True Speech Research Articles

Assessing Speech Production in Mandarin–English Bilingual Children: Comparison of Mandarin and English Sound Systems and Special Considerations

Purpose: When assessing bilingual children's speech, it is important to determine whether the errors are indicative of a true speech sound disorder or a speech sound difference. The purpose of this tutorial is to provide cultural and linguistic background of Mandarin in comparison to English and to outline the process of speech production assessment for Mandarin–English bilingual children. Method: Pertinent literature was reviewed around varieties of Chinese, unique features of the Mandarin sound system, commonly used transcription methods (International Phonetic Alphabet and Pinyin ), and patterns of Mandarin-influenced English. Previous research findings on the acquisition of consonants, vowels, and tones in monolingual Mandarin-speaking children were summarized. Results: The assessment process including consonants, vowels, tones, syllable structures, and lexical stress was described and illustrated with flow charts. Recourses related to cultural and linguistic information of Mandarin and accessible assessment materials are referenced. Conclusions: A thorough knowledge of a child's language background is crucial in planning assessment of speech production for Mandarin–English bilingual children. A comparative understanding of the sound systems of Mandarin and English facilitates clinical decision making.

The Efficacy of True Speech Gorgias Between Rorty and Foucault

According to a widespread interpretation, in Gorgias’ philosophy of language there is no room for truth at all. The only aim of logos for him would be effective persuasion and speech would be constrained by nothing but persuasiveness itself. Referring to Encomium of Helen, I try to point out, however, that in Gorgias there is an attempt to investigate the complex relationship between truth and efficacy in the functioning of language. I also suggest that, seen from this perspective, Gorgias’ conception of truth shows significant points of contact with Rorty’s and, above all, Foucault’s thinking.

Key technology of brain-computer interaction based on speech imagery

Speech expression is an important high-level cognitive behavior of human beings. The realization of this behavior is closely related to human brain activity. Both true speech expression and speech imagination can activate part of the same brain area. Therefore, speech imagery becomes a new paradigm of brain-computer interaction. Brain-computer interface (BCI) based on speech imagery has the advantages of spontaneous generation, no training, and friendliness to subjects, so it has attracted the attention of many scholars. However, this interactive technology is not mature in the design of experimental paradigms and the choice of imagination materials, and there are many issues that need to be discussed urgently. Therefore, in response to these problems, this article first expounds the neural mechanism of speech imagery. Then, by reviewing the previous BCI research of speech imagery, the mainstream methods and core technologies of experimental paradigm, imagination materials, data processing and so on are systematically analyzed. Finally, the key problems and main challenges that restrict the development of this type of BCI are discussed. And the future development and application perspective of the speech imaginary BCI system are prospected.

Psychoanalysis, the Sufi, and the Story

Psychoanalysis, the Sufi, and the Story

Against the Existential Reading of Euthydemus 283e-284c, with Help from the Sophist

I argue that the fallacy concerning false speech (283e-284c) in Plato’s Euthydemus does not entail conflation of the alleged existential and veridical senses of ‘einai’ (‘to be’), but instead confusion regarding predicative statements. I consider this passage by advancing interpretations of nonbeing and the structure of true and false speech in the Sophist. I aim to refute those who hold that this passage demands an ‘existential’ sense of ‘einai ’ by offering a more Platonic interpretation.

Improved Speech Enhancement Considering Speech PSD Uncertainty

Speech enhancement based on statistical models has been studied for several decades. Recently, the speech enhancement adopting a speech power spectral density (PSD) uncertainty model has been proposed. This approach distinguishes the true speech PSD from its estimate and considers both as random variables. It incorporates a prior distribution of speech spectra and speech PSD estimators to derive the PSD uncertainty-aware counterpart to conventional clean speech estimators, which results in performance improvement. However, the speech PSD uncertainty model has not yet been adopted for parameter estimations such as <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"><?TeX $\mathit{a posteriori}$?></tex-math></inline-formula> speech presence probability, noise PSD, and speech power spectra estimations in the speech enhancement framework. In this paper, we incorporate the speech PSD uncertainty model to all the components of the statistical model-based speech enhancement framework by deriving PSD uncertainty-aware counterparts to conventional parameter estimators. Specifically, we derive the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"><?TeX $\mathit{a posteriori}$?></tex-math></inline-formula> speech presence probability (SPP) where the likelihood function for each hypothesis is based on the speech PSD uncertainty. With this <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"><?TeX $\mathit{a posteriori}$?></tex-math></inline-formula> SPP, a novel SPP-based noise PSD estimator is derived. Also, we derive the minimum mean-square error (MMSE) estimator for the power spectrum of the clean speech in the current frame under speech PSD uncertainty which is exploited to refine the speech PSD estimator. Finally, the refined speech PSD estimator is incorporated into the spectral gain function based on the speech PSD uncertainty model. The proposed approach showed improved noise PSD estimation performance in terms of the averaged logarithmic error distance, and improved speech enhancement performance in terms of the noise reduction, segmental signal-to-noise ratio, perceptual evaluation of speech quality (PESQ) scores and short-time objective intelligibility in our experiments. It also exhibited comparable performance with a real-time deep learning-based speech enhancement system in terms of the PESQ scores and composite measures for the VoiceBank-DEMAND dataset.

Политические импликации философской парресии в поздних лекциях Мишеля Фуко: генеалогия критики и реальность философии

The concept of parrhesia (free, true and courageous speech) is central to Michel Foucault’s last lecture courses. In this “late” period of his scientific career, the French philosopher started a thorough analysis of the ancient and early Christian sources with the aim to construct a detailed genealogy of the two phenomena that played a crucial role in the Western history — the genealogy of subjectivity and the genealogy of the “critical tradition” in philosophy. In order to analyze the latter, during the lecture course “The Government of Self and Others” (1982—1983), Foucault turned to the texts of Plato, which he considered foundational for the philosophical practices of veridiction in the West. The Platonic paradigm presents philosophy with a number of fundamental tasks, the main of which is the task of constantly testing the reality and seriousness — testing the words (logos) through the deeds and practices (ergon). Foucault postulates that in the modern philosophy this test invariably results in a certain attitude towards politics and power, which assumes rejection of the direct participation in political affairs, constant criticism of our mistakes and misconceptions, the search for and revelation of ways, in which we, as subjects, are able to change ourselves. In this article, the authors attempt to shed light on the genealogical significance of Foucault’s concept of parrhesia and its relationship to the modern philosophy; present the classification of parrhesia (on the basis of Foucault’s lectures) that allows to identify political and philosophical dimensions of this phenomenon and their different modalities, as well as review in a holistic way the Platonic philosophical parrhesia and consider the problem of its complex relationship with politics, which becomes especially acute when the “reality of philosophy” is being tested.

Parmenides on ‘naming’ and ‘meaning’: a disjunctivist reading of the Poem

AbstractA well-established tradition has argued that it is not legitimate to attribute to Parmenides a Fregean semantics, i.e. the distinction between ‘naming’ and ‘meaning’. Nonetheless, Parmenides claims more than once (B 8.53, B 9.1) that mortalsdo namereality, although incorrectly. As many scholars have emphasised, because it is fair neither to conclude that mortals’ names are ‘empty names’ nor dismiss Opinion's account (i.e., broadly speaking, the mortals’ account of reality) itself as meaningless, it seems that Parmenides is suggesting that some kind of distinction between what names refer to and what names mean must be drawn. In view of this, what is Parmenides’ account of names?My suggestion is that in order to explain the Eleatic philosophy of language (and the Eleatic account of names) a step back is required. More specifically, Parmenides’ epistemology has to be taken into account. Indeed, if we assume that Parmenides is arguing for an ‘epistemological disjunctivism’ – such that the veridical and truthful state and the erroneous and deceptive state are essentially different – it will be clear that he is further arguing for what could be defined as a ‘semantic disjunctivism’, so that true speech and false speech are essentially different as well.

Using Spasmodic Closure Patterns to Simplify Visual Voice Activity Detection

While speaking, humans exhibit a number of recognizable patterns; most notably, the repetitive nature of mouth movement from closed to open. The following paper presents a novel method to computationally determine when video data contains a person speaking through the recognition and tally of lip facial closures within a given interval. A combination of Haar-Feature detection and eigenvectors are used to recognize when a target individual is present, but by detecting and quantifying spasmodic lip movements and comparing them to the ranges seen in true positives, we are able to predict when true speech occurs without the need for complex facial mappings. Although the results are within a reasonable accuracy range when compared to current methods, the comprehensibility and simple nature of the approach used can reduce the strenuousness of current techniques and, if paired with synchronous audio recognition methods, can streamline the future of voice activity detection as a whole.

Writing precariously: branching narratives, command, and fictive agency in risk society

ABSTRACT Contemporary risk society has caused many creative practitioners to question the role, effect, and potential of their practice. In seeking to find a means by which creative writing can do something in the real world, this article examines the use of directive speech acts – such as commands, requests, and invitations – in print and digital branching narratives and choose-your-own-adventure texts. I focus on The Throne of Zeus, Depression Quest, and Queers in Love at the End of the World, investigating both standard directives and what I classify as ‘latent’ directives: commands ‘hidden’ within the text, taking forms such as styled hyperlinks and typographical notes and citations. Deploying Aarseth’s definitions of ergodic literature, DelConte’s concept of partially-coincident narration, and Juul’s ludological theory of the half-real, I find that the directives featured in these texts step beyond their fictional context, operating as true speech acts within our stretched-out present and collapsed temporal horizon, thereby strengthening the texts’ overall illocutionary goal. These texts speak to and of the precarity of our present time, embodying – and allowing a reader to embody – lived experiences of extended nows, and allowing us to take control in acting towards a present-to-be.

Diplomatic Parrhesia and the Ethos of Trustworthiness in Hotman’s The Ambassador and Shakespeare’s Henry V

Sir Henry Wotton’s definition of an ambassador as “an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country” should be confronted with his later assessment that the ambassador “should alwayes, and upon all occasions speak the truth … ’twill also put [his] Adversaries (who will still hunt counter) to a loss in all their disquisitions, and undertakings.” Wotton’s contrasting views point to the early modern concern with true, bold, and plain speech, known as parrhesia, and its importance in diplomatic practice. Combining Quentin Skinner’s rhetorical approach to political language and Timothy Hampton’s literary analysis of diplomacy, this essay examines Shakespeare’s mirror of diplomatic speech featured in Henry V (ca. 1599) in light of Jean Hotman’s reflections on parrhesia in The Ambassador (1603). Analyzing theoretical and dramatic views of parrhesiastic speech in early modern diplomacy, the essay argues for diplomatic parrhesia as a matter of trustworthiness rather than sincerity. Shakespeare introduces a new perspective on the ambassador’s speech and its function and on the capacity of authorities to hear truthful speech, while reasserting the political necessity of good parrhesia.

Developing Evidence-Based Assessment to Prevent Over- or Underidentification of Disorders for New Language Learners

Purpose The purpose of this review article is to present certain linguistic domains to consider in the assessment of children learning a new language. Speech-language pathologists frequently face difficulty when determining if a bilingual or multilingual child possesses a true speech or language disorder. Given the increased number of new language learners across the world, clinicians must understand differences versus disorders to prevent underidentification or overidentification of a disorder. Conclusions Early identification of a true disorder has been shown to prevent language and literacy difficulties, given that children are able to achieve grade-level reading skills when given intervention. Clinical knowledge and skills are strongly required so that children receive evidence-based assessment to support their academic development. Learning Goal Readers will gain an understanding of the factors that support evidence-based assessment of bilingual and multilingual language learners.

La epimeleia y la parrhesía: un estilo de existencia, un decir verdadero. Resistencia y ejercicio de la libertad en nuestra actualidad

Este artículo ofrece algunas reflexiones que establecen el hilo conductor que existe entre el “cuidado de sí” y el “hablar franco”. Michel Foucault ve en el “cuidado de sí” y en el “hablar franco” la condición de posibilidad de configurar otro modo de ser sujeto y, por tanto, devenir de otra manera. En consecuencia, la estilización de la existencia, esto es, el trabajo que el sujeto realiza sobre sí mismo, debe ser complementado y ampliado mediante el discurso veraz, conditio sine qua non es imposible resistir u oponerse a las tecnologías políticas que producen modos de existencia. En efecto, el propósito de las tecnologías políticas es la autorregulación de los sujetos, influir en sus deseos, esperanzas, decisiones, necesidades y estilos de vida conobjetivos gubernamentales fijados con anterioridad.

Trade Marks and Cultural Identity

In a 2017 decision, the United States Supreme Court held that constitutional commitments to free expression barred the Patent and Trademark Office from rejecting the registration of “The Slants” for an Asian rock band, even though the term is understood to disparage Asians. Because we do not agree with the Court’s view that true speech can always correct false speech, we argue that the US can learn from the ways in which New Zealand trademark jurisprudence protects cultural integrity while ensuring free speech. In so doing, we follow Sam Ricketson’s admonition that common law jurisdictions learn from one another.

Stenography and Literature: What did Western European and Russian Writers Master the Art of Shorthand Writing For?

What brings together Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, Vsevolod Krestovsky, Nikolai Chernyshevsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Аlexander Kuprin, George Bernard Shaw, and Аstrid Lindgren, i.e. writers from different countries and belonging to different epochs? In their creative work, they all used stenography, or rapid writing, permitting a person to listen to true speech and record it simultaneously.This paper discloses the role of stenography in literary activities of European and Russian writers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some researchers believe that the first ties between shorthand and literature appeared in the days of Shakespeare when the playwright's competitors used shorthand to put down the texts of his plays. Others have convincingly refuted this viewpoint, proving that such records never existed. The most famous English novelist in the 17th and 18th centuries Daniel Defoe can be considered one of the first writers who used shorthand in his literary work. The writers mastering the art of shorthand writing such as Defoe, Dickens, and Lindgren were popular in various professional spheres (among others, the secret service, journalism, and secretarial service) where they successfully applied their skills in shorthand writing.Stenography was an integral part of a creative process of the authors who resorted to it (Dostoevsky, Krestovsky, Shaw, and Lindgren). It economized their time and efforts, saved them from poverty and from the terms of enslavement stipulated in the contracts between writers and publishers. It is mainly thanks to stenography that their works became renowned all over the world. If Charles Dickens called himself “the best writer-stenographer” of the 19th century, F. M. Dostoevsky became a great admirer of the “high art” of shorthand. He was the second writer in Russia (following V. Krestovsky), who applied shorthand writing in his literary work but the only one in the world literature for whom stenography became something more than just shorthand. This art modified and enriched the model of his creative process not for a while but for life, and it had an influence on the poetics of his novels and the storyA Gentle Creature, and led to changes in the writer's private life. In the course of the years of the marriage of Dostoevsky and his stenographer Anna Snitkina, the author's artistic talent came to the peak. The largest and most important part of his literary writings was created in that period.As a matter of fact, having become the “photograph” of live speech two centuries ago, shorthand made a revolution in the world, and became art and science for people. However, its history did not turn to be everlasting. In the 21st century, the art of shorthand writing is on the edge of disappearing and in deep crisis. The author of the paper touches upon the problem of revival of social interest in stenography and its maintenance as an art. Archival collections in Europe and Russia contain numerous documents written in short-hand by means of various shorthand systems. If humanity does not study shorthand and loses the ability to read verbatim records, the content of these documents will be hidden for us forever.

Masters of Truth in the Middle-Earth: Perceiving the Worlds of Fantasy through the Lens of Detienne’s Theory

The essay analyzes the importance of true speech (as described in M. Detienne’s Les Maîtres de Vérité) in epic fantasy. Starting with J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, through Lyndon Hardy’s magical worlds, Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea and AnnMcCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series, speech carries an added value of truth, preserving and shaping the universe in turn – such understanding of privileged speech links modern fantasy literature to its ancient models (Homer or Hesiod).

“Taking the Risk of a True Speech”

“Taking the Risk of a True Speech”

Age-Related Changes in Objective and Subjective Speech Perception in Complex Listening Environments.

A frequent complaint by older adults is difficulty communicating in challenging acoustic environments. The purpose of this work was to review and summarize information about how speech perception in complex listening situations changes across the adult age range. This article provides a review of age-related changes in speech understanding in complex listening environments and summarizes results from several studies conducted in our laboratory. Both degree of high frequency hearing loss and cognitive test performance limit individuals' ability to understand speech in difficult listening situations as they age. The performance of middle-aged adults is similar to that of younger adults in the presence of noise maskers, but they experience substantially more difficulty when the masker is 1 or 2 competing speech messages. For the most part, middle-aged participants in studies conducted in our laboratory reported as much self-perceived hearing problems as did older adult participants. Research supports the multifactorial nature of listening in real-world environments. Current audiologic assessment practices are often insufficient to identify the true speech understanding struggles that individuals experience in these situations. This points to the importance of giving weight to patients' self-reported difficulties. http://cred.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=2601619.

Speech sound disorders or differences: Insights from bilingual children speaking two Chinese languages

The study investigated how Putonghua-Cantonese bilingual children differ from monolinguals in their acquisition of speech sound and phonological patterns. Fifty-four typically developing Putonghua-Cantonese bilingual children aged 3;6–6;0 were recruited from nurseries in the North District of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Cantonese Articulation Test (Cheung et al., 2006) and a Putonghua picture-naming task (Zhu & Dodd, 2000) were used to elicit single-word samples of both languages. Acquisition of speech sound and phonological patterns exhibited by ≥20% of the children in an age group were compared to the normative data on children who were Cantonese native or Putonghua monolingual speakers. The bilingual children demonstrated smaller sound inventory in both languages and more delayed and atypical phonological processes. The atypical patterns could be explained by phonological interference between Putonghua and Cantonese. The findings serve as a preliminary reference for clinicians in differentiating language difference from true speech sound disorders in Putonghua-Cantonese bilingual children in Hong Kong.

Gandhian Method of Conflict Resolution: Perception of Educated Youths

Gandhiji’s method of conflict resolution was based on truth and non-violence. Truth was for him the image of God. He did not believe in personal God. For Gandhi truth is God and God is truth. Life is a laboratory where experiments are carried on. That is why he named his autobiography “My Experiment with Truth”, without these experiments truth cannot be achieved. According to Gandhi, the sayings of a pure soul which possesses nonviolence, non-stealing, true speech, celibacy and non-possession is truth. The truth of Gandhiji was not confined to any country or community. In other words , his religion had no geographical limits. His patriotism was not different from the service of human beings but was its part and parcel(Mishra:102). Gandhiji developed an integral approach and perspective to the concept of life itself on the basis of experience and experiments. His ideas ,which came to be known to be his philosophy, were a part of his relentless search for truth(Iyer:270). The realization of this truth is possible only with the help of non-violence The negative concept of Ahimsa presupposes the absence of selfishness, jealousy and anger, but the positive conception of ahimsa demands the qualities of love ,liberalism, patience, resistance of injustice, and brutal force.