The prosodic governance of surface phonetic variation: Support for an alternative approach III

Speech Timing ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198795421.003.0006 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 132-145

Author(s):

Alice Turk ◽

Stefanie Shattuck-Hufnagel

Keyword(s):

Motor Control ◽

Speech Rate ◽

Speech Motor Control ◽

Prosodic Structure ◽

Phonetic Variation ◽

Speech Timing ◽

Alternative Approach ◽

Adjustment Mechanisms ◽

Speech Motor

Effects of prosodic structure on surface phonetics are modeled in AP/TD in two ways: 1) via a set of PI and MuT adjustment mechanisms used to model lengthening effects at boundaries and on prominent syllables, and 2) via a hierarchy of coupled syllable, cross-word foot, and phrase oscillators, used to model poly-subconstituent shortening effects, and to control overall speech rate. These mechanisms are challenged by 1) findings presented in previous chapters that suggest that longer durations associated with boundaries and prominences are due to longer surface duration specifications, 2) findings presented here that show that polysyllabic shortening does not affect all words in an utterance, inconsistent with an oscillator-based mechanism that controls all aspects of any produced utterance, and 3) findings relating to speech rate presented in previous chapters which suggest that speech rate specifications relate to surface durations, rather than to planning oscillator frequencies. Patterns of speech timing presented in this chapter thus suggest that there are reasons to be uncertain whether periodicity is a major factor in speech motor control in typical speaking circumstances, and therefore call into question the use of suprasegmental oscillators.

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Evidence motivating consideration of an alternative approach

Speech Timing ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198795421.003.0003 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 49-63

Author(s):

Alice Turk ◽

Stefanie Shattuck-Hufnagel

Keyword(s):

Motor Control ◽

Speech Rate ◽

Speech Motor Control ◽

Articulatory Phonology ◽

Fitts Law ◽

Alternative Approach ◽

Principled Explanation ◽

Spatial Interference ◽

Normal Speech ◽

Speech Motor

This chapter begins to motivate the development of an alternative approach to speech production by pointing out three potential difficulties with the highly-successful Articulatory Phonology/Task Dynamics approach. First, it discusses the extensive nature of modifications to AP/TD default specifications required to account for the wide variety of surface phonetic forms. The need for a large number of adjustments in AP/TD raises questions about the appropriateness of the AP/TD default-adjustment approach, which would have been more appropriate if the default, non-prominent, phrase-medial, normal-speech-rate specifications could be used most of the time. Second, it discusses the lack of a principled explanation for behaviors described by Fitts’ law. While the theory can accommodate some aspects of Fitts’ law, others are not explained or accommodated. Finally, it suggests that AP/TD’s gestural score architecture raises the risk of spatial interference among overlapping, independent gestures. These three challenges taken together set the stage for the discussion of additional challenges in Chapter 4, which further motivate consideration of phonology-extrinsic-timing-based approaches to speech motor control.

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Lip Muscle Activity Related to Speech Rate and Loudness

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/jslhr.4305.1229 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 43 (5) ◽

pp. 1229-1239 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Amy B. Wohlert ◽

Vicki L. Hammen

Keyword(s):

Motor Control ◽

Muscle Activity ◽

Speech Rate ◽

Speech Motor Control ◽

Connected Speech ◽

Amplitude Analysis ◽

Oral Motor ◽

Emg Amplitude ◽

Task Effects ◽

Speech Motor

Changes in suprasegmental speech parameters may require adjustments in oral motor control that are reflected in the activity of perioral musculature. In order to evaluate possible patterns of difference, perioral surface electromyographic (EMG) signals were obtained from 20 adults who read a paragraph aloud at habitual rate and at self-judged proportionately slower and faster rates, at habitual loudness and at proportionately softer and louder levels, and in a "precise" manner. EMG amplitude analysis showed significant task effects, with higher average amplitudes for fast, loud, and precise speech and lower average amplitudes for slow and soft speech. These results are compatible with a model of multidimensional reorganization of speech motor control for suprasegmental changes applied to connected speech.

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Synchronised speech and speech motor control: convergence in voice fundamental frequency during choral speech

10.31234/osf.io/9hc34 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Abigail Bradshaw ◽

Carolyn McGettigan

Keyword(s):

Motor Control ◽

Fundamental Frequency ◽

Speech Motor Control ◽

Self And Other ◽

Acoustic Measures ◽

Speech Timing ◽

Video Recordings ◽

Speech Feedback ◽

Voice Fundamental Frequency ◽

Speech Motor

Synchronised speech behaviours such as choral speech (speaking in unison) are found in a variety of everyday settings, and have clinical relevance as a temporary fluency-enhancing technique for people who stutter. It is currently unknown whether such synchronisation of speech timing among two speakers is also accompanied by alignment in their vocal characteristics, for example in acoustic measures such as pitch. The current study investigated this by testing whether convergence in voice fundamental frequency (F0) between speakers could be demonstrated during choral speech. Sixty participants across three online experiments were audio recorded whilst reading a series of sentences, first on their own, and then in synchrony with another speaker (the accompanist) in a number of between-subject conditions. Experiment 1 demonstrated significant convergence in participants’ F0 to a pre-recorded accompanist voice, in the form of both upward (high F0 accompanist condition) and downward (low F0 accompanist condition) changes in F0; however, upward convergence was greater than downward convergence. Experiment 2 found that downward convergent changes in F0 could not be increased by the use of an accompanist voice with an even lower F0. Experiment 3 demonstrated that such convergence was not seen during a visual choral speech condition, in which participants spoke in synchrony with silent video recordings of the accompanist. Further, convergence in F0 was enhanced for a condition where participants could both see and hear the accompanist in pre-recorded videos compared to synchronisation with the pre-recorded voice alone. These findings suggest the need for models of speech motor control to incorporate interactions between self- and other-speech feedback during speech production, and suggest a novel hypothesis for the mechanisms underlying the fluency-enhancing effects of choral speech in people who stutter.

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Syntax, Stress Response, and Speech Motor Control

Perspectives on Fluency and Fluency Disorders ◽

10.1044/ffd17.2.25 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 25-26

Author(s):

Jennifer Kleinow

Keyword(s):

Motor Control ◽

Stress Response ◽

Speech Motor Control ◽

Speech Motor

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Do Sentence Length and Syntactic Complexity Influence Speech Motor Control?

ASHA Leader ◽

10.1044/leader.rib3.18072013.33 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (7) ◽

pp. 33-34

Keyword(s):

Motor Control ◽

Sentence Length ◽

Speech Motor Control ◽

Syntactic Complexity ◽

Speech Motor

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Physiologic Studies Provide New Perspectives on Early Speech Development

Perspectives on Speech Science and Orofacial Disorders ◽

10.1044/ssod20.2.29 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 29-36

Author(s):

Erin M. Wilson ◽

Ignatius S. B. Nip

Keyword(s):

Motor Control ◽

Motor Development ◽

Motion Tracking ◽

Speech Development ◽

Speech Motor Control ◽

Therapeutic Approaches ◽

Facial Motion ◽

Disordered Speech ◽

Speech Motor ◽

Physiologic Data

Abstract Although certain speech development milestones are readily observable, the developmental course of speech motor control is largely unknown. However, recent advances in facial motion tracking systems have been used to investigate articulator movements in children and the findings from these studies are being used to further our understanding of the physiologic basis of typical and disordered speech development. Physiologic work has revealed that the emergence of speech is highly dependent on the lack of flexibility in the early oromotor system. It also has been determined that the progression of speech motor development is non-linear, a finding that has motivated researchers to investigate how variables such as oromotor control, cognition, and linguistic factors affect speech development in the form of catalysts and constraints. Physiologic data are also being used to determine if non-speech oromotor behaviors play a role in the development of speech. This improved understanding of the physiology underlying speech, as well as the factors influencing its progression, helps inform our understanding of speech motor control in children with disordered speech and provide a framework for theory-driven therapeutic approaches to treatment.

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Goal-based speech motor control: A theoretical framework and some preliminary data

Journal of Phonetics ◽

10.1016/s0095-4470(95)80030-1 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 23 (1-2) ◽

pp. 23-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Joseph S. Perkell ◽

Melanie L. Matthies ◽

Mario A. Svirsky ◽

Michael I. Jordan

Keyword(s):

Motor Control ◽

Preliminary Data ◽

Theoretical Framework ◽

Speech Motor Control ◽

Speech Motor

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Consistency influences altered auditory feedback processing

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1177/1747021819838939 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 72 (10) ◽

pp. 2371-2379 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Matthias K Franken ◽

Daniel J Acheson ◽

James M McQueen ◽

Peter Hagoort ◽

Frank Eisner

Keyword(s):

Motor Control ◽

Speech Production ◽

Auditory Feedback ◽

Speech Motor Control ◽

Short Term ◽

Feedback Processing ◽

Motor Commands ◽

Consistent Condition ◽

Consistency Effect ◽

Speech Motor

Previous research on the effect of perturbed auditory feedback in speech production has focused on two types of responses. In the short term, speakers generate compensatory motor commands in response to unexpected perturbations. In the longer term, speakers adapt feedforward motor programmes in response to feedback perturbations, to avoid future errors. The current study investigated the relation between these two types of responses to altered auditory feedback. Specifically, it was hypothesised that consistency in previous feedback perturbations would influence whether speakers adapt their feedforward motor programmes. In an altered auditory feedback paradigm, formant perturbations were applied either across all trials (the consistent condition) or only to some trials, whereas the others remained unperturbed (the inconsistent condition). The results showed that speakers’ responses were affected by feedback consistency, with stronger speech changes in the consistent condition compared with the inconsistent condition. Current models of speech-motor control can explain this consistency effect. However, the data also suggest that compensation and adaptation are distinct processes, which are not in line with all current models.

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