Comparison of plosive sounds in monolingual and bilingual children, using the voice onset time acoustic parameter: cases report

ABSTRACT The purpose was to compare differences in production of plosive phonemes through the voice onset time (VOT) measurement in the speech of monolingual children, speakers of Brazilian Portuguese and bilingual children, speakers of both Brazilian Portuguese and English. The sample consisted of three monolingual children and three bilingual children; average age was 7 years. A speech emission was recorded for the investigation, which had the following vehicle phrase: “Diga ‘papa’ baixinho” (“Say ‘papa’ quietly”). Papa was then replaced by “baba”, “tata”, “dada”, “caca” and “gaga”. The measurements of the acoustic signals were performed through broadband spectrograms, and VOT was descriptively analyzed for the non-voiced sounds [p, t, k] and voiced [b, d, g] plosive sounds. Monolingual children presented higher average VOT values for [p, t, k] compared to bilingual children. For the [b, d, g] sounds, monolingual children had lower average VOT values, as compared to bilingual children. It was concluded that in the comparison of VOT measures of the speech samples, the monolingual children of Brazilian Portuguese presented higher values for the non voiced ones and lower for the voiced ones in relation to the bilingual children speakers of Brazilian Portuguese and English.

Download Full-text

Temporal pattern analysis of voicing in children with and without alterations in sonority feature

Revista CEFAC ◽

10.1590/1982-0216/201921616718 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (6) ◽

Author(s):

Liliane Ramone ◽

Silvana de Coelho Frota

Keyword(s):

Acoustic Analysis ◽

Voice Onset Time ◽

Onset Time ◽

Brazilian Portuguese ◽

Control Group ◽

Production Test ◽

Acoustic Characteristics ◽

Significance Level ◽

Minimal Pairs ◽

The Voice

ABSTRACT Purpose: to compare acoustic characteristics of stop consonants in speakers of Brazilian Portuguese with and without alterations in speech referring to voicing feature. Methods: out of 66 children assessed, 18 were selected for this study, aged from 9 to 12 years, distributed in Control Group, 8 without language alterations, and Deviation Group, 10 children with alterations in speech, regarding sonority features. Participants with hearing loss, with cognitive deficit, left-handed ones or using neurological medication, were excluded. The following tests were performed: tonal audiometry, ABFW speech test, and a PowerPoint interactive production test, which was developed by the author for this study, with the purpose of comparing the minimal pairs in words. At the end, the acoustic analysis was conducted, by using the PRAAT program. The acoustic characteristics of stops related to total and relative duration of voice onset time were compared in the two groups and analyzed by the Mann-Whitney U test, with a significance level lower than 0.05. Results: significant differences were observed in the duration of the voice onset time between the two groups, such as the increase in absolute voice onset time in the Deviation Group in voiced stops, and reduction in absolute onset time in voiceless stops. The relative voice onset time presented significant differences between the two groups only in voiceless stops. Conclusion: Brazilian Portuguese speakers with alteration in their sonority feature showed an acoustic pattern different from that of other speakers, regarding the voice onset time.

Download Full-text

Categorical and Noncategorical Modes of Speech Perception along the Voice Onset Time Continuum

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America ◽

10.1121/1.1982642 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 53 (1) ◽

pp. 369-369

Author(s):

Joan House Lazarus ◽

D. B. Pisoni

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Voice Onset Time ◽

Onset Time ◽

The Voice ◽

Time Continuum

Download Full-text

Stop consonant productions of Korean–English bilingual children

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728911000083 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 275-287 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

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.

Download Full-text

Variation in Voice Onset Time for Korean Stops

Korean Linguistics ◽

10.1075/kl.13.01djs ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

pp. 1-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

David J. Silva

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Voice Onset Time ◽

Onset Time ◽

The United States ◽

Age Group ◽

Acoustic Data ◽

Diachronic Change ◽

Phonemic Level ◽

The Voice

Abstract. Acoustic data elicited from 34 native speakers of Korean living in the United States pro-vide evidence for diachronic change in the voice onset time (VOT) of phrase-initial aspirated and lax stop phonemes. While older speakers produce aspirated and lax stops with clearly differentiated average VOT values, many younger speakers appear to have neutralized this difference, producing VOTs for aspirated stops that are substantially shorter than those of older speakers, and comparable to those for corresponding lax stops. The data further indicate that, within each age group, older speakers manifest sex-based differences in VOT while younger speakers do not. Despite this appar-ent shift in VOT values, the acoustic evidence suggests that all speakers in this study, regardless of age, continue to mark underlying differences between aspirated and lax stops in terms of stop closure and the fundamental frequency of the following vowel. It is concluded that the data point to a recent phonetic shift in the language, whereby VOT no longer serves as the primary cue to differentiate between lax and aspirated stops. There is not, however, evidence of any reorganization of the lan-guage as the phonemic level: the language's underlying lax ~ aspirated ~ tense contrasts endure.

Download Full-text

Speakers' Sex Differences in Voice Onset Time: Some Preliminary Findings

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1997.85.2.459 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 85 (2) ◽

pp. 459-463E ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Sandra P. Whiteside ◽

Caroline J. Irving

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Voice Onset Time ◽

Onset Time ◽

The Voice

This study presents a brief investigation into sex differences of speakers in the voice onset time of English plosives that are stressed in both word-initial and prevocalic position. 72 short phrases were presented to 5 men (range 25 to 37 years, mean age 34.2 yr.) and five women speakers (range 28 to 38 years, mean 32.6 yr.). Analysis showed that the women as speakers had on average, longer voice onset time values than their male peers.

Download Full-text

Speakers' Sex Differences in Voice Onset Time: A Study of Isolated Word Production

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1998.86.2.651 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 86 (2) ◽

pp. 651-654 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

S. P. Whiteside ◽

C. J. Irving

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Voice Onset Time ◽

Onset Time ◽

Word Production ◽

Isolated Word ◽

Age Range ◽

The Voice

This report presents a brief study into sex differences of speakers in the voice onset time of English plosives that are stressed in both word-initial and pre-vocalic positions. 36 isolated words were spoken by 5 men (age range 25 to 37 yr., M: 34.2 yr.) and 5 women speakers (age range 28 to 38 yr., M: 32.6 yr.) who were subjects. Analysis showed that the women speakers had on the average relative to the men, longer voice onset time values for voiceless plosives and shorter voice onset time values for the voiced plosives.

Download Full-text

Intracortical Responses in Human and Monkey Primary Auditory Cortex Support a Temporal Processing Mechanism for Encoding of the Voice Onset Time Phonetic Parameter

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhh120 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 170-186 ◽

Cited By ~ 79

Author(s):

M. Steinschneider

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Temporal Processing ◽

Voice Onset Time ◽

Onset Time ◽

Primary Auditory Cortex ◽

The Voice ◽

Processing Mechanism

Download Full-text

Heritage language exposure impacts voice onset time of Dutch–German simultaneous bilingual preschoolers

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728917000116 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 598-617 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

ANTJE STOEHR ◽

TITIA BENDERS ◽

JANET G. VAN HELL ◽

PAULA FIKKERT

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Heritage Language ◽

Voice Onset Time ◽

Onset Time ◽

Bilingual Children ◽

Voicing Contrast ◽

Language Exposure

This study assesses the effects of age and language exposure on VOT production in 29 simultaneous bilingual children aged 3;7 to 5;11 who speak German as a heritage language in the Netherlands. Dutch and German have a binary voicing contrast, but the contrast is implemented with different VOT values in the two languages. The results suggest that bilingual children produce ‘voiced’ plosives similarly in their two languages, and these productions are not monolingual-like in either language. Bidirectional cross-linguistic influence between Dutch and German can explain these results. Yet, the bilinguals seemingly have two autonomous categories for Dutch and German ‘voiceless’ plosives. In German, the bilinguals’ aspiration is not monolingual-like, but bilinguals with more heritage language exposure produce more target-like aspiration. Importantly, the amount of exposure to German has no effect on the majority language's ‘voiceless’ category. This implies that more heritage language exposure is associated with more language-specific voicing systems.

Download Full-text