Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Diaspora Documentation Of West Albay Bikol, Nhia Borja

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper presents a comprehensive linguistic analysis and cultural documentation of West Albay Bikol, a dialect spoken in Bikol, Philippines. Drawing upon narratives spoken by a native speaker, this study aims to expand the literature on Bikolano language and add the dialects of Balugo and Polangui to the conversation. The motivation for the project stems from a personal aspiration to learn West Albay Bikolano and provide authentic language examples.

The paper comprises six chapters. The first chapter briefly overviews Bikol dialects and Central Philippine languages and reviews existing literature on the overall Bikol language. The second chapter is an examination …

Prosodic Marking Of Focus In Autistic And Neurotypical Adults, Nishtha N. Trivedi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Purpose: This study investigates how adult autistic speakers compare with neurotypical speakers in the manipulation of prosody to mark narrow and contrastive focus in American English. In particular, it explores whether the two groups differ in terms of pitch accent status, pitch accent type, and overall nuclear contour patterns in focus marking.

Methods: We conducted an experiment eliciting speech from autistic and neurotypical adults in which we compared their use of pitch accent in answers to wh-questions and in corrective statements.

Results: We found neurotypical speakers to primarily use H* to mark narrow focus on subjects and L+H* to mark …

Prosodic Analysis Of Wh-Indeterminate Questions In L2 Korean, Jung In Lee

Student Research Symposium

Wh-indeterminate questions, particularly wh-questions and yes-no questions, in Korean are ambiguous due to the limited morpho-syntactic markers in the sentence. The absence of these markers leaves two questions syntactically identical, leading to lexical ambiguity. The disambiguation of these two questions relies primarily on prosodic cues. Drawing from previous studies in the L1 Korean context, this study examines the intonation patterns of English learners of Korean in producing and perceiving wh-questions and yes-no questions and explores if there is any sign of L1 influence from English. Five English learners of Korean, who received formal instruction in Korean at a U.S. university, …

Exploring Asynchronous Pronunciation Training Through Context-Aware Pronunciation Applications, Claire L. Schweikert

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This paper provides a survey of various research articles on context-aware asynchronous pronunciation training applications. First, a set of seven articles is reviewed and summarized. Next, they are synthesized over the three main topics of 1) automated speech recognition, 2) non-native speaker considerations in language learning, and 3) future directions for research and development within computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT). Research in the areas of acoustic and pronunciation modeling (both implicit and explicit), pedagogical considerations for CAPT application design, Goodness of Pronunciation algorithm scoring, accent recognition and neutralization, and more are discussed.

Against A Ternary Analysis Of Syllable Strength: Positional Variation In The Vowel Inventory Of English, Joseph Lorber

Undergraduate Honors Theses

All of the vowels in Standard American English (SAE) are distinguishable from each other in stressed syllables, and it is generally accepted that none of them are contrastive in unstressed syllables. However, unstressed word-final syllables (or ultimas) without a coda consonant are able to host more vowel contrasts than unstressed syllables, evidenced by the minimal pair [ˈwɪndi] ‘windy’ and [ˈwɪndo͡ʊ] ‘window,’ but not as many contrasts as stressed syllables. Therefore, the standard analysis of syllable strength in SAE is a ternary one, where stressed syllables are Strong, unstressed non-final syllables are Weak, and unstressed open ultimas are Intermediate.

This work …

Análisis Sociolingüístico De Una Hispanohablante En Harrisonburg, Virginia/Sociolinguistic Analysis Of A Spanish Speaker In Harrisonburg, Virginia, Tessa Adams

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Los patrones dialectales de hispanohablantes nativos quienes saben inglés como un idioma segundo han sido un foco para académicos lingüísticos por mucho tiempo. El estudio presente compara las experiencias de una hispanohablante nativo biligüe de Harrisonburg, Virginia, con patrones de voz que son común en otras investigaciones más amplias. Utilizando un formato de entrevista estructurado y un análisis hecho como en un caso práctico, la escritora muestra que que los rasgos lingüísticos de “Mirabel” alinea con aspetos claves de escolaridad existente mientras probando como una excepción a otras tendencias establecidas.

The dialectical patterns of native Spanish speakers who know English …

Exploring Cross-Linguistic Speech Perception In Hindi, English, And Romance-Language Through Temporal Dynamics Of Neural Activity, Yuga Kothari

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the effect of linguistic experience on the neural processing of Voice Onset Time (VOT) in Hindi and Romance language (Spanish and Portuguese) individuals who are bilingual in English and monolingual English speakers using the event-related potential (ERP) Mismatch Negativity (MMN) response. VOT is a linguistic property that measures the time elapsed between the release of a stop consonant and the beginning of voicing, that is, vocal fold vibration of a following vowel. In a double-oddball paradigm, participants’ (n = 41) ERP were recorded while listening to speech sounds differing in VOT. The bilabial short lag stop [p] …

Segmental Error Gravity In L2 Arabic Speech Comprehensibility And Accentedness: L1 Consonant Age Of Acquisition As A Predictor, Mark Papai

Theses and Dissertations

Second language (L2) pronunciation studies have found that the intelligibility (i.e., listeners’ actual understanding) of L2 speech is most closely related to its comprehensibility (i.e., listeners' ease of understanding) rather than to its overall nativelike pronunciation. The segmental errors that are most detrimental to communication are predicted by phoneme Functional Load (FL): mispronouncing high FL segments affects speech comprehensibility more negatively than mispronouncing low FL ones. However, no data are available on the FL hierarchy of Arabic segments. On the other hand, FL correlates highly with consonant age of acquisition (CAoA) in languages that rely heavily on consonants to contrast …

Nasals And Nasalization In Yoruba-Ijebu Dialect, Khadijat Olakintan Abdulrazaq

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This thesis focuses on how nasals behave in Yoruba-Ijebu Dialect (YID); YID is one of the dialects of the Yoruba language spoken in Nigeria. The main findings of the thesis are in two parts. The first part discusses local nasalization spreading in a YID CV syllable (sequence of a consonant and a vowel). Three local nasalization spreading rules (simplified to two), which are (i) Nasal spreading from an inherent nasal consonant to an adjacent oral vowel, (ii) Nasal spreading from an inherent nasal vowel to an adjacent sonorant consonant, (iii) Oral (-Nas) spreading from an obstruent to adjacent nasal vowels …

Gaps And Overlaps In Conversation: Analyses Of Differentiating Factors, David W. Edwards

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations

Human social behavior relies on communication, and much of that communication occurs in conversation. A crucial feature of conversation is turn-taking, the (usually) orderly pattern of listening and speaking that humans employ in conversation. In analyzing details of actual conversations, Sacks, Schegloff & Jefferson (1974) launched the field of Conversation Analysis by outlining a set of observations of turn-taking behavior and by proposing a list of rules to explain that behavior. They noted that the vast majority of transitions from one speaker to another happen with very little gap or overlap (Sacks, Schegloff & Jefferson 1974: 700–701). More recently, researchers …

Fish In A Tree Book Study Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

Individuals lead storied lives, and everyone has a story to tell. Our stories can be shared orally and documented in print. Often, learners are exposed to stories through novels and other trade books. Teacher educators may benefit from using the stories in novels and trade books as case studies in preservice teacher preparation course. This assignment description outlines how to use the novel, Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, as a case study to contextualize and understand the lived story of an individual living and learning with dyslexia. Through the novel, preservice teachers experience the dilemmas faced and …

Exploring Etymology Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

The English language is a borrowed language, a blend of words from many languages from around the world. We see this in the various ways sounds are represented by letters and letter combinations. In transparent or shallow orthographies, there is high predictability and consistent letter-sound correspondence whereas in opaque or deep orthographies, there are many ways to spell the same sound as well as there are many sounds for the same spellings (Burkins & Yates, 2021; Moats, 2020). This assignment description is a guided inquiry for preservice teachers to explore the concept of etymology by watching and reflecting on six …

How Phonological And Syntactic Overlap Impact Cognate Processing Speeds In Bilinguals, Ella Marie Peterson

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This paper investigates individuals who are proficient in two languages (bilinguals) and the speeds at which bilinguals process cognates (words with comparable form and meaning across languages). This paper cites two ongoing experiments: The Language Identification (LID) task and the Self-Paced Listening (SPL) task. Findings from the LID suggest that phonological overlap in cognates facilitates bilingual language processing speeds, when cognates are presented in isolation. Findings from the SPL suggest that syntactic overlap in cognates also facilitates bilingual language processing speeds, when cognates are presented in sentences. These findings are significant in that the tasks present cognates to participants in …

Language Learning Simulation Using Duolingo Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

It is likely that preservice teachers will work with students learning English as their second (third, fourth, etc.) language. For preservice teachers to better understand the language learning process, Duolingo was used to simulate the learning experience. The assignment description outlines how preservice teachers can reflection pre-simulation and post-simulation about what they learned about language learning.

Destigmatizing Working With Dyslexic Learners, Riley N. Dandurand

Writing Center Journal

In the field of writing center research there is a paucity of information regarding tutoring students with dyslexia. This comes as no surprise considering it is only in the last 50 years that there has been a conscious effort to include those who have exceptionalities in all areas of education. In addition to a lack of research and training there is another issue that arises with disclosing exceptionalities. Those studying dyslexia have found that students are hesitant to disclose their learning disability because of the stigma and feelings of differentiation from their peers (Brizee et al., 2012). The question then …

Conceptual Meaning In Phonology: Multimodal Iconic Expressions In Discourse Focus, David Páez Acevedo

Linguistics ETDs

In everyday communication, speakers go beyond words to synchronize speech sounds and gestures, adding nuanced meanings. For instance, in Colombian Spanish, recounting the distant past involves elongating words, modulating pitch, and using expressive hand movements. This dissertation explores this phenomenon, termed Multimodal Iconic Expressions (MMIEs), using Cognitive Linguistics and Cognitive Grammar. The quantitative study uncovers correlations between verb aspect, nominal quantification, and speech duration, revealing phono-iconic connections. The qualitative study examines construal operations giving rise to MMIEs across semantic domains. MMIEs predominantly appear in discourse Focus, with durative events and mass-like quantities exhibiting pronounced phono-iconic associations. Patterns include stress and …

Exploring Strategies For Modeling Sign Language Phonology, Lee Kezar, Riley Carlin, Tejas Srinivasan, Zed Sehyr, Naomi Caselli, Jesse Thomason

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

Like speech, signs are composed of discrete, recombinable features called phonemes. Prior work shows that models which can recognize phonemes are better at sign recognition, motivating deeper exploration into strategies for modeling sign language phonemes. In this work, we learn graph convolution networks to recognize the sixteen phoneme “types” found in ASL-LEX 2.0. Specifically, we explore how learning strategies like multi-task and curriculum learning can leverage mutually useful information between phoneme types to facilitate better modeling of sign language phonemes. Results on the Sem-Lex Benchmark show that curriculum learning yields an average accuracy of 87% across all phoneme types, outperforming …

The Distribution Of Tone In Shanghainese Monosyllables: An Optimality Theory Approach, Jamie Xu

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

This paper aims to create an Optimality Theory ranking of tonal phonology constraints in Shanghai Chinese (Shanghainese) monosyllables. Previous research on tonal phonology in Shanghainese preceded the more recent research on Optimality Theory which may provide new principles to justify the language’s tonal phonology system. I use inputs composed of High (H) and Low (L) tone combinations and 8 constraints, (3 faithfulness and 5 markedness constraints) to motivate the distribution of tones in Shanghainese monosyllable in four environments: KV, GV, KVʔ, GVʔ. The faithfulness constraints include DEP, MAX, and IDENT. The markedness constraints include *KL, *GH, POLARITY, [AGREE]ʔ, and *L/ʔ. …

L’Emprunt Lexical De L’Arabe Algérien À L’Amazighe : Étude Sur Un Corpus Parémiologique, Abdelaziz Berkai

Journal of Amazigh Studies

Résumé :

Une étude très récente de parémiologie contrastive entre le kabyle et l’arabe algérien montre, par-delà l’« isomorphisme » parémiologique existant entre les deux langues-cultures, qu’un certain nombre de mots de l’arabe dialectal seraient des emprunts à l’amazighe. C’est l’étude de ces emprunts au plan lexico-sémantique, et subsidiairement étymologique, qui constitue l’objet de notre proposition de contribution. Nous commencerons chaque fois par la vérification des données en arabe classique et en dialectal algérien, avant d’analyser les matériaux amazighs et d’en tirer les conclusions qui s’imposent.

Mots-clés : emprunt lexical, parémiologie, arabe algérien, et langue amazighe

Lexical borrowing of Algerian …

Fathi Ben Maammar, Tinfas Seg Jerba - Ḥikāyāt Amāzīghiyya Jarbiyya, Vermondo Brugnatelli

Journal of Amazigh Studies

N/A

Improving Sign Recognition With Phonology, Lee Kezar, Jesse Thomason, Zed Sevcikova Sehyr

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

We use insights from research on American Sign Language (ASL) phonology to train models for isolated sign language recognition (ISLR), a step towards automatic sign language understanding. Our key insight is to explicitly recognize the role of phonology in sign production to achieve more accurate ISLR than existing work which does not consider sign language phonology. We train ISLR models that take in pose estimations of a signer producing a single sign to predict not only the sign but additionally its phonological characteristics, such as the handshape. These auxiliary predictions lead to a nearly 9% absolute gain in sign recognition …

Comparing Speech Sound Production Skills Across Two-Year Olds With Varying Language Proficiency Using Phonetic Inventory And Word-Shape Complexity, Makayla Eberly

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Purpose. Young children, who by the time they are two years of age, have 50 or fewer words in their expressive lexicon and produce few to no two-words phrases are often identified as demonstrating “late language emergence” (LLE). The nature of the relationship between speech sound (phonological) production development and LLE continues to be an important area of inquiry in the field of speech-language pathology with clinical intervention implications. The present study aimed to further distinguish and confirm associations between phonological productions and language proficiency status at two years of age.

Method. Participants (n = 20) were divided into two …

Speech Beyond The Binary: Some Acoustic-Phonetic And Auditory-Perceptual Characteristics Of Non-Binary Speakers, Brandon Merritt

Departmental Papers (Speech)

Speech acoustics research typically assumes speakers are men or women with speech characteristics associated with these two gender categories. Less work has assessed acoustic-phonetic characteristics of non-binary speakers. This study examined acoustic-phonetic features across adult cisgender (15 men and 15 women) and subgroups of transgender (15 nonbinary, 7 transgender men, and 7 transgender women) speakers and relations among these features and perceptual ratings of gender identity and masculinity/femininity. Differing acoustic-phonetic features were predictive of confidence in speaker gender and masculinity/femininity across cisgender and transgender speakers. Non-binary speakers were perceptually rated within an intermediate range of cisgender women and all other …

"Does This Make Sense?": The Effect Of Congruent Guise In Regional Accent On Grammatical Acceptability Judgments, Nour Kayali

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

This study seeks to unite sociophonetic speech perception and syntax research by presenting participants with congruent or incongruent social expectations during a structural grammaticality judgement task. Participants completed a between-subjects matched guise survey with place-based grammatical structures spoken in either a congruent place-based, local accent or a nonlocal accent. Place-based structures are consistently rated more acceptable in the local accent than the nonlocal. These results suggest that judgment of grammaticality results from an interplay of sociocultural expectations with accent and sentence structure. Judgement of structural grammaticality is not independent of social expectation.

Phonotactic Learning With Distributional Representations, Max A. Nelson

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the possibility that the phonological grammar manipulates phone representations based on learned distributional class memberships rather than those based on substantive linguistic features. In doing so, this work makes three primary contributions. First, I propose three novel algorithms for learning a phonological class system from the distributional statistics of a language, all of which are based on partitioning graph representations of phone distributions. Second, I propose a new method for fitting Maximum Entropy phonotactic grammars, MaxEntGrams, which offers theoretical complexity improvements over the widely-adopted approach taken by Hayes and Wilson [2008]. Third, I present a series of …

Examining Variability In Spanish Monolingual And Bilingual Phonotactics: A Look At Sc-Clusters, Katerina A. Tetzloff

Doctoral Dissertations

Current models of generative phonology have failed to address the variability that is observed in bilingual language patterns patterns. This dissertation addresses exactly that issue by examining the perception of Spanish sC-clusters in Spanish monolinguals and English-Spanish bilinguals. Surface sC-clusters in onset position are prohibited in Spanish and are repaired by inserting a prothetic /e/ (sC $\rightarrow$ esC). English differs in that it allows sC-cluster onsets, and the structure of the sC-cluster has been shown to differ based on the sonority profile (i.e., s+stop clusters are bisyllabic, s+liquid clusters are tautosyllabic). A batch version of a Harmonic Grammar Gradual Learning …

Restrictive Tier Induction, Seoyoung Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation proposes the Restrictive Tier Learner, which automatically induces only the tiers that are absolutely necessary in capturing phonological long-distance dependencies. The core of my learner is the addition of an extra evaluation step to the existing Inductive Projection Learner (Gouskova and Gallagher 2020), where the necessity and accuracy of the candidate tiers are determined. An important building block of my learner is a typological observation, namely the dichotomy between trigram-bound and unbounded patterns. The fact that this dichotomy is attested in both consonant interactions and vowel interactions allows for a unified approach to be used. Another important piece …

Examining The Linguistic Ideology "Throaty Sounds Are Bad For Performers": The History Of Negative Attitudes Towards Glottal Stops And Laryngealization In English, Dayle M. Towarnicky

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis analyzes explicit metadiscourse (Johnstone et al 2006) on throaty sounds, primarily focused on glottal segments and non-modal constricted voice quality in English. Authors contributing to this metadiscourse are argued to be an offshoot of the speech chain network which valorized and circulated the English accent known as RP or Received Pronunciation, studied by Agha (2003). The evaluated texts center on English-speaking elocution, singing training, voice, speech, and voice care. The analysis shows glottal and guttural articulations are framed negatively and often discouraged by appeals to both health and aesthetics. Many authors in this performance speech chain network …

In Search Of Phonetic Evidence For Prosodically-Motivated Aspiration, Mckinley Sprinkle

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the production and perception of aspiration in all possible levels of stress and word positions attested under the left-edge prosodic description theorized by Kiparsky (1979), Withgott (1982), and Jensen (2000), as well as in all attested environments for unaspirated voiceless stops. Through the metric of voice onset time (VOT), I phonetically test the realization of aspiration and examine its perception as categorical in several environments that are not acoustically salient. Through a production study and two linked perception studies I provide acoustic evidence in support of the phonological definition of categorical aspiration as prosodically-motivated in English, and …

Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, And England: The Germanic Revival Of The 9th, 10th, And 11th Centuries, Amanda N. Boeing

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.