scholarly journals An Acoustic Analysis of Cantonese Lexical Tones by Chinese Youths in Seremban, Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chan Huey Jien
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Chinese Community ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Malaysian Chinese

Cantonese is widely spoken among the Malaysian Chinese community. Cantonese speakers are not only native speakers, but also non-native speakers. One of the difficult parts of Cantonese learning is lexical tones. In view of this, this study provides an acoustic analysis of Cantonese lexical tones produced by Chinese youths in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. This study investigates the acoustic characteristics of Cantonese lexical tones by analysing the length features and pitch features of monosyllabic words. Six female speakers participated in this study. Three of them are native Cantonese speakers, while the other three are non-native Cantonese speakers. Data analysis was conducted by using Praat. In terms of length features, T2 and T6 are the shortest smooth tones, and T7 is the shortest checked tone. In terms of pitch features, T3 and T4 had greater changes compared to the previous study. All lexical tones produced by non-native speakers, with the exception of T2, are level tones. Moreover, in both groups, the vowel duration and pitch value of T2 are relatively the same as T6, and there is a trend of combination.

scholarly journals The importance of word-final vowel duration for non-native portuguese speaker identification by means of Support Vector Machines

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 689-714
Author(s):  
Suzanne Franks ◽  
Rommel Barbosa
Keyword(s):  
Support Vector Machines ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Speaker Identification ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Acoustic Features ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Vector Machines

This article studies the acoustic characteristics of some oral vowels in tonic syllables of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and which acoustic features are important for classifying native versus non-native speakers of BP. We recorded native and non-native speakers of BP for the purpose of the acoustic analysis of the vowels [a], [i], and [u] in tonic syllables. We analyzed the acoustic parameters of each segment using the Support Vector Machines algorithm to identify to which group, native or non-native, a new speaker belongs. When all of the variables were considered, a precision of 91% was obtained. The two most important acoustic cues to determine if a speaker is native or non-native were the durations of [i] and [u] in a word-final position. These findings can contribute to BP speaker identification as well as to the teaching of the pronunciation of Portuguese as a foreign language.

Acoustic properties of vowels in Upper Necaxa Totonac

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Michelle García-Vega ◽  
Benjamin V. Tucker
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Vowel Quality ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Acoustic Data ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Second Formant

Upper Necaxa Totonac is a Totonacan language spoken in the Necaxa River valley in the Sierra Norte of Puebla State, Mexico. While the Totonacan languages historically have three phonemic vowel qualities, the Upper Necaxa system consists of five vowels that contrast length and laryngealization. With acoustic data from six native speakers from the Totonacan communities of Patla and Chicontla, we explore the phonetic properties of vowels with respect to the first and second formant frequencies, quantity (duration), vowel phonation (modal vs. laryngeal), and stress. The data indicate that long, short, modal and laryngeal vowels occupy a similar formant space and that duration is the primary phonetic correlate of phonemic vowel length. A shift in vowel quality and an increase in duration and pitch were shown to be the acoustic characteristics of stress. The study provides a first acoustic analysis of vowels in Upper Necaxa, and contributes to typological descriptions of the properties of vowels connected with quality, quantity, stress, and phonation.

scholarly journals ACOUSTIC ANALYSIS OF PITCH ACCENT AS A REGIONAL FORENSIC MARKER IN SERBIAN

2021 ◽  
pp. 235
Author(s):  
Kristina Tomić
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Acoustic Correlates ◽  
Forensic Phonetics ◽  
Novi Sad ◽  
Frequency Ratios ◽  
Forensic Markers

The current research compares the acoustic correlates of pitch accent of two urban dialects of spoken Serbian, urban Niš and Novi Sad. We analyzed spontaneous speech of nineteen native speakers of Serbian with regard to vowel duration and fundamental frequency ratios. It was shown that the tone between the stressed and post-stressed vowel is generally falling in the speech of Niš, while in the speech of Novi Sad it reflects the tone of the expected pitch accent in that particular word. The same is true of the interval between the end of the stressed and the beginning of the post-stressed vowel, which is always rising in the speech of Niš. In Niš, speakers tend to produce vowels in words with falling accents as longer than in words with rising accents. On average, vowels are longer in the speech of Novi Sad. Bearing in mind that regional variations provide important forensic markers (Kašić and Đorđević 2009), this research aims to contribute to the discipline of forensic phonetics, in particular to speaker profiling. Its significance also lies in the fact that it examines spontaneous speech, and is thus relevant for forensic casework (Rose 2002; Nolan, de Jong, and McDougall 2006).

scholarly journals Acoustic Analysis of Obstruents in Some Igbo Dialects

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1510
Author(s):  
Benita Nneka Anyasi ◽  
Olusanmi Babarinde ◽  
George Iloene
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
High Precision ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Acoustic Structure

The study examines two dialects of the Igbo language, namely Aro and Mgbo, and analyses the acoustic structure of its obstruents as spoken by native speakers. This study sets out to, among other things, identify the obstruents which occur in the dialects, characterise these obstruents, analyse the acoustic properties, and find out the manner of relatedness of the obstruents in the two dialects. Four adult respondents (two for each dialect) aged between 60-80 years who are native speakers of the dialects were randomly selected. The data were recorded electronically using a high precision Sony ICD-UX560 recorder and transferred into the computer via Praat speech analyzer software. The data analysis was carried out with the SIL Speech Analyzer version 3.0.1 (1996-2007) and Praat. These were used in transcribing recorded tokens, cutting portions of tokens and analyzing the data. The measurement of the pitch, intensity and duration reveal some significant differences within the two dialects. In most Northern Igbo (Waawa) dialects, back rounded vowels are weakened as is evinced in [nɣɔkə] and [ŋkɔ]. Although the vowels are evident in the syllable structure, the final vowels are so weak that they are not phonetically interpretable.

scholarly journals Temporal (in)stability in English monosyllabic and disyllabic words: Insights on the effect of voicing on vowel duration

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Coretta
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Stability ◽  
The Other ◽  
Compensatory Mechanism ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Compensation Mechanism ◽  
Acoustic Data ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Disyllabic Words ◽  
The Stability

English is one in the wide range of languages in which the duration of vowels is modulated by the voicing of the following consonant: Vowels are shorter when followed by voiceless stops, and longer when followed by voiced stops. The so-called voicing effect has been attributed to a variety of mechanisms. Temporal compensation between the duration of the vowel and the following stop closure is one of these mechanisms. Based on acoustic data from Italian and Polish disyllabic words, the compensatory mechanism has been proposed to be a consequence of the temporal stability of the interval between the consonant releases flanking the vowel. The timing of the VC boundary within this interval determines the respective durations of the vowel and the stop closure. In this paper, it is shown that the duration of the release-to-release interval is not affected by the voicing of the second consonant in English disyllabic words, but that it is in monosyllabic words. It is argued that the stability of the interval can be derived from the isochronous phasing of the vocalic gestures in the VCV sequence of disyllabic words. The absence of the temporal anchor of a second vowel in monosyllabic words, on the other hand, allows the vocalic and the consonant gesture durations to be modified independently. Other aspects of production and perception behind the voicing effect can coexist with a temporal compensation mechanism and cannot be excluded.

The Relationship Between Perception and Acoustics for a High-Low Vowel Contrast Produced by Speakers With Dysarthria

2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1215-1228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Bunton ◽  
Gary Weismer
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Speech Disorders ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Motor Speech Disorders ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Vowel Contrast ◽  
Consistent Error ◽  
The Relationship

This study was designed to explore the relationship between perception of a high-low vowel contrast and its acoustic correlates in tokens produced by persons with motor speech disorders. An intelligibility test designed by Kent, Weismer, Kent, and Rosenbek (1989a) groups target and error words in minimal-pair contrasts. This format allows for construction of phonetic error profiles based on listener responses, thus allowing for a direct comparison of the acoustic characteristics of vowels perceived as the intended target with those heard as something other than the target. The high-low vowel contrast was found to be a consistent error across clinical groups and therefore was selected for acoustic analysis. The contrast was expected to have well-defined acoustic measures or correlates, derived from the literature, that directly relate to a listeners' responses for that token. These measures include the difference between the second and first formant frequency (F2-F1), the difference between F1 and the fundamental frequency (F0), and vowel duration. Results showed that the acoustic characteristics of tongue-height errors were not clearly differentiated from the acoustic characteristics of targets. Rather, the acoustic characteristics of errors often looked like noisy (nonprototypi-cal) versions of the targets. Results are discussed in terms of the test from which the errors were derived and within the framework of speech perception theory.

scholarly journals Simultaneous Monotic Masking as a Function of Linguistic Violations

1977 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-202
Author(s):  
Gail D. Chermak
Keyword(s):  
White Noise ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
The Other ◽  
College Age ◽  
Phonological Constraints ◽  
Linguistic Rules ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
The Right

An investigation was conducted to determine whether grammatical, semantical, and phonological constraints affect aural masking. The rationale centered around the non-representative and non-optimal characteristics of white noise as a masker. Also, prior conclusions that content and linguistic rules do not influence masking warranted examination. Six lists, each of 25 monosyllabic words, were consecutively presented to the right ear along with a simultaneously competing message of 36 college-age, normal hearing, native speakers of English. The 6 classes of competing messages were forward grammatical strings, forward semantically anomalous strings, forward ungrammatical strings, and the same 3 sets reproduced backwards. Articulation scores computed in percentages served as measures. Performances when the forward semantically anomalous strings and the forward ungrammatical strings functioned as maskers were depressed relative to the other conditions and not significantly different from each other.

scholarly journals An acoustic analysis of Pahari oral vowels

2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-39
Author(s):  
Abdul Qadir Khan
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Analysis ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Short Vowels

Abstract The aim of the current study is to present an acoustic account of the twelve oral vowels of Pahari by analyzing their formant pattern (F1 and F2) and duration. T o achieve this aim, an experiment was conducted. T em native speakers of Pahari participated in the study and were given a list of 12 oral vowels in CVC context for recording, where V is the target vowel. T he recorded material was analyzed by using Praat software. T he spectral analysis (F1 and F2) show that Pahari has four close, six mid and two open vowels. T he results also show that in term of duration these vowels occur in the form of long-short pairs that differ significantly quantatively (vowel duration).The study further exhibits that the short vowels are centralized as compared to their long counterpart

Enkele Resultaten Van Een Kontrastief Experimenteel Onderzoek Naar Uitspraakgedrag In De Vreemde Taal Voor Het Nederlands En Het Duits

1981 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 52-66
Author(s):  
Wim A. van Dommelen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Best Approximation ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
The Best Approximation ◽  
Onderzoek Naar ◽  
Point Of Departure

The point of departure for this investigation were some generally accepted impressionistic statements about durational differences in Dutch and German vowels. An acoustic analysis of utterances spoken by various groups of speakers was carried out. Differences between native speakers and second-language learners were manifest to a varying degree. Long training does not guarantee the best approximation to native performance. Furthermore it is apparent that current ideas about vowel duration in the two languages should be modified: the differences are not so great as generally thought. Phonological factors rather than specific durations are relevant. Unlike Dutch, German vowels are considerably longer before voiced than before voiceless medial consonants.

scholarly journals Regional variation in the pronunciation of /s/ in the Dutch language area

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanne Ditewig ◽  
Anne-France Pinget ◽  
Willemijn Heeren
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Regional Variation ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Centre Of Gravity ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Language Area ◽  
Dutch Language ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Pattern Of Variation

Abstract This paper reports on an explorative sociophonetic study of the phoneme /s/ in the Dutch language area. Our aim is to investigate the regional variation in the realisation of this phoneme, and to test experimentally the observation of Collins & Mees (2003) that /s/ is sometimes pronounced more like [  ], especially in the Randstad area (called s-retraction). One hundred native speakers of Dutch produced nineteen monosyllabic words containing /s/ in different syllabic contexts. The speakers were born and raised in one of five regions of the Dutch language area (West Flanders, Flemish Brabant, Netherlands Limburg, South Holland and Groningen). Spectral centre of gravity (CoG) and duration were used to measure the degree of s-retraction. CoG values turned out to be significantly lower (consistent with more retraction) in the regions in The Netherlands than in the Flemish regions. Speakers from South Holland produced significantly shorter /s/ than the other speakers. In conclusion, /s/ shows patterns of regional variation that are not fully in line with the observation forwarded by Collins & Mees (2003). The difference between the Flemish and Dutch regions shows that s-retraction is found in an area larger than the Randstad, possibly pointing towards a North-South pattern of variation.

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