scholarly journals The acquisition of long consonants in Norwegian

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elinor Payne ◽  
Brechtje Post ◽  
Nina Gram Garmann ◽  
Hanne Gram Simonsen
Keyword(s):  
Speech Rate ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Transitional Stage ◽  
Temporal Relationships ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Child Speech ◽  
Do So

This study investigated the nature and acquisition of long consonants in Norwegian. By age 2;6 children already differentiate between [V:C] vs [VC:] structures in their own productions and, as with adults, do so most reliably through proportion of vowel duration in the rhyme (V/VC), the only systematic marker of the contrast. For both adults and children, the contrastiveness of vowel and consonant durations in themselves varies according to consonant manner: in sonorants both V and C duration are also contrastive, while in voiceless stops, consonant duration in itself is not contrastive. Evidence is also found for preaspiration as a possible secondary cue to long stops, and is present from the earliest stages of child speech investigated. By age 6, increasing speed and fluency in global intergestural coordination may undermine local temporal relationships already acquired at a slower speech rate, bringing about a transitional stage of apparent regression in development.

Frequency and Tense Use in French

1998 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 43-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arie Molendijk ◽  
Henriette E. de Swart
Keyword(s):  
General Rule ◽  
Concrete Situation ◽  
Dependent Frequency ◽  
Temporal Relationships ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Do So

Abstract. This paper deals wilh the use of Ihe passé simple and the imparfait of French in frequentative sentences. It is argued that frequency implies sentence-internal quantification, meaning that frequentative sentences report just one (complex) eventuality. This claim is related to the fact that, as far as establishing temporal relationships between eventualities is concerned, sentences containing frequency adverbs behave like sentences that don't imply quantification at all. So they may establish all kinds of temporal relationships between eventualities. Given the claims put forward in this paper about the temporal meaning of the passe* simple and the imparfait (Molendijk 1990), it naturally follows that, as a general rule, frequency adverbs combine with both tenses. But they do not always do so under exactly the same circumstances. In this regard, a distinction can be made between dependent frequency adverbs {tout le temps 'all the time' etc.), which imply reference to a contextually determinable concrete situation, and independent ones (toujours 'always', etc.), which may be used without any reference to such a situation. This distinction helps us to understand, for instance, why dependent frequency adverbs do not easily combine with the 'absolute' (non-narrative) passe simple, whereas they do combine with the imparfait and the 'narrative' passé simple.

Adaptation of Stuttering Frequency During Repeated Readings

1998 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1265-1281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludo Max ◽  
Anthony J. Caruso
Keyword(s):  
Motor Learning ◽  
Transition Rate ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
The Other ◽  
Repeated Readings ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Articulation Rate ◽  
Motor Tasks ◽  
Learning Hypothesis ◽  
Word Duration

This study is part of a series investigating the hypothesis that stuttering adaptation is a result of motor learning. Previous investigations indicate that nonspeech motor learning typically is associated with an increase in speed of performance. Previous investigations of stuttering, on the other hand, indicate that improvements in fluency during most fluency-enhancing conditions or after stuttering treatment tend to be associated with decreased speech rate, increased duration of specific acoustic segments, and decreased vowel duration variability. The present acoustic findings, obtained from 8 individuals who stutter, reveal that speech adjustments occurring during adaptation differ from those reported for other fluency-enhancing conditions or stuttering treatment. Instead, the observed changes are consistent with those occurring during skill improvements for nonspeech motor tasks and, thus, with a motor learning hypothesis of stuttering adaptation. During the last of 6 repeated readings, a statistically significant increase in articulation rate was observed, together with a decrease in word duration, vowel duration, and consonant-vowel (CV) transition extent. Other adjustments showing relatively consistent trends across individual subjects included decreased CV transition rate and duration, and increased variability of both CV transition extent and vowel duration.

scholarly journals Developmental perspectives on the expression of motion in speech and gesture

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya Hickmann ◽  
Henriette Hendriks ◽  
Marianne Gullberg
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
First Language ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Complementary Information ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
French And English ◽  
Gesture Studies ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Do So

Recent research shows that adult speakers of verb- vs. satellite-framed languages (Talmy, 2000) express motion events in language-specific ways in speech (Slobin 1996, 2004) and co-verbal gestures (Duncan 2005; Kita & Özyurek 2003; McNeill 1992). Although such findings suggest cross-linguistic differences in the expression of events, little is still known about their implications for first language acquisition. This paper examines how French and English adults and children (ages four and six) express Path and Manner in speech and gesture when describing voluntary motion presented in animated cartoons. The results show that English adults conflate Manner+Path in speech more often than French adults who frequently talk about Path only. Both groups gesture mainly about Path only, but English adults also conflate Manner+Path into single gestures, whereas French adults never do so. Children in both languages are predominantly adult-like in speech and gesture from age four on, but also display developmental progressions with increasing age. Finally, speech and gestures are predominantly co-expressive in both language groups and at all ages. When modalities differ, English adults typically provide less information in gesture (Path) than in speech (Manner+Path; ‘Manner modulation’ phenomenon), whereas French adults express complementary information in speech (Manner) and gesture (Path). The discussion highlights theoretical implications of such bi-modal analyses for acquisition and gesture studies

scholarly journals ‘Building a better picture’: Practitioners’ views of using a listening approach with young disabled children

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
Jonathan Rix ◽  
John Parry ◽  
Memory Malibha-Pinchbeck
Keyword(s):  
Early Intervention ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Early Research ◽  
Disabled Children ◽  
Home Visitors ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Working Practices ◽  
Early Childhood Settings ◽  
Do So

This article reports on a study of practitioners’ use of In-the-Picture – a reflective, observational approach – when delivering early intervention programmes to young disabled children. To date, In-the-Picture has been used mainly by researchers to study interactions and learning between young children, practitioners and the children’s parents in home and early childhood settings. Practitioners involved in this early research had expressed an interest in using the tool themselves. This project aimed to engage such potential users, support them in using the approach and gain evidence of its impact upon their practice. In-the-Picture facilitates listening and communication between adults and children with learning disabilities. It is based upon a sociocultural understanding of learning, seeing the parents, children and practitioners as agents participating in an emerging teaching and learning process. It derives from a qualitative grounded research method which enables the researcher to consider the child’s perspective, through the use of first-person narrative observation, photography of the child’s focus of attention and reflective discussion with the child, practitioners and family. This study involved 10 Portage services in England, who provide weekly home visits with a focus on supporting play and communication with their child. Training was delivered to over 80 Portage Home Visitors across these 10 services. A selected sample of 20 practitioners, 2 from each service, was interviewed after 6 weeks and again within focus groups after 3 months. All interviewees used the approach in their own way and identified challenges in its use, but In-the-Picture was seen as relevant and valuable by all the participants, producing changes in thinking and practice, while proving flexible and simple to use. The study also exemplified how current early-intervention working practices in England limit the opportunity to engage with the child’s perspective and how practitioners value having the opportunity to do so.

scholarly journals Vowel duration and the voicing effect across English dialects

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Tanner ◽  
Morgan Sonderegger ◽  
Jane Stuart-Smith ◽  
SPADE Data Consortium
Keyword(s):  
Word Frequency ◽  
Extreme Values ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Connected Speech ◽  
Expected Effect ◽  
Voicing Contrast ◽  
Wide Range

The ‘voicing effect’ – the durational difference in vowels preceding voiced and voiceless consonants – is a well-documented phenomenon in English, where it plays a key role in the production and perception of the English final voicing contrast. Despite this supposed importance, little is known as to how robust this effect is in spontaneous connected speech, which is itself subject to a range of linguistic factors. Similarly, little attention has focused on variability in the voicing effect across dialects of English, bar analysis of specific varieties. Our findings show that the voicing of the following consonant exhibits a weaker-than-expected effect in spontaneous speech, interacting with manner, vowel height, speech rate, and word frequency. English dialects appear to demonstrate a continuum of potential voicing effect sizes, where varieties with dialect-specific phonological rules exhibit the most extreme values. The results suggest that the voicing effect in English is both substantially weaker than previously assumed in spontaneous connected speech, and subject to a wide range of dialectal variability.

scholarly journals Social context facilitates visuomotor synchrony and bonding in children and adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen M. Howard ◽  
Danielle Ropar ◽  
Roger Newport ◽  
Bahar Tunçgenç
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Social Bonding ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Interaction Partner ◽  
Social Closeness ◽  
Fundamental Part ◽  
Interpersonal Synchrony ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Sensorimotor Coupling ◽  
Do So

AbstractInterpersonal synchrony is a fundamental part of human social interaction, with known effects on facilitating social bonding. Moving in time with another person facilitates prosocial behaviour, however, it is unknown if the degree of synchronisation predicts the degree of social bonding. Similarly, while people readily fall in synchrony even without being instructed to do so, we do not know whether such spontaneous synchronisation elicits similar prosocial effects as instructed synchronisation. Across two studies, we investigated how context (social vs non-social stimulus) and instruction (instructed vs uninstructed) influenced synchronisation accuracy and bonding with the interaction partner in adults and children. The results revealed improved visuomotor synchrony within a social, compared to non-social, context in adults and children. Children, but not adults, synchronised more accurately when instructed to synchronise than when uninstructed. For both children and adults, synchronisation in a social context elicited stronger social bonding towards an interaction partner as compared to synchronisation in a non-social context. Finally, children’s, but not adults’, degree of synchrony with the partner was significantly associated with their feelings of social closeness. These findings illuminate the interaction of sensorimotor coupling and joint action in social contexts and how these mechanisms facilitate synchronisation ability and social bonding.

Speech Production Changes Under Fluency-Evoking Conditions in Nonstuttering Speakers

1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheila V. Stager ◽  
Christy L. Ludlow
Keyword(s):  
American English ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Pressure Development ◽  
Masking Noise ◽  
Rate Intensity ◽  
Instantaneous Pressure ◽  
Flow Pressure ◽  
Intraoral Pressure

Changes in airflow and intraoral pressure between baseline and four fluency-evoking Conditions—choral reading (CR), metronome pacing (MET), delayed auditory feedback (DAF), and masking noise (NOISE)—were studied in 12 American English nonstuttering speakers. The duration, amplitude, and velocity of airflow and intraoral pressure development during the initial plosive and the duration and intensity of the following vowel were measured in eight target CVC words. Speech rate was computed for each sentence. Comparisons between baseline and the corresponding production in each condition revealed significant changes in peak flow, pressure rise time, peak instantaneous pressure velocity, speech rate, intensity, and vowel duration. Vowel duration increased under DAF, MET, and NOISE conditions. Peak pressure and pressure velocity decreased during CR and MET and increased during NOISE, but did not change during DAF. Subjects were consistent in the variables they modified across conditions. Changes in the aerodynamic variables were not related to intensity or rate changes. Thus, nonstuttering speakers modify intraoral pressure and flow under fluency-evoking conditions.

scholarly journals On the way to language: event segmentation in homesign and gesture

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
ASLI ÖZYÜREK ◽  
REYHAN FURMAN ◽  
SUSAN GOLDIN-MEADOW
Keyword(s):  
Deaf Children ◽  
Intermediate Structure ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
Event Segmentation ◽  
Mixed Form ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Do So ◽  
The Way

ABSTRACTLanguages typically express semantic components of motion events such as manner (roll) and path (down) in separate lexical items. We explore how these combinatorial possibilities of language arise by focusing on (i) gestures produced by deaf children who lack access to input from a conventional language (homesign); (ii) gestures produced by hearing adults and children while speaking; and (iii) gestures used by hearing adults without speech when asked to do so in elicited descriptions of motion events with simultaneous manner and path. Homesigners tended to conflate manner and path in one gesture, but also used a mixed form, adding a manner and/or path gesture to the conflated form sequentially. Hearing speakers, with or without speech, used the conflated form, gestured manner, or path, but rarely used the mixed form. Mixed form may serve as an intermediate structure on the way to the discrete and sequenced forms found in natural languages.

scholarly journals Rhythm and speech rate as a diagnostic aid in neurodegenerative syndromes of the front-temporal lobes

Loquens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. e068
Author(s):  
Wendy Elvira-García ◽  
Victoria Marrero Aguiar
Keyword(s):  
Speech Rate ◽  
Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Total N ◽  
Temporal Lobes ◽  
Primary Progressive ◽  
Temporal Variables ◽  
Patient Groups

Temporal variables have proven to be an effective tool to characterize speech in neurodegenerative diseases and primary progressive aphasia variants, but the evidence available so far is essentially limited to English. This article analyses, by means of a small sample of seven patient groups and a control group (total n = 34; control group = 6; progressive primary aphasia, en three variants = 15; fronto-temporal dementia in two variants = 9; supranuclear progressive palsy = 3; cortico-basal syndrome = 2), the temporal parameters of speech rate, vowel duration, consonant duration, and nine rhythmic metrics (%V, %C, ΔV, ΔC, VarcoV, VarcoC, rPVI-V, rPVI-C, nPVI-V). The results indicate that speech rate is slower in patients with primary progressive non-fluent aphasia (APPnf), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or corticobasal syndrome (CBS) than in controls. These three clinical groups, as well as those suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), have longer segmental durations, especially in consonants. Among the rhythm metrics, %C, ΔV and rPVI-C also allow to differentiate between groups, specifically, between control and APPlog, ELA-DFT y SCB.

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