scholarly journals Divergent acoustic properties of gelada and baboon vocalizations and their implications for the evolution of human speech

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morgan L. Gustison ◽  
Thore J. Bergman
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Cycle Duration ◽  
Speech Rhythm ◽  
Call Type ◽  
Human Speech ◽  
Temporal Properties ◽  
Temporal Features ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
Speech Evolution ◽  
Number Of Cycles

Abstract Human speech has many complex spectral and temporal features traditionally thought to be absent in the vocalizations of other primates. Recent explorations of the vocal capabilities of non-human primates are challenging this view. Here, we continue this trend by exploring the spectro-temporal properties of gelada (Theropithecus gelada) vocalizations. First, we made cross-species comparisons of geladas, chacma baboons, and human vowel space area. We found that adult male and female gelada exhaled grunts–a call type shared with baboons—have formant profiles that overlap more with human vowel space than do baboon grunts. These gelada grunts also contained more modulation of fundamental and formant frequencies than did baboon grunts. Second, we compared formant profiles and modulation of exhaled grunts to the derived call types (those not shared with baboons) produced by gelada males. These derived calls contained divergent formant profiles, and a subset of them, notably wobbles and vocalized yawns, were more modulated than grunts. Third, we investigated the rhythmic patterns of wobbles, a call type shown previously to contain cycles that match the 3–8 Hz tempo of speech. We use a larger dataset to show that the wobble rhythm overlaps more with speech rhythm than previously thought. We also found that variation in cycle duration depends on the production modality; specifically, exhaled wobbles were produced at a slower tempo than inhaled wobbles. Moreover, the variability in cycle duration within wobbles aligns with a linguistic property known as ‘Menzerath’s law’ in that there was a negative association between cycle duration and wobble size (i.e. the number of cycles). Taken together, our results add to growing evidence that non-human primates are anatomically capable of producing modulated sounds. Our results also support and expand on current hypotheses of speech evolution, including the ‘neural hypothesis’ and the ‘bimodal speech rhythm hypothesis’.

Advertisement call of Peltophryne florentinoi (Anura: Bufonidae), an endemic toad from Zapata Swamp, Cuba

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Alonso ◽  
Maike Hernández ◽  
Ariel Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Pulse Rate ◽  
Dominant Frequency ◽  
The Other ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Advertisement Call ◽  
Advertisement Calls ◽  
Call Duration ◽  
Temporal Properties ◽  
Temporal Features ◽  
Long Duration

AbstractThe advertisement call of Peltophryne florentinoi, an endemic toad from Zapata Swamp, Matanzas, Cuba, is described in terms of temporal properties and dominant frequency. A comparison with the advertisement calls produced by the other three species of large toads in Cuba (P. peltocephala, P. fustiger and P. taladai) is also provided. Like other large toads from Cuba, P. florentinoi produces advertisement calls with long duration (> 10 s), low dominant frequency (< 1 kHz), and a series of complex pulses that are composed of two to five sub-pulses. All temporal features of the P. florentinoi call are significantly different from P. fustiger calls: number of pulses, pulse duration, and pulse rate separates it from P. peltocephala. P. florentinoi differs from P. taladai in call duration, number of pulses, and pulse rate. The occurrence of different types of complex pulses differed in all species studied. Typically, P. florentinoi pulses contain three sub-pulses, P. taladai four, and P. fustiger and P. peltocephala contain two sub-pulses. The dominant frequency of the advertisement call of P. florentinoi did not differ from the other species' calls. Call duration and pulse rate are the most useful acoustic properties to distinguish P. florentinoi advertisement calls from those of the other three large Cuban toads.

A Comprehensive Three-dimensional Cortical Map of Vowel Space

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 3972-3982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Scharinger ◽  
William J. Idsardi ◽  
Samantha Poe
Keyword(s):  
Basilar Membrane ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Spatial Encoding ◽  
Spatial Gradients ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
Cortical Map

Mammalian cortex is known to contain various kinds of spatial encoding schemes for sensory information including retinotopic, somatosensory, and tonotopic maps. Tonotopic maps are especially interesting for human speech sound processing because they encode linguistically salient acoustic properties. In this study, we mapped the entire vowel space of a language (Turkish) onto cortical locations by using the magnetic N1 (M100), an auditory-evoked component that peaks approximately 100 msec after auditory stimulus onset. We found that dipole locations could be structured into two distinct maps, one for vowels produced with the tongue positioned toward the front of the mouth (front vowels) and one for vowels produced in the back of the mouth (back vowels). Furthermore, we found spatial gradients in lateral–medial, anterior–posterior, and inferior–superior dimensions that encoded the phonetic, categorical distinctions between all the vowels of Turkish. Statistical model comparisons of the dipole locations suggest that the spatial encoding scheme is not entirely based on acoustic bottom–up information but crucially involves featural–phonetic top–down modulation. Thus, multiple areas of excitation along the unidimensional basilar membrane are mapped into higher dimensional representations in auditory cortex.

Phonetics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Golnaz Modarresi Ghavami
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Sound System ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
Suprasegmental Features ◽  
Sibilant Fricatives ◽  
Manner Of Articulation

This chapter discusses the articulatory and acoustic properties of the sound system of Standard Modern Persian. It starts with a brief review of early work on the sound system of New Persian and its development into Modern Persian. The second section examines consonants and vowels in Standard Modern Persian. In this section, issues such as place and manner of articulation of consonants, Voice Onset Time and its importance in distinguishing voiced and voiceless obstruents, the acoustics of glottal consonants, sibilant and non-sibilant fricatives, and rhotics are discussed. The section on vowels addresses vowel space, vowel length, and the acoustics of diphthongs in Standard Modern Persian. The phonetics of the suprasegmental features of stress and intonation are the topic a final section in this chapter.

scholarly journals La dénotation spatiale des noms d’événements

2011 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Huyghe
Keyword(s):  
Direct Relation ◽  
Spatial Extension ◽  
Temporal Properties ◽  
Spatial Features ◽  
Temporal Features ◽  
Il Y A ◽  
Spatial Entities ◽  
The Church ◽  
Temporal Specification

This paper deals with the spatial features of event-denoting nouns [EvNs], which are often overlooked in the linguistic literature on space. EvNs can refer to spatial entities, as they can be used as trajectors in localization sentences (Il y a une cérémonie dans l’église ‘There is a ceremony in the church’). Still, EvNs differ in several ways from nouns denoting prototypical spatial entities. They do not combine with complements denoting spatial extension (*une cérémonie de deux hectares ‘a four acres’ ceremony’), and they are associated with specific nouns and verbs of location (le lieu / *la place de la cérémonie ‘the location / the place of the ceremony’, Une cérémonie a lieu / *se trouve dans l’église ‘A ceremony takes place / is in the church’). It is assumed that the peculiarity of the spatial denotation of EvNs is due to their direct relation to time. The dependence between the spatial and temporal properties of EvNs shows when these nouns are used as landmarks (Pierre se rend à la cérémonie ‘Peter goes to the ceremony’). First, spatial eventive landmarks bear a temporal specification. Second, the temporal features of events determine their ability to be used as spatial landmarks.

Acoustic Differences Between Content and Function Words in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

2000 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 769-781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg S. Turner ◽  
Kris Tjaden
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Temporal Properties ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
The Difference ◽  
And Function ◽  
Impaired Speech ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Studies describing acoustic characteristics of speech produced by individuals with dysarthria may help to explain intelligibility deficits for these speakers. One goal of the current study was to investigate the manner and extent to which nine speakers with mild to moderate dysarthria associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and nine healthy speakers acoustically distinguished /i/, / æ/, /u/, and /α/ in content and function words. A further aim was to evaluate the relationship between impaired speech in ALS and the magnitude of acoustic differences for vowels in content and function words. Speakers read the Farm Passage at a comfortable or habitual rate. F1 and F2 midpoint frequencies were measured, and vowel space areas were calculated. Vowel durations also were measured. The magnitude of F1, F2, vowel space area, and duration differences for vowels in content and function words was not statistically different for speakers with ALS and healthy controls. In addition, with the exception of /i/ produced by some speakers with ALS, vowel duration tended to be shorter in function words. Average F1 and F2 values for function words also tended to be centralized relative to content words. Although vowel space area differences for the two speaker groups were not statistically significant, there was a tendency for the difference in vowel space area for content and function words to be smaller for speakers with ALS than for controls. Regression analyses further indicated that the magnitude of temporal differences for vowels in content and function words was a better predictor of impaired speech than the magnitude of spectral differences for vowels in content and function words. One clinical implication is that individuals with ALS may benefit from therapy techniques targeting temporal properties of the acoustic signal.

scholarly journals Developmental Changes in Ultradian Sleep Cycles across Early Childhood

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Lopp ◽  
William Navidi ◽  
Peter Achermann ◽  
Monique LeBourgeois ◽  
Cecilia Diniz Behn
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Rem Sleep ◽  
Nrem Sleep ◽  
Developmental Model ◽  
Cycle Duration ◽  
Healthy Children ◽  
Nocturnal Sleep ◽  
Quiet Sleep ◽  
Number Of Cycles ◽  
Sleep Cycles

Nocturnal human sleep is composed of cycles between rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM (NREM) sleep. In adults, the structure of ultradian cycles between NREM and REM sleep is well characterized; however, less is known about the developmental trajectories of ultradian sleep cycles across early childhood. Cross-sectional studies indicate that the rapid ultradian cycling of active-quiet sleep in infancy shifts to a more adult-like pattern of NREM-REM sleep cycling by the school-age years, yet longitudinal studies elucidating the details of this transition are scarce. To address this gap, we examined ultradian cycling during nocturnal sleep following 13 h of prior wakefulness in 8 healthy children at 3 longitudinal points: 2Y (2.5-3.0 years of age), 3Y (3.5-4.0 years of age), and 5Y (5.5-6.0 years of age). We found that the length of ultradian cycles increased with age as a result of increased NREM sleep episode duration. In addition, we observed a significant decrease in the number of NREM sleep episodes as well as a nonsignificant trend for a decrease in the number of cycles with increasing age. Together, these findings suggest a concurrent change in which cycle duration increases and the number of cycles decreases across development. We also found that, consistent with data from adolescents and adults, the duration of NREM sleep episodes decreased with time since lights-off whereas the duration of REM sleep episodes increased over this time period. These results indicate the presence of circadian modulation of nocturnal sleep in preschool children. In addition to characterizing changes in ultradian cycling in healthy children ages 2 to 5 years, this work describes a developmental model that may provide insights into the emergence of normal adult REM sleep regulatory circuitry as well as potential trajectories of dysregulated ultradian cycles such as those associated with affective disorders.

scholarly journals An Acoustic Study of Vowels Produced by Alaryngeal Speakers in Taiwan

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia-Shiou Liao
Keyword(s):  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Euclidean Distance ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Acoustic Study ◽  
Artificial Larynx ◽  
Resonance Frequencies ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
Southern Min

PurposeThis study investigated the acoustic properties of 6 Taiwan Southern Min vowels produced by 10 laryngeal speakers (LA), 10 speakers with a pneumatic artificial larynx (PA), and 8 esophageal speakers (ES).MethodEach of the 6 monophthongs of Taiwan Southern Min (/i, e, a, ɔ, u, ə/) was represented by a Taiwan Southern Min character and appeared randomly on a list 3 times (6 Taiwan Southern Min characters × 3 repetitions = 18 tokens). Each Taiwan Southern Min character in this study has the same syllable structure, /V/, and all were read with tone 1 (high and level). Acoustic measurements of the 1st formant, 2nd formant, and 3rd formant were taken for each vowel. Then, vowel space areas (VSAs) enclosed by /i, a, u/ were calculated for each group of speakers. The Euclidean distance between vowels in the pairs /i, a/, /i, u/, and /a, u/ was also calculated and compared across the groups.ResultsPA and ES have higher 1st or 2nd formant values than LA for each vowel. The distance is significantly shorter between vowels in the corner vowel pairs /i, a/ and /i, u/. PA and ES have a significantly smaller VSA compared with LA.ConclusionsIn accordance with previous studies, alaryngeal speakers have higher formant frequency values than LA because they have a shortened vocal tract as a result of their total laryngectomy. Furthermore, the resonance frequencies are inversely related to the length of the vocal tract (on the basis of the assumption of the source filter theory). PA and ES have a smaller VSA and shorter distances between corner vowels compared with LA, which may be related to speech intelligibility. This hypothesis needs further support from future study.

scholarly journals Vowel Dispersion in English Diphthongs: Evidence from Adult Production

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy Jennifer Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Distance ◽  
Additional Constraint ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Strong Preference ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Dispersion Theory ◽  
Vowel Production ◽  
Distance Constraints ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
Additional Constraints

In this paper, I address the problem of including diphthong vowels into a Dispersion Theory (Flemming 2004) framework. First, I review the main aspects of Dispersion Theory in Flemming (2004), which gives an analysis of vowel inventories using a perception-based account of contrast, but noticeably omits diphthongs, which–while different from monophthongs–are highly productive, contrastive members of vowel inventories. Next, in order to correctly represent and incorporate diphthongs, I discuss acoustic properties of diphthongs and their presence in vowel inventories cross-linguistically. Diphthongs are compared to the monophthong inventory using production data to assess their relative positions in the vowel space. The English vowel production data should reflect the language-specific constraint ranking of *Effort with the maximum contrast and minimum distance constraints as predicted in Flemming's theory.                To derive diphthongs, Flemming (2004)’s constraints as well as additional constraints from Minkova & Stockwell (2003) are used to account for the distance between the two offset targets. An additional constraint is proposed to account for the strong preference in the English production data to centralize the onset targets. Derivations for individual diphthong productions compared to possible surrounding candidates are provided in the analysis.

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