Koodinvaihdot ja prosodia

Koodinvaihdolla tarkoitetaan kielen tai kielimuodon vaihtumista toiseksi samassa puhetilanteessa tai tekstissä. Koodinvaihtoja on tutkittu paljon, mutta niiden prosodisten piirteiden käsittely on jäänyt lähinnä maininnan tasolle. Tämä artikkeli tarkastelee lähemmin koodinvaihtojen prosodiaa. Tavoitteena on koodinvaihtoja sisältävää keskusteluaineistoa analysoimalla valottaa prosodian osuutta koodinvaihtojen merkitysten tulkinnassa. Tutkimuksen aineistona on puolen tunnin puhelinkeskustelu, jossa Suomessa syntynyt mutta pitkään Kanadassa asunut nainen keskustelee Suomessa asuvan siskonpoikansa kanssa. Aineistossa on yhteensä 73 koodinvaihtoesiintymää, joissa keskustelun kieli vaihtuu hetkellisesti suomesta englanniksi. Menetelmällisesti tutkimus nojautuu keskustelunanalyysiin. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että useimmiten koodinvaihtoihin liittyy sävelkorkeuden ja intensiteetin nousu. Tyypillisiä koodinvaihtotapauksia, joissa sävelkorkeus ja intensiteetti nousevat, ovat lainasanat ja referointi. Lainasanoissa nousulla ohjataan vastaanottajan huomiota ja haetaan hänen reaktiotaan sanoihin, jotka ovat olennaisia vuoron sisällön tai kertomuksen kannalta mutta joiden tunnistamisessa saattaisi olla ongelmia. Referoinnissa sen sijaan prosodiset muutokset auttavat luomaan ”toisen äänen”. Tällöin sävelkorkeuden ja intensiteetin nousemiseen voi liittyä myös värittynyt äänenlaatu. Molemmissa tapauksissa prosodinen kohosteisuus koodinvaihdossa kutsuu vastaanottajaa terästämään huomiotaan kyseisiin sanoihin tai ilmauksiin. Nousevan sävelkorkeuden lisäksi aineistossa esiintyy myös jonkin verran ympäristöä matalammalta sävelkorkeudelta ja hiljaisemmalla äänellä lausuttuja koodinvaihtoilmauksia. Tällöin koodinvaihdot ovat pikemmin vuorovaikutusta jäsentäviä ilmauksia kuin kertomuksen kannalta olennaisia sisältösanoja ja enemmän puhujalle itselleen kuin vastaanottajalle suunnattua puhetta. Prosodian vaihtelulla voidaan siis säädellä vastaanottajuuden astetta ja merkitä käytössä olevien kielten suhdetta toisiinsa. Code-switching and prosody: A case study of the speech of an expatriate Finn living in Canada Code-switching occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages or language varieties in the same conversation or text. As a phenomenon, code-switching has been investigated fairly extensively, but the prosodic features that characterise many of the switches have not gained much attention in previous studies. This article examines the prosody of code-switching instances in more detail. By analysing naturally occurring conversational data, the article sheds light on the role that prosody plays in the interpretation of code-switching instances. The data consists of a 30-minute telephone conversation in which a lady, who was born in Finland but has lived in Canada for a long time, talks with her nephew, who lives in Finland. The conversation features 73 occurrences of code-switching in which the language of the conversation changes momentarily from Finnish to English. The method of our study is that of Conversation Analysis. The results of the study show that the instances of code-switching are usually produced with raised levels of pitch and intensity. Speakers typically use higher pitch and intensity when uttering loanwords or reported speech. As for loanwords, such prosodic marking invites the recipient to pay attention to the word that carries the rise in order to elicit a reaction to words whose recognition might be problematic. In the case of reported speech, however, prosodic features help to create a “second voice”. In addition to changes of pitch and intensity, the quality of voice can be marked in reported speech. In both these cases the prosodic marking carried by the code-switching invites the recipient to pay attention to the words or expressions in question. In addition to raised pitch and intensity, the data also includes several instances in which the code-switching is marked with lowered levels of pitch and intensity. In these cases, the code-switching typically consists of expressions that structure the interaction rather than constitute important content words as regards the ongoing narration. Furthermore, these instances are also more directed towards the speaker herself than to the recipient. Thus, prosodic changes can be used to regulate the degree of recipiency and to indicate the relationship between the languages being used.

Performability Evaluation of Voice Services in Converged Networks

In the last years, the transmission of voice services in converged networks has experienced a huge growth. However, there are still some questions considering the ability of these networks to deliver voice services with acceptable quality. In this paper, we applied analytical modeling and simulation to analyze the quality of voice services using a new index, called MOS a , which considers jointly the MOS index and the availability of the subjacent infrastructure. We consider the influence of different CODECs (G.711 and G.729), queuing policies (Priority Queuing and Custom Queuing), and the warm standby redundancy mechanism. Our goal is to analyze the quality of these services by taking into account overloading conditions in different architectures/scenarios. These scenarios were constructed using the modeling mechanisms Reliability Block Diagram and Stochastic Petri Nets in addition to a discrete event simulator. Experimental results indicate that the G.711 CODEC has a higher sensitivity both in terms of data traffic volume and allocated network resources in relation to the G.729 CODEC.

My voice therefore I spoke: sense of agency over speech enhanced in hearing self-voice

The subjective experience of causing an action is known as the sense of agency. Dysfunction in the sense of agency has been suggested as a cause of auditory hallucinations (AHs), an important diagnostic criterion for schizophrenia. However, agency over speech has not been extensively characterized in previous empirical studies. Here, we examine both implicit and explicit measures of the sense of agency and reveal bottom-up and top-down components that constitute self-agency during speech. The first is action-outcome causality, which is perceived based on a low-level sensorimotor process when hearing their own voice following their speech. The second component is self-voice identity, which is embedded in the acoustic quality of voice and dominantly influences agency over speech at the cognitive judgment level. Our findings provide profound insight into the sense of agency over speech and present an informative perspective for understanding aberrant experience in AHs.

5 Years of Diode Laser “Π” Technique for Bilateral Vocal Fold Immobility: A Technique That Improves Airway and Is Friendly to the Voice

Background: To demonstrate the efficacy of a new laser surgical technique for bilateral vocal fold immobility (BVFI) on postoperative quality of voice and swallowing. Methods: Prospective study in a tertiary university hospital and a private hospital. Patients with iatrogenic BVFI were included. Outcome measures were Voice Handicap Index 10, 10-item Eating Assessment Tool, flexible laryngoscopy, and success of decannulation. Results: Forty patients with post thyroidectomy BVFI were initially enrolled in our study; only 12 patients returned questionnaires and kept their follow-ups and were included in the study. All patients were successfully decannulated and remain decannulated up to 24-month follow-up. There was a statistically significant improvement in quality of swallowing and no significant deterioration in quality of voice. There was no need for revision up to 24-month follow up. Conclusions: The “Π” technique using diode laser technology is a new and safe technique for BVFI with excellent long-term decannulation rates and improvement in quality of life and swallowing without significant changes in voice quality.

A Virtual Switching Model for Improvemnent of Call Quality in Integrated Communication System

Poor voice quality in VoIP models during communication has been a common occurrence which VoIP users experience, this can be frustrating when users cannot communicate efficiently. Most people find it difficult to think straight when they make calls and there is an echo. In addition to this frustration, the caller’s money, time, effort, energy is all wasted without compensation of any kind. Users are also frustrated by not receiving, transmitting or misunderstanding voice messages correctly. Given the need for voice quality in calls, it is of no importance when there is no proper communication. This study aims to reduce the threat of bad calls and improve the quality of voice calls. Nonetheless, we need to raise the filter duration to a high value in some real telecom’s environments with long echo delays. But, because of high computational complexity, it is not efficient in efficiency. In this study, we suggest a solution that uses a computational formula to compensate long echo, delay, packet loss, jitter and noise. The model designed was developed using MATLAB 2019b. This approach demonstrated productivity in terms of both voice quality and system speed.