Japanese Young Children

Various studies have shown that dyslexics have difficulty in the perception and production of suprasegmental aspects. Word accent is considered to be a part of suprasegmental phonology. It is reported that both the children with a familial risk of dyslexia and those diagnosed with dyslexia showed more difficulty with word stress production in Dutch. In addition, the characteristics of dyslexia have been said to be similar to those in early reading. As a result, it is expected that children in early stages of reading would also have difficulty in word accent production. However, there have been few studies on the effect of word accent production on reading performance in Japanese, a language with a pitch accent. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether Japanese children with poor reading skills would show more difficulty with the production of word accent than those with proficient reading skills. The participants were 49 children from the ages of 5;0 to 6;7. The stimuli were nonfamiliar threesyllable words. A reading task and a word accent production task were used. In the reading task, children were asked to read each word as fast as possible. In the word accent production task, identical stimulus words were presented with three types of accent patterns: nonaccented, firstsyllable accented, and second-syllable accented. The participants were required to repeat them aloud. The results were as follows: In the reading task, the participants were divided into two groups; the letter-by-letter group and the fluent group. In the word accent production task, the mean number of words repeated correctly in the letter-by-letter group was lower than that of the fluent group for all types of accent patterns. In addition, a significant difference was observed between not only the nonaccented words and the first-syllable accented words, but also between the firstsyllable accented and the second-syllable accented for the letter-by-letter group. Meanwhile, for the fluent group, no significant difference was observed between the nonaccented and first-syllable accented words. These results suggest that the letter-by-letter group experience more difficulty with word accent production and are more strongly affected by the accent patterns than the fluent group.

Ideomotor effects of pitch on continuation tapping

The ideomotor principle predicts that perception will modulate action where overlap exists between perceptual and motor representations of action. This effect is demonstrated with auditory stimuli. Previous perceptual evidence suggests that pitch contour and pitch distance in tone sequences may elicit tonal motion effects consistent with listeners' implicit awareness of the lawful dynamics of locomotive bodies. To examine modulating effects of perception on action, participants in a continuation tapping task produced a steady tempo. Auditory tones were triggered by each tap. Pitch contour randomly and persistently varied within trials. Pitch distance between successive tones varied between trials. Although participants were instructed to ignore them, tones systematically affected finger dynamics and timing. Where pitch contour implied positive acceleration, the following tap and the intertap interval (ITI) that it completed were faster. Where pitch contour implied negative acceleration, the following tap and the ITI that it completed were slower. Tempo was faster with greater pitch distance. Musical training did not predict the magnitude of these effects. There were no generalized effects on timing variability. Pitch contour findings demonstrate how tonal motion may elicit the spontaneous production of accents found in expressive music performance.

Individual and Dialectal Differences in Production and Perception of Japanese Accent

Individual and Dialectal Differences in Production and Perception of Japanese Accent