VOT merger in Heritage Korean in Toronto

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoonjung Kang ◽  
Naomi Nagy
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Sex Difference ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Korean Speakers ◽  
Internal Variation

AbstractKorean has a typologically unusual three-way laryngeal contrast in voiceless stops among aspirated, lenis, and fortis stops. Seoul Korean is undergoing a female-led sound change in which aspirated stops and lenis stops are merging in voice onset time (VOT) and are better distinguished by the F0 (fundamental frequency) of the following vowel than by their VOT, in younger speakers' speech. This paper compares the VOT pattern of Homeland (Seoul) and Heritage (Toronto) Korean speakers and finds that the same change is in progress in both. However, in the heritage variety, younger speakers do not advance the change, unlike their Seoul counterparts. Rather they have leveled off or are perhaps reversing the change, and there is very little sex difference among the younger heritage speakers' patterns. We consider possible accounts of the differences between the Seoul and Toronto patterns, building our understanding of how language-internal variation operates in bilingual speakers, a topic that has received relatively less attention in the variationist literature.

Effects of Sound Change on the Weighting of Acoustic Cues to the Three-Way Laryngeal Stop Contrast in Korean: Diachronic and Dialectal Comparisons

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyunjung Lee ◽  
Allard Jongman
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Dialectal Variation ◽  
Cue Weighting ◽  
Age Variation ◽  
Korean Stops

Both segmental and suprasegmental properties of the South Kyungsang dialect of Korean have changed under the influence of standard Seoul Korean. This study examines how such sound change affects acoustic cues to the three-way laryngeal contrast among Korean stops across Kyungsang generations through a comparison with Seoul Korean. Thirty-nine female Korean speakers differing in dialect (Kyungsang, Seoul) and age (older, younger) produced words varying in initial stops and lexical accent patterns, for which voice onset time and fundamental frequency (F0) at vowel onset were measured. This study first confirms previous findings regarding age and dialectal variation in distinguishing the three Korean stops. In addition, we report age variation in the use of voice onset time and F0 for the stops in Kyungsang Korean, with younger speakers using F0 more than older speakers as a cue to the stop distinction. This age variation is accounted for by the reduced lexical tonal properties of Kyungsang Korean and the increased influence of Seoul Korean. A comparison of the specific cue weighting across speaker groups also reveals that younger Kyungsang speakers pattern with Seoul speakers who arguably follow the enhancing F0 role of the innovative younger Seoul speakers. The shared cue weighting pattern across generations and dialects suggests that each speaker group changes the acoustic cue weighting in a similar direction.

scholarly journals VOICE ONSET TIME IN MULTILINGUAL SPEAKERS: ITALIAN HERITAGE SPEAKERS IN GERMANY WITH L3 ENGLISH

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Miriam Geiss ◽  
Sonja Gumbsheimer ◽  
Anika Lloyd-Smith ◽  
Svenja Schmid ◽  
Tanja Kupisch
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
L3 Acquisition ◽  
Crosslinguistic Influence

Abstract This study brings together two previously largely independent fields of multilingual language acquisition: heritage language and third language (L3) acquisition. We investigate the production of fortis and lenis stops in semi-naturalistic speech in the three languages of 20 heritage speakers (HSs) of Italian with German as a majority language and English as L3. The study aims to identify the extent to which the HSs produce distinct values across all three languages, or whether crosslinguistic influence (CLI) occurs. To this end, we compare the HSs’ voice onset time (VOT) values with those of L2 English speakers from Italy and Germany. The language triad exhibits overlapping and distinct VOT realizations, making VOT a potentially vulnerable category. Results indicate CLI from German into Italian, although a systemic difference is maintained. When speaking English, the HSs show an advantage over the Italian L2 control group, with less prevoicing and longer fortis stops, indicating a specific bilingual advantage.

Cross-Gender Differences in English/French Bilingual Speakers: A Multiparametric Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 003151252097351
Author(s):  
Erwan Pépiot ◽  
Aron Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Gender Difference ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Second Harmonic ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Intensity Difference ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Language And Gender ◽  
Vowel Formants ◽  
Back Vowel ◽  
And Gender

The present study concerns speech productions of female and male English/French bilingual speakers in both reading and semi-spontaneous speech tasks. We investigated various acoustic parameters: average fundamental sound frequency (F0), F0 range, F0 variance ( SD), vowel formants (F1, F2, and F3), voice onset time (VOT) and H1-H2 (intensity difference between the first and the second harmonic frequencies, used to measure phonation type) in both languages. Our results revealed a significant effect of gender and language on all parameters. Overall, average F0 was higher in French while F0 modulation was stronger in English. Regardless of language, female speakers exhibited higher F0 than male speakers. Moreover, the higher average F0 in French was larger in female speakers. On the other hand, the smaller F0 modulation in French was stronger in male speakers. The analysis of vowel formants showed that overall, female speakers exhibited higher values than males. However, we found a significant cross-gender difference on F2 of the back vowel [u:] in English, but not on the vowel [u] in French. VOT of voiceless stops was longer in Female speakers in both languages, with a greater difference in English. VOT contrast between voiceless stops and their voiced counterparts was also significantly longer in female speakers in both languages. The scope of this cross-gender difference was greater in English. H1-H2 was higher in female speakers in both languages, indicating a breathier phonation type. Furthermore, female speakers tended to exhibit smaller H1-H2 in French, while the opposite was true in males. This resulted in a smaller cross-gender difference in French for this parameter. All these data support the idea of language- and gender-specific vocal norms, to which bilingual speakers seem to adapt. This constitutes a further argument to give social factors, such as gender dynamics, more consideration in phonetic studies.

Stop consonant productions of Korean–English bilingual children

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUE ANN S. LEE ◽  
GREGORY K. IVERSON
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Stop Consonant ◽  
Developmental Period ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Stop Consonants ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
English Bilingual

The purpose of this study was to conduct an acoustic examination of the obstruent stops produced by Korean–English bilingual children in connection with the question of whether bilinguals establish distinct categories of speech sounds across languages. Stop productions were obtained from ninety children in two age ranges, five and ten years: thirty Korean–English bilinguals, thirty monolingual Koreans and thirty monolingual English speakers. Voice-Onset-Time (VOT) lag at word-initial stop and fundamental frequency (f0) in the following vowel (hereafter vowel-onset f0) were measured. The bilingual children showed different patterns of VOT in comparison to both English and Korean monolinguals, with longer VOT in their production of Korean stop consonants and shorter VOT for English. Moreover, the ten-year-old bilinguals distinguished all stop categories using both VOT and vowel-onset f0,whereas the five-year-olds tended to make stop distinctions based on VOT but not vowel-onset f0. The results of this study suggest that bilingual children at around five years of age do not yet have fully separate stop systems, and that the systems continue to evolve during the developmental period.

Acoustic Integrity of Speech Production in Children With Moderate and Severe Hearing Impairment

1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Ryalls ◽  
Annie Larouche
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Total Duration ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Standard Deviations

Ten normally hearing and 10 age-matched subjects with moderate-to-severe hearing impairment were recorded producing a protocol of 18 basic syllables [/pi/,/pa/,/pu/; /bi/,/ba/,/bu/; /ti/,/ta/,/tu/; /di/,/da/,/du/; /ki/,/ka/,/ku/; /gi/,/ga/,/gu/] repeated five times. The resulting 90 syllables were digitized and measured for (a) total duration; (b) voice-onset time (VOT) of the initial consonant; (c) fundamental frequency (F 0 ) at midpoint of vowel; and (d) formant frequencies (F 1 , F 2 , F 3 ), also measured at midpoint of vowel. Statistical comparisons were conducted on (a) average values for each syllable, and (b) standard deviations. Although there were numerical differences between normally hearing and hearing-impaired groups, few differences were statistically significant.

Vowel-Related Differences in Laryngeal Articulatory and Phonatory Function

1998 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 712-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen B. Higgins ◽  
Ronald Netsell ◽  
Laura Schulte
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Vocal Fold ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Air Flow ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Air Pressure ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Pressure Peak ◽  
Speaking Task

The purpose of this investigation was to study the interaction between the supralaryngeal and laryngeal components of the speech mechanism by examining vowel-related effects for a variety of vocal fold articulatory and phonatory measures. Secondary issues were to determine if vowel-related differences were influenced by the nature of the speaking task or gender. Between-vowel differences in estimated subglottal air pressure, peak oral air flow, mean phonatory air flow, air flow near the termination of the vowel, electroglottograph cycle width (EGGW), fundamental frequency, and voice onset time were examined for men and women during syllable repetitions and sentence productions. Significant vowel-related differences were found for all of the measures except mean phonatory air flow, and generally were not influenced by speaking task or gender. Vowel-related effects for estimated subglottal air pressure, peak oral air flow, fundamental frequency, and VOT were consistent with some earlier studies. New findings included vowel-related differences in EGGW and air flow near the termination of the vowel. We propose a model that includes the contribution of mechanical forces, reflexive neural activity, and learned neural activity to explain vowel-related effects. When vowel height is varied, changes in laryngeal cartilage positioning and vocal fold and vocal tract tension appear to influence laryngeal articulatory and phonatory function.

The phonetics of code-switched vowels

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasia Muldner ◽  
Leah Hoiting ◽  
Leyna Sanger ◽  
Lev Blumenfeld ◽  
Ida Toivonen
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Vowel Quality ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Switching Method ◽  
Target Words

Aims and Objectives: This study investigates the effects of code-switching on vowel quality, pitch and duration among English–French bilinguals. Code-switching has been claimed to influence the morphology, syntax and lexicon, but not the phonology of the switched language. However, studies on voice-onset time have found subtle phonetic effects of code-switching, even though there are no categorical phonological effects. We investigate this further through the following three questions: (1) Are F1 and F2 influenced in the process of code-switching? (2) Are code-switched words hyper-articulated? (3) Does code-switching have an effect on vowel duration before voiced and voiceless consonants? Methodology: To address our research questions we relied on an insertional switching method where words from one language were inserted into carrier phrases of the other to simulate English–French code-switching environments. Bilingual speakers were recorded while they read code-switched sentences as well as sentences that did not involve code-switching, that is, monolingual sentences. Data and Analysis: The vowels of target words in the recorded utterances were compared – code-switched contexts against monolingual contexts – for vocalic duration, F0, F1 and F2. Findings/Conclusions: Like previous voice-onset time studies, our results indicate that code-switching does not shift the phonology to that of the embedded language. We did, however, find subtle lower level phonetic effects, especially in the French target words; we also found evidence of hyper-articulation in code-switched words. At the prosodic level, target switch-words approached the prosodic contours of the carrier phrases they are embedded in. Originality: The approach taken in this study is novel for its investigation of vowel properties instead of voice-onset time. Significance: This new approach to investigating code-switching adds to our understanding of how code-switching affects pronunciation.

The Effects of Fundamental Frequency Level on Voice Onset Time in Normal Adult Male Speakers

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 1013-1024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. McCrea ◽  
Richard J. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Adult Male ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Stop Consonant ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Normal Adult ◽  
Frequency Level ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Voiceless Stop

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of fundamental frequency (F 0 ) on stop consonant voice onset time (VOT). VOT was measured from the recordings of 56 young men reading phrases containing all 6 English voiced and voiceless stops in word-initial position across high-, medium-, and low-F 0 levels. Separate analyses of variance for the voiced and voiceless stops revealed no significant main effect for F 0 for the voiced stops but a significant F 0 effect for the voiceless stops. Across the voiceless stops, productions at high F 0 s displayed significantly shorter VOTs than productions at low or mid F 0 s. The findings indicated that researchers must take into account the F 0 level at which voiceless stop VOT is measured.

Constructing two phonological systems: A phonetic analysis of /p/, /t/, /k/ among early Spanish–English bilingual speakers

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-68
Author(s):  
Earl K. Brown ◽  
Mary T. Copple
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
First Language ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Center Of Gravity ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
The Usa

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Many early Spanish-English bilingual speakers in the USA learn Spanish as their first language at home and English in school. This paper seeks to elucidate whether these speakers develop a separate phonological system for English and, if so, the role of primary and secondary cues in the development of the second language (L2) system. Design/methodology/approach: The phonetic realization of the voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/ is analyzed among three groups: early Spanish-English bilinguals; L1 English speakers who are late learners of Spanish; and L1 Spanish speakers who are late learners of English. The participants ( N = 15) engaged in a reading task and a conversation task in each language during a single recording session. Data and analysis: 1578 tokens of /p/, /t/, /k/ were extracted and analyzed using acoustic software. Voice onset time in milliseconds and center of gravity in Hertz were analyzed, and monofactorial and multifactorial analyses were performed to determine the role of linguistic background. Findings/conclusions: Evidence is found of two phonological systems among early bilingual speakers, with varying degrees of assimilation to the phonological systems of the native speakers of each language. Originality: We argue that early bilinguals construct their L2 system of /p/, /t/, /k/ in English based on the primary cue of voice onset time rather than the secondary cue of center of gravity, as they are accustomed to noticing differences in voice onset time in Spanish and because the center of gravity of /p/, /t/, /k/ in English is more variable than voice onset time, and therefore represents a more variable and less predictable cue for early bilinguals as they construct their L2 system. Significance/implications: This paper contributes to the literature on the construction of phonological systems and to research detailing the speech of early Spanish-English bilinguals.

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