scholarly journals Lombard Effect in Polish Speech and its Comparison in English Speech

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Kleczkowski ◽  
Agnieszka Zak ◽  
Aleksandra Król-Nowak
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Extensive Investigation ◽  
Characteristic Parameters ◽  
Measured Intensity ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Lombard Effect ◽  
Competing Speech ◽  
Stationary Background ◽  
Spectral Tilt

Abstract The first extensive investigation on the Lombard effect with Polish speech has been performed. Characteristic parameters of Lombard speech were measured: intensity, fundamental frequency, spectral tilt, duration of words, duration of pauses and duration of vowels. The effect was investigated in a task involving real communication - solving a Sudoku puzzle. The speakers produced speech in quiet and in three different backgrounds: competing speech, speech-shaped noise and speech-modulated noise. The experimental conditions were held as close as possible to those in the study by Cooke and Lu (2010) so that conclusions could be drawn whether differences between the Lombard effect in Polish speech and English speech existed. Most of the findings on the Lombard effect known from the literature have been confirmed with Polish speech. In three parameters, Polish speakers were more sensitive to modulated backgrounds while English speakers were more sensitive to a stationary background. In both languages, the modulated backgrounds induced speakers to extend pauses in the communication tasks.

scholarly journals A comparison of vocal parameters in adult bilingual Hebrew-English speakers

CoDAS ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 483-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Nevo ◽  
Chaya Nevo ◽  
Gisele Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Frequency Variation ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Acoustic Analyses ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Purpose: There has been growing research on the effects of language on voice characteristics; however, few studies have examined the impact of language on vocal features within bilinguals. This study aimed to compare vocal parameters among bilingual Hebrew/English speaking individuals when speaking in Hebrew versus English. Methods: Forty bilingual participants (17 males and 23 females) between the ages of 23-60 years were asked to spontaneously speak about a neutral topic. Voice samples were digitalized into a tablet for perceptual and acoustic analyses of selected parameters. Results: Results show that there are changes in resonance, glottal attack, fundamental frequency variation and speech rate when adult bilingual speakers talk in Hebrew as compared to English. Conclusion: These findings provide evidence that language plays a role in affecting vocal characteristics of bilingual individuals when they speak different languages.

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.

scholarly journals Age Estimation in Foreign-accented Speech by Native and Non-native Speakers

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-183
Author(s):  
Ksenia Gnevsheva ◽  
Daniel Bürkle
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Age Estimation ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Accented Speech ◽  
Japanese Speakers ◽  
Language Familiarity ◽  
Accented English

Current research shows that listeners are generally accurate at estimating speakers’ age from their speech. This study investigates the effect of speaker first language and the role played by such speaker characteristics as fundamental frequency and speech rate. In this study English and Japanese first language speakers listened to English- and Japanese-accented English speech and estimated the speaker’s age. We find the highest correlation between real and estimated speaker age for English listeners listening to English speakers, followed by Japanese listeners listening to both English and Japanese speakers, with English listeners listening to Japanese speakers coming last. We find that Japanese speakers are estimated to be younger than the English speakers by English listeners, and that both groups of listeners estimate male speakers and speakers with a lower mean fundamental frequency to be older. These results suggest that listeners rely on sociolinguistic information in their speaker age estimations and language familiarity plays a role in their success.

The relative contribution of segments and intonation to the perception of foreign-accented speech

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOAN SERENO ◽  
LYNNE LAMMERS ◽  
ALLARD JONGMAN
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Relative Impact ◽  
Accented Speech ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Accented English

ABSTRACTThe present study examines the relative impact of segments and intonation on accentedness, comprehensibility, and intelligibility, specifically investigating the separate contribution of segmental and intonational information to perceived foreign accent in Korean-accented English. Two English speakers and two Korean speakers recorded 40 English sentences. The sentences were manipulated by combining segments from one speaker with intonation (fundamental frequency contour and duration) from another speaker. Four versions of each sentence were created: one English control (English segments and English intonation), one Korean control (Korean segments and Korean intonation), and two Korean–English combinations (one with English segments and Korean intonation; the other with Korean segments and English intonation). Forty native English speakers transcribed the sentences for intelligibility and rated their comprehensibility and accentedness. The data show that segments had a significant effect on accentedness, comprehensibility, and intelligibility, but intonation only had an effect on intelligibility. Contrary to previous studies, the present study, separating segments from intonation, suggests that segmental information contributes substantially more to the perception of foreign accentedness than intonation. Native speakers seem to rely mainly on segments when determining foreign accentedness.

Word-level prominence in Persian: An Experimental Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahid Sadeghi
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Previous Literature ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Syllable Duration ◽  
Phonetic Cues ◽  
Pitch Movement ◽  
Spectral Tilt

Previous literature on the phonetics of stress in Persian has reported that fundamental frequency is the only reliable acoustic correlate of stress, and that stressed and unstressed syllables are not differentiated from each other in the absence of accentuation. In this study, the effects of lexical stress on duration, overall intensity and spectral tilt were examined in Persian both in the accented and unaccented conditions. Results showed that syllable duration is consistently affected by stress in Persian in both the accented and unaccented conditions across all vowel types. Unlike duration, the results for overall intensity and spectral tilt were significant only in the accented condition, suggesting that measures of intensity are not a correlate of stress in Persian but they are mainly caused by the presence of a pitch movement. The findings are phonologically interpreted as suggesting that word-level prominence in Persian is typologically similar to ‘stress accent’ languages, in which multiple phonetic cues are used to signal the prominence contrast in the accented condition, and stressed and unstressed syllables are different from each other even when the word is not pitch-accented.

Effects of Altered Fundamental Frequency on Nasalance during Vowel Production by Adult Speakers at Targeted Sound Pressure Levels

2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry C. Mandulak ◽  
David J. Zajac
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Outcome Measures ◽  
Sound Pressure ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Vowel Production ◽  
Chapel Hill ◽  
Velopharyngeal Function ◽  
The University ◽  
Normal Speech

Objective: This study investigated the effects of altered fundamental frequency (F0) on nasalance levels of the vowels /i/ and /a/ produced by adults without cleft palate within a controlled sound pressure level (SPL) range. Design: A prospective group design with convenience sampling from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was used. Participants: 20 men and 20 women participated, aged 18 to 55 years. All were native English speakers with normal speech and language skills and adequate velopharyngeal function. Main Outcome Measures: The outcome measures were percentage nasalance obtained from the Nasometer 6200 (KayPentax) headset and the Computerized Speech Lab Model 4400 (CSL, KayPentax) during vowel production while speakers (1) targeted an SPL range of 75 to 85 dB and (2) targeted the SPL plus F0 range of 165 to 175 Hz. Results: A significant univariate effect was found for the vowels /i/ and /a/ in the targeted SPL condition such that /i/ was produced with higher nasalance than /a/. A significant univariate effect was also found during production of /a/ in the targeted SPL plus F0 condition such that men produced /a/ with higher nasalance than women did. Conclusions: SPL appears to largely account for percentage nasalance differences between the vowels /i/ and /a/ produced by adult male and female speakers. Increased F0 by male speakers appears to influence percentage nasalance during production of the vowel /a/. Clinical implications in regard to assessment of hypernasality are discussed.

Experimental Analysis on Non-Dimensional Parameters of Closed-Loop Pulsating Heat Pipes

2013 ◽  
Vol 732-733 ◽  
pp. 230-233
Author(s):  
Xun Wang ◽  
Xiao Wen Zhang ◽  
Cheng Si Yang
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
Heat Transfer Performance ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Heat Pipes ◽  
Operational Parameters ◽  
Characteristic Parameters ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Operation Stage ◽  
Dimensional Parameters

Based on experimental studies, this paper discusses the variation tendencies of three non-dimensional parameters including Ja, Bo and Pr which consist of various operational parameters and characteristic parameters, and then analyses their effects on heat transfer performance of closed-loop pulsating heat pipes (PHPs) at startup stage and steady operation stage. Results indicate that at startup stage, the values of Ja and Bo increase over time as a whole, while the values of Pr decrease; at steady operation stage, the values of three parameters all fluctuate within a narrow range. The results also show that heat transfer is due mainly to the exchange of latent heat under the experimental conditions.

Exploring the Effects of Imitating Hand Gestures and Head Nods on L1 and L2 Mandarin Tone Production

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (9) ◽  
pp. 2179-2195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Zheng ◽  
Yukari Hirata ◽  
Spencer D. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Hand Gestures ◽  
Tonal Language ◽  
Tone Production ◽  
Mandarin Tones ◽  
Mandarin Tone ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis study investigated the impact of metaphoric actions—head nods and hand gestures—in producing Mandarin tones for first language (L1) and second language (L2) speakers.MethodIn 2 experiments, participants imitated videos of Mandarin tones produced under 3 conditions: (a) speech alone, (b) speech + head nods, and (c) speech + hand gestures. Fundamental frequency was recorded for both L1 (Experiment 1) and L2 (Experiment 2a) speakers, and the output of the L2 speakers was rated for tonal accuracy by 7 native Mandarin judges (Experiment 2b).ResultsExperiment 1 showed that 12 L1 speakers' fundamental frequency spectral data did not differ among the 3 conditions. In Experiment 2a, the conditions did not affect the production of 24 English speakers for the most part, but there was some evidence that hand gestures helped Tone 4. In Experiment 2b, native Mandarin judges found limited conditional differences in L2 productions, with Tone 3 showing a slight head nods benefit in a subset of “correct” L2 tokens.ConclusionResults suggest that metaphoric bodily actions do not influence the lowest levels of L1 speech production in a tonal language and may play a very modest role during preliminary L2 learning.

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