scholarly journals An Acoustic Measurements of English Stops Produced by Native Yemeni Arabic Speakers of English (NYASE)

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-109
Author(s):  
Ramzi Naji
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Wide Band ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Acoustic Measurements ◽  
University Center ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Arabic Speakers ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Citation Form

Acoustically, this paper investigates English stops consonants as produced by NYASE. The researcher examines the voicing of six stops by the use of Voice Onset Time (henceforth VOT) method. This inquiry aims to identify how similar/different the VOT patterns produced by NYASE to the VOT-literature-based patterns produced by native speakers of English. The subjects of this study are two Yemeni adults doing their Ph.D. at Annamalai University, Center of Advanced Study in Linguistics. They were chosen based on a self-evaluation test. Those subjects who evaluated themselves as having an ‘excellent’ command over English were selected to participate in this study. Knowingly, the subjects are late bilinguals, who learned English in their adulthood. Later on, the targeted sounds in word-initial position, pre-vocalically, in monosyllabic words, and in their citation form, have been recorded and analyzed following Lisker and Abramson (1964) procedures. Wide-band spectrograms cross-checked with waveforms were made, and from them, VOT was measured by ‘marking off the interval between the release of the stop and the onset of voicing’. The acoustic measurements showed that NYASE produce long lag VOT patterns for voiceless stop, long lead VOT patterns for voiced ones.

Acquisition of the Voicing Contrast by Language-Delayed and Normal-Speaking Children

1980 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. S. Bond ◽  
Howard F. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Final Position ◽  
Stop Consonants ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Voicing Contrast ◽  
Normal Speaking

Voicing is a phonological contrast which emerges early in the speech of children. However, the acoustic correlates of the voicing contrast for stop consonants are fairly complex. In the initial position, voicing is cued primarily by the relative timing of articulatory versus laryngeal gestures. In the final position, the duration of the preceding vowel is associated with the voicing contrast of stop consonants. The purpose of this study was to examine the pattern of acquisition of the voicing contrast in the speech of ten children diagnosed as language-delayed in comparison with the acquisition of the voicing contrast by normal speaking children. The language-delayed and normal-speaking children were matched according to mean length of utterance (MLU) and placed in one of Brown's five developmental stages. Each participant was first given a short test, using natural speech, to determine his or her ability to identify minimal pairs differing in the voicing of stop consonants. Those who passed the test were recorded under standard recording conditions repeating 12 test words. The test words contrasted voiced and voiceless stop consonants in initial and final positions. Spectrograms of the three best productions of each word were used to examine voice-onset time for stops in initial position and preceding vowel duration for stops in final position. Although the language-delayed and normal-speaking children showed equivalent linguistic sophistication (as measured by MLU), the language-delayed children's control of the acoustic-phonetic details of the voicing contrast was less mature than that of the normal-speaking children.

The Effects of Fundamental Frequency Level on Voice Onset Time in Normal Adult Male Speakers

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 1013-1024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. McCrea ◽  
Richard J. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Adult Male ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Stop Consonant ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Normal Adult ◽  
Frequency Level ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Voiceless Stop

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of fundamental frequency (F 0 ) on stop consonant voice onset time (VOT). VOT was measured from the recordings of 56 young men reading phrases containing all 6 English voiced and voiceless stops in word-initial position across high-, medium-, and low-F 0 levels. Separate analyses of variance for the voiced and voiceless stops revealed no significant main effect for F 0 for the voiced stops but a significant F 0 effect for the voiceless stops. Across the voiceless stops, productions at high F 0 s displayed significantly shorter VOTs than productions at low or mid F 0 s. The findings indicated that researchers must take into account the F 0 level at which voiceless stop VOT is measured.

Temporal Acoustic Measures of Dysarthria Associated with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

1987 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Caruso ◽  
Estelle Klasner Burton
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Physiological Mechanisms ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Intelligible Speech ◽  
Broadband Sound ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

The purpose of this study was to investigate stop-gap duration, voice onset time (VOT), and vowel duration in intelligible speakers with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Broadband sound spectrograms were used to measure 8 normal and 8 ALS speakers' intelligible speech productions of monosyllabic words containing word-initial stop-plosive consonants (/p, t, k, b, d, g/). Significant differences were found between the two groups for both vowel duration and stop-gap duration; moreover, correlational analysis indicated that the ALS speakers, as a group, exhibited a direct relationship between stop-gap and vowel durations associated with productions of /t/ and /k/. No significant differences were found between the two talker groups for VOT. Results will be related to the neuroanatomical and physiological mechanisms involved in dysarthric (ALS) speech.

LEXICAL FACTORS AND SEGMENTAL ACCURACY IN SECOND LANGUAGE SPEECH PRODUCTION

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Flege ◽  
Elaina M. Frieda ◽  
Amanda C. Walley ◽  
Lauren A. Randazza
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Lexical Status ◽  
Spanish Word ◽  
Second Language Speech Production ◽  
Learning English ◽  
Lexical Factors

Voice onset time (VOT) was measured in the production of /t/ in the initial position of 60 English words spoken by native English (NE) speakers and native Spanish (NS) speakers who began learning English before or after the age of 21 years. The subjects rated the words for familiarity, age of acquisition, imageability, and relatedness to word(s) in the Spanish lexicon. The subjects in all three groups showed two well-known phonetic effects: They produced longer VOT values in the context of high than nonhigh vowels, and longer VOT in one- than in two-syllable words. As expected, the NS subjects who learned English prior to the age of 21 years judged the English words to be more familiar and more like a Spanish word than did the subjects who began learning English later in life. Also, many but not all of the NS subjects produced /t/ with shorter VOT values than did the NE subjects. However, regression analyses showed that none of the lexical factors mentioned above or the text frequency of the 60 English words examined affected the NS subjects' VOT values. Thus, variation in the accuracy with which NS subjects produce English /t/ must be accounted for by factors other than the lexical status of the words in which /t/ occurs.

scholarly journals The production of the English stop voicing contrast by Arab L2 speakers of English

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 434-444
Author(s):  
Mohd Hilmi Hamzah ◽  
Ahmed Elsayed Samir Madbouly ◽  
Hasliza Abdul Halim ◽  
Abdul Halim Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Acoustic Parameter ◽  
Voicing Contrast ◽  
Phonological Contrast ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Voiceless Stop ◽  
Speech Learning

The English voiceless stop /p/ and voiced stop /ɡ/ are absent in the consonant inventory of Arabic. This difference provides a fertile ground for empirical research in L2 speech learning among Arab L2 speakers of English. The current study, therefore, aims to explore the English stop voicing contrast as produced by Arab native speakers. Focusing on Voice Onset Time (VOT) as an acoustic parameter, the study seeks to examine the extent to which (1) Arab L2 speakers of English maintain the English stop voicing contrast for /p-b/ and /k-ɡ/, and (2) the L2 VOT continuum by Arab L2 speakers follows or deviates from the L1 VOT continuum in English. The acoustic phonetic experiment involved elicited materials of /p-b/ and /k-ɡ/ from four male native speakers of Arabic. The tokens were recorded in isolation (utterance-initial position) and in a carrier sentence (utterance-medial position). The data were then acoustically analysed following standard segmentation, annotation and measurement criteria. Results reveal that the Arab L2 speakers can, to a large extent, maintain the English stop voicing contrast across all places of articulation, with voiced stops usually being produced with “normal” negative VOT (prevoicing) and voiceless stops usually being produced with “normal” positive VOT and also accompanied with aspiration in the long-lag region. There are also exceptional cases of “abnormal” negative VOT (prevoicing) for voiceless stops and “abnormal” positive VOT (devoicing) for voiced stops, with an extremely larger number of devoiced tokens for voiced stops in comparison to prevoiced tokens for voiceless stops. The results accord well with the Speech Learning Model’s prediction that phonetically “new” sounds are relatively easier to learn than phonetically “similar” sounds. The conclusion is drawn that languages sharing the same sound contrast may exhibit different phonetic implementations in marking a phonological contrast.

The use of voice onset time by early bilinguals to distinguish homorganic stops in Canadian English and Canadian French

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREA A. N. MACLEOD ◽  
CAROL STOEL-GAMMON
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Stop Consonants ◽  
Acoustic Measurements ◽  
Canadian English ◽  
Canadian French ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
French Words ◽  
Phonological Contrasts ◽  
Phonemic Contrasts

ABSTRACTThe goal of this study was to examine the extent to which bilingual speakers maintain language-specific phonological contrasts for homorganic stops when a cue is shared across both languages. To this end, voice onset time (VOT) was investigated in three groups of participants: early bilinguals speakers of Canadian French and Canadian English (n = 8), monolingual speakers of Canadian English (n = 8), and monolingual speakers of Canadian French (n = 7). Three questions were targeted: What are the general patterns of VOT production in bilingual and monolinguals? Do bilingual speakers produce different mean VOT than monolinguals? Do bilingual speakers produce different variability in VOT than monolinguals? Acoustic measurements of VOT were made from monosyllabic English and French words with word-initial bilabial or coronal stop consonants. The results indicate that the early bilingual speakers maintain monolingual-like phonemic contrasts, but that they exhibit more variation within categories than monolingual speakers.

scholarly journals Spit or sbit? ST-type consonant clusters in the speech of Polish learners of English

2021 ◽  
Vol Volume 138 (4) ◽  
pp. 187-199
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Stop Consonants ◽  
Sibilant Fricatives ◽  
Speech Research ◽  
L1 English

This paper presents two small-scale acoustic phonetic studies investigating the pronunciation of sibilant-stop (ST) consonant clusters in Polish, and in the L2 speech of L1 Polish learners of English. In English, aspiration of fortis stops is not attested in the post-/s/ context. Rather, short-lag voice onset time (VOT) measures are observed in L1 English in post-/s/ stop consonants, a phonetic weakening that renders them phonetically similar in terms of VOT to lenis stops in initial position. In Polish, both voiced and voiceless stops may appear after sibilant fricatives. The acoustic results suggest that (1) L1 Polish does not weaken its stops in ST clusters, and (2) that more L1 Polish speakers exhibit some weakening in their L2 English clusters as a function of proficiency, but do not produce native-like VOTs in ST sequences. Implications of these findings for L2 speech research and the phonological status of ST clusters are discussed.

scholarly journals Instrumental Analysis of the English Stops Produced by Arabic Speakers of English

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Noureldin Mohamed Abdelaal
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Limited Effect ◽  
Arabic Speakers ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Arab Students ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

This study reports the findings of a research that was conducted on ten (10) Arab students, who were enrolled in a master of English applied linguistics program at Universiti Putra Malaysia. The research aimed at instrumentally analyzing the English stops produced by Arab learners, in terms of voice onset time (VOT); identifying the effect of their mother tongue on producing the English stops; and the extent Arabic speakers of English differentiate in terms of pronunciation between minimal pairs. The findings of the study showed that some of the subjects’ VOT values were similar to native speakers of English. It was also found that the subjects could differentiate in terms of aspiration or voicing between /p/ and /b/, which refutes the assumption that Arab learners have a problem in producing the /p/ sound with appropriate aspiration. However, they did not show significant difference in pronunciation between the /t/ and /d/ or between the /k/ and /g/. Moreover, there is a kind of limited effect of the L1 on producing some stops (e.g. /t/ and /g/). However, for the /b/ sound, it cannot be inferred that there is interference from the mother tongue because its VOT value is almost the same in English and Arabic. This research suggests that teachers need to enhance Arab learners’ pronunciation of some minimal pairs such as /t/ and /d/ or /k/ and /g/.

Voicing Contrasts and Their Phonological Implications in the Speech of Articulation-Disordered Children

1983 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 486-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann B. Smit ◽  
John E. Bernthal
Keyword(s):  
Normal Child ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
Phonological Form ◽  
Normal Controls

Five-year-old articulation-disordered children, some classified as substituters and some as syllable reducers, were compared with normal child and adult controls in their production of voicing contrasts. These contrasts occurred in minimal pairs containing word-final obstruents and in minimal triples containing word-initial stops and /s/-plus-stop clusters in initial position. Measures of vowel duration, voice onset time (VOT), and frequency of use of phonetic voicing were made from spectrograms. In every comparison the substituters' performance resembled that of the normal controls, as did the syllable reducers' use of VOT in stop singles. The syllable reducers used larger vowel duration ratios than the normal controls in a few minimal pairs and used phonetic voicing less often in word-initial /b d g/. The production data and previously reported perception data were examined for evidence that individual syllable reducers had voicing contrasts in underlying phonological form despite their deletions of obstruents in which these contrasts occurred. Most of the syllable reducers appeared to recognize underlying voicing contrasts in at least a few final obstruents and in some of the initial stop singles.

Voice onset time in Persian initial and intervocalic stop production

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmood Bijankhan ◽  
Mandana Nourbakhsh
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Place Of Articulation ◽  
Vowel Context ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Voiceless Stop ◽  
High Vowels

The purpose of this study is to examine voice onset time as a phonetic correlate of voicing distinction in standard Persian. Issues pertinent to VOT are also addressed: namely, the effect of place of articulation, vowel context and sex of speakers. The VOTs were measured from recordings of five male and five female speakers reading 65 words that contained a full set of Persian oral stops in word initial and intervocalic positions. This acoustic experiment indicated that VOT distinguishes voiced from voiceless stops. The results also revealed that Persian uses mainly {voiceless unaspirated} and {voiceless aspirated} categories for [±voice] distinction in initial position and {voiced} and {voiceless aspirated} categories in intervocalic position. Vowel context also affected VOT values but the only significant difference was due to high vowels, which caused the preceding voiceless stop to have a longer VOT. Examining sex differences in the VOT values indicated that for voiced items females produced longer VOTs than males. However, voiceless items displayed no significant sex differences for VOT values. Fundamental frequency (F0) of the onset of the following vowel was also examined as another cue to voice distinction. Although the F0 values of voiceless tokens were higher than those of the voiced ones in each voiced–voiceless category, the results suggest that F0 is not a major cue distinguishing the two stop categories.

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