Articulatory Phonology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Pouplier
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Articulatory Phonology ◽  
Control Units ◽  
Formidable Challenge ◽  
The Many ◽  
Low Dimensional ◽  
Linguistic Units

One of the most fundamental problems in research on spoken language is to understand how the categorical, systemic knowledge that speakers have in the form of a phonological grammar maps onto the continuous, high-dimensional physical speech act that transmits the linguistic message. The invariant units of phonological analysis have no invariant analogue in the signal—any given phoneme can manifest itself in many possible variants, depending on context, speech rate, utterance position and the like, and the acoustic cues for a given phoneme are spread out over time across multiple linguistic units. Speakers and listeners are highly knowledgeable about the lawfully structured variation in the signal and they skillfully exploit articulatory and acoustic trading relations when speaking and perceiving. For the scientific description of spoken language understanding this association between abstract, discrete categories and continuous speech dynamics remains a formidable challenge. Articulatory Phonology and the associated Task Dynamic model present one particular proposal on how to step up to this challenge using the mathematics of dynamical systems with the central insight being that spoken language is fundamentally based on the production and perception of linguistically defined patterns of motion. In Articulatory Phonology, primitive units of phonological representation are called gestures. Gestures are defined based on linear second order differential equations, giving them inherent spatial and temporal specifications. Gestures control the vocal tract at a macroscopic level, harnessing the many degrees of freedom in the vocal tract into low-dimensional control units. Phonology, in this model, thus directly governs the spatial and temporal orchestration of vocal tract actions.

scholarly journals Some comments on the reliability of three-index factor analysis models in speech research

2005 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 219-239
Author(s):  
Christian Geng ◽  
Phil Hoole
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Model Specification ◽  
Global Factor ◽  
Observation Units ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Low Dimensional ◽  
Speech Research ◽  
Analysis Models

Low- dimensional and speaker-independent linear vocal tract parametrizations can be obtained using the 3-mode PARAFAC factor analysis procedure first introduced by Harshman et al. (1977) and discussed in a series of subsequent papers in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (Jackson (1988), Nix et al. (1996), Hoole (1999), Zheng et al. (2003)). Nevertheless, some questions of importance have been left unanswered, e.g. none of the papers using this method has provided a consistent interpretation of the terms usually referred to as "speaker weights". This study attempts an exploration of what influences their reliability as a first step towards their consistent interpretation. With this in mind, we undertook a systematic comparison of the classical PARAFAC1 algorithm with a relaxed version, of it, PARAFAC2. This comparison was carried out on two different corpora acquired by the articulograph, which varied in vowel qualities, consonantal contexts, and the paralinguistic features accent and speech rate. The difference between these statistical approaches can grossly be described as follows: In PARAFAC1, observation units pertain to the same set of variables and the observation units are comparable. In PARAFAC2, observations pertain to the same set of variables, but observation units are not comparable. Such a situation can be easily conceived in a situation such as we are describing: The operationalization we took relies on the comparability of fleshpoint data acquired from different speakers, which need not be a good assumption due to influences like sensor placement and morphological conditions. In particular, the comparison between the two different approaches is carried out by means of so-called "leverages" on different component matrices originating in regression analysis, calculated as v = diag(A(A A)−1A ) and delivering information on how "influential" a particular loading matrix is for the model. This analysis could potentially be carried out component by component, but we confined ourselves to effects on the global factor structure. For vowels, the most influential loadings are those for the tense cognates of non-palatal vowels. For speakers, the most prominent result is the relative absence of effects of the paralinguistic variables. Results generally indicate that there is quite little influence of the model specification (i.e. PARAFAC1 or PARAFAC2) on vowel and subject components. The patterns for the articulators indicate that there are strong differences between speakers with respect to the most influential measurement as revealed by PARAFAC2: In particular, the most influential y-contribution is the tongue-back for some talkers and the tongue-dorsum for other speakers. With respect to the speaker weights, again, the leverage patterns are very similar for both PARAFAC-versions. These patterns converge with the results of the loading plots, where the articulator profiles seem to be most altered by the use of PARAFAC2. These findings, in general, are interpreted as evidence for the reliability of the PARAFAC1 speaker weights.  

Developmental Change in Variability of Lip Muscle Activity During Speech

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1077-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy B. Wohlert ◽  
Anne Smith
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Developmental Change ◽  
Consistent Manner ◽  
Kinematic Studies ◽  
Variability Index ◽  
The Many ◽  
Developing System

Compared to adults, children's speech production measures sometimes show higher trial-to-trial variability in both kinematic and acoustic analyses. A reasonable hypothesis is that this variability reflects variations in neural drive to muscles as the developing system explores different solutions to achieving vocal tract goals. We investigated that hypothesis in the present study by analyzing EMG waveforms produced across repetitions of a phrase spoken by 7-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and young adults. The EMG waveforms recorded via surface electrodes at upper lip sites were clearly modulated in a consistent manner corresponding to lip closure for the bilabial consonants in the utterance. Thus we were able to analyze the amplitude envelope of the rectified EMG with a phrase-level variability index previously used with kinematic data. Both the 7- and 12-year-old children were significantly more variable on repeated productions than the young adults. These results support the idea that children are using varying combinations of muscle activity to achieve phonetic goals. Even at age 12 years, these children were not adult-like in their performance. These and earlier kinematic studies of the oral motor system suggest that children retain their flexibility, employing more degrees of freedom than adults, to dynamically control lip aperture during speech. This strategy is adaptive given the many neurophysiological and biomechanical changes that occur during the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Representing utility and deploying the body

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Spurrett
Keyword(s):  
Functional Activity ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
The Body ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Processing Demands ◽  
The Many

Abstract Comprehensive accounts of resource-rational attempts to maximise utility shouldn't ignore the demands of constructing utility representations. This can be onerous when, as in humans, there are many rewarding modalities. Another thing best not ignored is the processing demands of making functional activity out of the many degrees of freedom of a body. The target article is almost silent on both.

scholarly journals A chiral switchable photovoltaic ferroelectric 1D perovskite

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. eaay4213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Hu ◽  
Fred Florio ◽  
Zhizhong Chen ◽  
W. Adam Phelan ◽  
Maxime A. Siegler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electric Fields ◽  
Mirror Symmetry ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Electrical Measurements ◽  
Temperature Dependent ◽  
Paraelectric Phase Transition ◽  
Strongly Coupled ◽  
Yield Phenomena ◽  
Hybrid Perovskite ◽  
Low Dimensional

Spin and valley degrees of freedom in materials without inversion symmetry promise previously unknown device functionalities, such as spin-valleytronics. Control of material symmetry with electric fields (ferroelectricity), while breaking additional symmetries, including mirror symmetry, could yield phenomena where chirality, spin, valley, and crystal potential are strongly coupled. Here we report the synthesis of a halide perovskite semiconductor that is simultaneously photoferroelectricity switchable and chiral. Spectroscopic and structural analysis, and first-principles calculations, determine the material to be a previously unknown low-dimensional hybrid perovskite (R)-(−)-1-cyclohexylethylammonium/(S)-(+)-1 cyclohexylethylammonium) PbI3. Optical and electrical measurements characterize its semiconducting, ferroelectric, switchable pyroelectricity and switchable photoferroelectric properties. Temperature dependent structural, dielectric and transport measurements reveal a ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition. Circular dichroism spectroscopy confirms its chirality. The development of a material with such a combination of these properties will facilitate the exploration of phenomena such as electric field and chiral enantiomer–dependent Rashba-Dresselhaus splitting and circular photogalvanic effects.

scholarly journals Optimizing the structure and movement of a robotic bat with biological kinematic synergies

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (10) ◽  
pp. 1233-1252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hoff ◽  
Alireza Ramezani ◽  
Soon-Jo Chung ◽  
Seth Hutchinson
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component Analysis ◽  
Topological Structure ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Dimensional Space ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Biologically Inspired ◽  
Wing Kinematics ◽  
Wing Motion ◽  
Kinematic Synergies ◽  
Low Dimensional

In this article, we present methods to optimize the design and flight characteristics of a biologically inspired bat-like robot. In previous, work we have designed the topological structure for the wing kinematics of this robot; here we present methods to optimize the geometry of this structure, and to compute actuator trajectories such that its wingbeat pattern closely matches biological counterparts. Our approach is motivated by recent studies on biological bat flight that have shown that the salient aspects of wing motion can be accurately represented in a low-dimensional space. Although bats have over 40 degrees of freedom (DoFs), our robot possesses several biologically meaningful morphing specializations. We use principal component analysis (PCA) to characterize the two most dominant modes of biological bat flight kinematics, and we optimize our robot’s parametric kinematics to mimic these. The method yields a robot that is reduced from five degrees of actuation (DoAs) to just three, and that actively folds its wings within a wingbeat period. As a result of mimicking synergies, the robot produces an average net lift improvesment of 89% over the same robot when its wings cannot fold.

An accurate method to include lubrication forces in numerical simulations of dense Stokesian suspensions

2015 ◽  
Vol 769 ◽  
pp. 369-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Lefebvre-Lepot ◽  
B. Merlet ◽  
T. N. Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Short Range ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
Parameter Tuning ◽  
Accurate Method ◽  
Spherical Particles ◽  
Particle Model ◽  
Stokesian Dynamics ◽  
New Feature ◽  
The Many

We address the problem of computing the hydrodynamic forces and torques among $N$ solid spherical particles moving with given rotational and translational velocities in Stokes flow. We consider the original fluid–particle model without introducing new hypotheses or models. Our method includes the singular lubrication interactions which may occur when some particles come close to one another. The main new feature is that short-range interactions are propagated to the whole flow, including accurately the many-body lubrication interactions. The method builds on a pre-existing fluid solver and is flexible with respect to the choice of this solver. The error is the error generated by the fluid solver when computing non-singular flows (i.e. with negligible short-range interactions). Therefore, only a small number of degrees of freedom are required and we obtain very accurate simulations within a reasonable computational cost. Our method is closely related to a method proposed by Sangani & Mo (Phys. Fluids, vol. 6, 1994, pp. 1653–1662) but, in contrast with the latter, it does not require parameter tuning. We compare our method with the Stokesian dynamics of Durlofsky et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 180, 1987, pp. 21–49) and show the higher accuracy of the former (both by analysis and by numerical experiments).

Speech Emotion Analysis of Different Age Groups Using Clustering Techniques

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hemanta Kumar Palo ◽  
Mihir Narayan Mohanty ◽  
Mahesh Chandra
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Computation Time ◽  
Vocal Folds ◽  
Recognition System ◽  
Clustering Techniques ◽  
Fcm Algorithm ◽  
Criminal Investigators

The shape, length, and size of the vocal tract and vocal folds vary with the age of the human being. The variation may be of different age or sickness or some other conditions. Arguably, the features extracted from the utterances for the recognition task may differ for different age group. It complicates further for different emotions. The recognition system demands suitable feature extraction and clustering techniques that can separate their emotional utterances. Psychologists, criminal investigators, professional counselors, law enforcement agencies and a host of other such entities may find such analysis useful. In this article, the emotion study has been evaluated for three different age groups of people using the basic age- dependent features like pitch, speech rate, and log energy. The feature sets have been clustered for different age groups by utilizing K-means and Fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithm for the boredom, sadness, and anger states. K-means algorithm has outperformed the FCM algorithm in terms of better clustering and lower computation time as the authors' results suggest.

scholarly journals THE DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF OFFSHORE STRUCTURES TO TIME-DEPENDENT FORCES

1964 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
William S. Gaither ◽  
David P. Billington
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Wind Waves ◽  
Offshore Structures ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Wave Forces ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Single Wave ◽  
Single Degree Of Freedom ◽  
The Many ◽  
Floating Objects

This paper is addressed to the problem of structural behavior in an offshore environment, and the application of a more rigorous analysis for time-dependent forces than is currently used. Design of pile supported structures subjected to wave forces has, in the past, been treated in two parts; (1) a static analysis based on the loading of a single wave, and (2) a dynamic analysis which sought to determine the resonant frequency by assuming that the structure could be approximated as a single-degree-of-freedom system. (Ref. 4 and 6) The behavior of these structures would be better understood if the dynamic nature of the loading and the many degrees of freedom of the system were included. A structure which is built in the open ocean is subjected to periodic forces due to wind, waves, floating objects, and due occasionally to machinery mounted on the structure. To resist motion, the structure relies on the stiffness of the elements from which it is built and the restraints of the ocean bottom into which the supporting legs are driven.

DEONTOLOGY, THRESHOLDS, AND EFFICIENCY

Legal Theory ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 301-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher T. Wonnell
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Rule Following ◽  
Threshold Functions ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Public Decision

This article explores four topics raised by Eyal Zamir and Barak Medina's treatment of constrained deontology. First, it examines whether mathematical threshold functions are the proper way to think about limits on deontology, given the discontinuities of our moral judgments and the desired phenomenology of rule-following. Second, it asks whether constrained deontology is appropriate for public as well as private decision-making, taking issue with the book's conclusion that deontological options are inapplicable to public decision-making, whereas deontological constraints are applicable. Third, it examines the issue of the relationship between deontology and efficiency, asking whether deontological constraints should yield in situations where everyone would expect to benefit from their suspension, either ex ante or ex post. Finally, the article concludes that constrained deontology is susceptible to political abuse because of the many degrees of freedom involved in identifying constrained actions and the point at which those constraints yield to consequentialist benefits.

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