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- Keyword
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- Formant Extraction (5)
- Central Minnesota English (4)
- Critical Band Theory (4)
- Masking Analysis (4)
- Speech Synthesis (4)
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- Anyi Language (3)
- Beti (3)
- Betine (3)
- Endangered Languages (3)
- Equal Energy Hypothesis (3)
- F0 (3)
- F2 (3)
- Formant Bandwidths (3)
- Formant Synthesis (3)
- Infant Cry (3)
- JND (3)
- Minnesota English (3)
- Northern Minnesota English (3)
- Vowel space (3)
- Acoustic Correlates of Lexical Stress (2)
- Acoustic Phonetics (2)
- Acoustic Vowel Space (2)
- Acoustic correlates (2)
- Anyi (2)
- Arabic-Accented English (2)
- Arabic-accented English (2)
- Cry Noise (2)
- Developmental Syntax (2)
- Duration (2)
- ELL Composition (2)
- Publication Year
- Publication Type
Articles 1 - 30 of 156
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
An Idiolectal “Voice Report” Analysis Of Single And Double Coda Devoicing In Minnesota English, Ettien Koffi, Nicolas Wollinski
An Idiolectal “Voice Report” Analysis Of Single And Double Coda Devoicing In Minnesota English, Ettien Koffi, Nicolas Wollinski
Linguistic Portfolios
The Voice Report function in Praat makes it possible to calculate the amount of voicing that occurs dynamically within a segment. This function is used here to investigate how Author 2 produces voiced consonants that occur in the codas of 15 words in an elicitation paragraph read at a normal tempo. Some words end with a singleton coda, while others have double codas. When the measurements are interpreted in accordance with F0 and the 40/60 Just Noticeable Difference (JND) thresholds, we see that coda devoicing is pervasive in Author 2’s speech. When the evidence presented here is added to the …
An Acoustic Phonetic Investigation Of Lexical Stress Encoding In Vietnamese-Accented English, Ettien Koffi, David Mason
An Acoustic Phonetic Investigation Of Lexical Stress Encoding In Vietnamese-Accented English, Ettien Koffi, David Mason
Linguistic Portfolios
A psychoacoustic methodology is used to investigate lexical stress encoding by 15 Vietnamese-Accented English (VAE) speakers. In this framework, Just Noticeable Difference (JND) thresholds in F0/pitch, intensity, and duration are used to investigate the strategy that speakers rely on to produce lexical stress. The key finding for VAE speakers is that they rank the three acoustic correlates as follows: F0 (67.61%) > Intensity (54.28%) > Duration (31.42%). According to Nguyen and Ingram (2005) and Nguyen (2017), this hierarchy mirrors the strategy that Vietnamese speakers rely on to encode tone in their native language. Transferring their native prosodic strategy into English affords them …
Accentedness And Intelligibility: The Typical Phonetic Story Of An Lx Couple In The Us, Mahdi Duris
Accentedness And Intelligibility: The Typical Phonetic Story Of An Lx Couple In The Us, Mahdi Duris
Linguistic Portfolios
For the past 20 years, intelligibility research has paved the way in making pronunciation teaching and learning about individual competency rather than sounding like a native speaker. The body of research has empirically shown that language speakers of English (Lx) can be intelligible while sounding heavily accented. However, studies have yet to examine how first-generation immigrant couples from different cultural backgrounds interact with each other using an Lx. A phonetic analysis of an oral transcription is conducted to describe the segmental features of Dominican English (DomE) and Pakistani English (PakE), two Lx English spoken by Tabinda and Tariq, as they …
Klattgrid And Formant-Based Speech Synthesis: Demonstration With Betine, Hannah Loukusa, Jacob Haapoja
Klattgrid And Formant-Based Speech Synthesis: Demonstration With Betine, Hannah Loukusa, Jacob Haapoja
Linguistic Portfolios
In this paper, we describe a method for extracting speech segment features from an audio recording such that speech may be reconstructed while maintaining emphasis and stress with minimal annotation. We also present a script for the linguistic research tool, Praat, for performing this extraction and reconstruction via KlattGrid synthesis [1]. This technique contributes to the ongoing research efforts to preserve the Betine language (ISO 639-3:eot), one of 10 critically endangered languages spoken in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa.
Speech Synthesis By Syllable A Concatenation: Experimentation With Betine, Ettien Koffi, Daniel Fabres, Swathi R. Pingili, Gopikrishna K. Chava
Speech Synthesis By Syllable A Concatenation: Experimentation With Betine, Ettien Koffi, Daniel Fabres, Swathi R. Pingili, Gopikrishna K. Chava
Linguistic Portfolios
The endangerment of minority languages has reached pandemic proportions. No country or continent is spared. The editors of Ethnologue (2019:14-15) report that 2,923 of the world’s 7,111 languages are critically endangered. McWorther (2003:257-8) adds that, statistically speaking, “A language dies roughly every two weeks.” UNESCO (2010) projects that 90% of the world’s indigenous languages will be dead by the end of 2100. In Africa alone, Kandybowicz and Torrence (2017:3) note that 201 languages of the estimated 2000 languages have already died, and 308 others are on the brink of extinction. Minority languages worldwide are in such deplorable conditions that the …
The Acoustic Phonetic Properties Of Voiceless Fricatives In Anyi, Ettien Koffi
The Acoustic Phonetic Properties Of Voiceless Fricatives In Anyi, Ettien Koffi
Linguistic Portfolios
African languages are well endowed with fricatives. Common ones /f, v, s, z, ʒ, ʃ, h /, less common ones /β, ɸ, s’, ç, ɣ, χ, ɦ/, and rare ones /ʃw, ɕ, ɕw , zɥ/ are all found in West African languages (Ladefoged 1968:45-66). Yet, surprisingly, there is a severe paucity of data on the acoustic phonetic properties of fricatives in these languages. This paper seeks to remedy this situation by providing a comprehensive overview of voiceless fricatives in Anyi, an Akan language spoken in Côte d’Ivoire. Twelve correlates, i.e., F0, F1, F2, F3, F4, Center of Gravity, intensity, duration, …
Synthesizers Demonstrated On Betine, Clare Miller, Isabella Randolph
Synthesizers Demonstrated On Betine, Clare Miller, Isabella Randolph
Linguistic Portfolios
This paper provides basic information on developing speech synthesis to help preserve and revitalize critically endangered languages. It uses Betine, (ISO 639-3:eot), as a model. The death of minority languages is escalating globally, and 90% are predicted to die by 2100, which results in the loss of cultural heritage and knowledge. Synthesizing speech in dying and near-extinct languages can preserve and even revitalize them. The paper includes spectrographs and waveforms of the given Beti name transcribed phonetically as [aːɟo]. It also contains voice component measurements and the synthesizing programs used for comparison. The measurements taken from the data include F0/pitch, …
The Acoustic Phonetic Properties Of The Epenthetic Vowel In Spanish-Accented English, Luis Lopez
The Acoustic Phonetic Properties Of The Epenthetic Vowel In Spanish-Accented English, Luis Lopez
Linguistic Portfolios
The purpose of this research paper is to describe the acoustic phonetic features of the epenthetic vowel inserted by Spanish-accented speakers of English in sC syllable onsets. Numerous studies have examined this issue. Many have identified the epenthetic vowel as [ɛ]. However, its true acoustic phonetic identity has not been established. This is the first study of its kind that relies on acoustic phonetic measurements to examine the epenthetic vowel. Formant correlates (F0, F1, F2, F3, F4), intensity, and duration cues are used in revealing the true properties of this epenthetic vowel. The insights derived from this study also have …
Socio-Acoustic Survey Responses To Infant Cry Samples: Why Intensity In Dba Matters The Most, Ettien Koffi, Benjamin Witts
Socio-Acoustic Survey Responses To Infant Cry Samples: Why Intensity In Dba Matters The Most, Ettien Koffi, Benjamin Witts
Linguistic Portfolios
Infant cry researchers, Fairbrother et al. (2019), Collardeau et al. (2019), Rahman et al. (2023), among others, have reported that crying alone triggers unwanted and intrusive thoughts in some postpartum parents, including thoughts of harming their babies. Barr (2014) states unambiguously that crying is the main trigger of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), also referred to as Abusive Head Trauma (AHT). Yet so far, there is no consensus in academic circles as to which acoustic correlate is responsible for triggering these thoughts or actions. Most work to date is concentrated on F0/pitch, though findings about its influence are conflicting. Meanwhile Koffi …
Gamers’ Perception Of Accents And Stereotypes In Video Games, Camille Mcdermott
Gamers’ Perception Of Accents And Stereotypes In Video Games, Camille Mcdermott
Linguistic Portfolios
This paper reports on a research study examining how gamers respond to questions regarding accents used in video gaming. With the increase in technological advances, video games are becoming an intricate part of many people's lives. In this paper, we hope to critically analyze gathered research on the effects of repeatedly using stereotypical accents in video games to see if the continued use has influenced gamers' perceptions of minorities and/or ethnicities. The research will also indicate whether video games impact how gamers view accents in the gaming world and whether they recognize any stereotypical ideas they may have picked up …
A Comprehensive Review Of Formants: Linguistic And Some Paralinguistic Applications, Ettien Koffi
A Comprehensive Review Of Formants: Linguistic And Some Paralinguistic Applications, Ettien Koffi
Linguistic Portfolios
The ability to use Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and spectrographs to disentangle, measure, and visualize formants has had a profound and beneficial impact on fields as varied as signal processing, acoustic phonetics, speech pathology, speech synthesis, and voice biometrics. However, formants are relatively unknown to the average phonologist or linguist. This review is intended to explain the benefits of knowing formants and using them in the description of languages. The focus is on F1, F2, F3, and F4 because they are the most important formants. Yet, passing remarks are made about F5. Elements of the discussions include F0 (pitch) because, …
Editor’S Prologue: Welcome To The 13th Volume, Ettien Koffi
Editor’S Prologue: Welcome To The 13th Volume, Ettien Koffi
Linguistic Portfolios
No abstract provided.
Acoustic Phonetic Verification Of Canadian Raising Of /Ai/ And /Au/ In Minnesota English, Ettien Koffi
Acoustic Phonetic Verification Of Canadian Raising Of /Ai/ And /Au/ In Minnesota English, Ettien Koffi
Linguistic Portfolios
The diphthongs [ɑɪ] and [aʊ] are produced respectively as [ʌɪ] and [ʌʊ] by Canadians. This pronunciation was first mentioned in a primer in Canada in 1890. Joos drew scholarly attention to it in a seminal paper in 1942. It was later dubbed “Canadian Raising” by Chambers (1973). Vance (1987) contends that /aɪ/-raising was heard in Fergus Falls, MN, as far back as 1930s, but said nothing about the occurrence of /aʊ/-raising. The goal of this paper is to discuss the status of Canadian Raising in Minnesota English. Two separate experiments were conducted in which 18 …
Social Network Analysis And The Input Hypothesis: An American English Speaker’S Efforts At Learning Korean As L2, Victoria Lee, Ettien Koffi
Social Network Analysis And The Input Hypothesis: An American English Speaker’S Efforts At Learning Korean As L2, Victoria Lee, Ettien Koffi
Linguistic Portfolios
The influence that social networks have on the acquisition of a second language (L2) has not been investigated as extensively as the influence that classroom instruction has. Yet, throughout the world, people acquire L2s without ever setting foot in a classroom. In this paper, we investigate the social network of Author 1 in her attempt to acquire Korean while teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in South Korea. The analysis revolves around four people in her social network. The interactions that she had with these individuals allow us to investigate any putative correlation that may exist between social network …
An Idiolectal Acoustic Phonetic Analysis Of English Nasal Consonants, Ettien Koffi, Emily Schwintek
An Idiolectal Acoustic Phonetic Analysis Of English Nasal Consonants, Ettien Koffi, Emily Schwintek
Linguistic Portfolios
This study focuses on the acoustic phonetic properties of the nasal segments [m], [n], and [ŋ] found in the words ng, things, maybe, need, not, mom, mat, things, Jenny, meet> produced by Author 2. Seven correlates: pitch/F0, F1, F2, F3, F4, intensity, and duration are extracted from these segments to gauge which ones are robust for intelligibility. The main findings are that F0 and duration are very robust correlates, but F1, F2, F3, F4, and intensity are not consistently reliable for assessing intelligibility. The analyses …
The Acoustic Phonetic Properties Of Singly And Doubly Articulated Stops In Anyi: A Data-Driven Analysis, Ettien Koffi
The Acoustic Phonetic Properties Of Singly And Doubly Articulated Stops In Anyi: A Data-Driven Analysis, Ettien Koffi
Linguistic Portfolios
This paper examines the acoustic phonetic properties of the stop consonants [p, b, t, d, k, g, k͡p, g͡b] in Anyi, an Akan language spoken in eastern Côte d’Ivoire and western Ghana. Twelve acoustic correlates (F0, F1, F2, F3, F4, VOT, intensity, duration, B1, B2, B3, and B4) are extracted from data elicited from 10 participants in order to determine which correlates are robust for speech intelligibility. The findings discussed in the paper are based on 2,880 tokens (10 speakers x 8 words x 3 repetitions x 12 correlates). The investigation serves two purposes. The first is to give an …
Be-Copula And Preposition Omission In Somali L2 English Compositions, Othniel Williams
Be-Copula And Preposition Omission In Somali L2 English Compositions, Othniel Williams
Linguistic Portfolios
As a prospective Minnesota-licensed English as a second language (ESL) teacher, I believe that it is very important that the writing patterns of Somali students are studied because they are a major portion of the population of ESL learners in the state. This study examined three essays that were written by Somali students as part of their writing placement test for college. A plethora of issues were found, but the focus is on orthographic matters, the missing lexical auxiliary and the preposition . The orthographic matters include problems with spelling and capitalization, which are common in all three essays. The …
An Esl Writer’S Difficulties With The Modal Verb , Ettien Koffi, Kaitlin Comfort
An Esl Writer’S Difficulties With The Modal Verb , Ettien Koffi, Kaitlin Comfort
Linguistic Portfolios
Modal verbs present ESL writers with a paradox. They are both easy and difficult to use. In this paper, we investigate how a college-bound L2 writer succeeds and fails in using the modal verb in an essay. Though the analysis is based only on one writer’s mistakes, those who have studied ESL writers’ usage of modal verbs concur that the mistakes made by this student are representative of the struggles that other L2 writers face when using . The writer also has issues with deleting the grapheme when it occurs in the coda of consonant clusters. We examine this orthographic …
Acoustic Phonetic Characteristics Of Disordered Vowels, Ettien Koffi, Paige Gerlach
Acoustic Phonetic Characteristics Of Disordered Vowels, Ettien Koffi, Paige Gerlach
Linguistic Portfolios
In most acoustic phonetic studies, researchers go to great lengths to specify that the participants do not have any speech impediments. These specifications are meant to show that the speech patterns of the talkers qualify as mainstream pronunciation. This is not the case in this study. Author 2 has a noticeable speech impediment. She enrolled in Author 1’s acoustic phonetic course. In this course, students study their own speech patterns in the minutest of details and compare their speech with that of a group of native or nonnative speakers. We do the same with Author 2’s vowels to see how …
Voice Biometrics Fusion For Enhanced Security And Speaker Recognition: A Comprehensive Review, Ettien Koffi
Voice Biometrics Fusion For Enhanced Security And Speaker Recognition: A Comprehensive Review, Ettien Koffi
Linguistic Portfolios
The scope of this paper is purposefully limited to the 15 voice biometrics modalities discussed by Jain et al. (2004). The place of Voice within their classification scheme is reexamined in light of important developments that have taken place since 2010. Additionally, elements are added to Mayhew’s (2018) overview of the history of biometrics as an attempt to fill in missing gaps concerning Voice. All this leads to a reassessment of voice biometrics and how it relates to other biometric modalities. Speech segments that carry extremely high identity vector loads are discussed. The main assertion of this paper is that …
Dialect Variation And Lexical Stress: An Idiolectal Inquiry, Ettien Koffi, Megan C. Dell' Acqua
Dialect Variation And Lexical Stress: An Idiolectal Inquiry, Ettien Koffi, Megan C. Dell' Acqua
Linguistic Portfolios
Ever since Fry (1958) ranked the acoustic correlates of lexical stress as F0 > Duration > Intensity, a controversy has ensued. Some replication studies have agreed with Fry’s ranking, but others have not. It is quite possible that the divergent rankings of correlates may have something to do with dialect variation among the participants in various studies. The evidence for this claim comes from an in-depth study of Author 2’s pronunciation of 14 disyllabic words produced in running speech. Her ranking of the acoustic correlates of lexical stress as F0 > Duration > Intensity agrees with Fry but stands in contrast with the ranking …
Verb Tense Agreement Issues In Somali L2 English Composition, Luis Lopez, Galyna Arabadzhy
Verb Tense Agreement Issues In Somali L2 English Composition, Luis Lopez, Galyna Arabadzhy
Linguistic Portfolios
Creating a piece of writing is an arduous task that presents challenges to both native and non-native speakers of English. Although there is enough material to help learners structure and organize their essays, English language learners (ELL) face surface level and sentence level issues. The purpose of this paper is to investigate two such issues, specifically orthographic and tense agreement mistakes produced by college-bound Somali students. The analyses reveal that phonological L1 transfers can affect orthography, while L1 syntactic structures interfere with tense agreements in complex sentences.
Infant Cry Annoyance Scale And Indexes, Ettien Koffi
Infant Cry Annoyance Scale And Indexes, Ettien Koffi
Linguistic Portfolios
Noise-induced annoyance methodology is applied to infant cry to gauge which of the three acoustic determinants of cries frequency in Hz, intensity in dBA, and duration in hours, minutes, or milliseconds is/are the most annoying to parents and caregivers. The main finding is that in cries, as in many other annoying noises, intensity in dBA is the most aversive correlate. The path leading to this finding is not linear, but rather a tortuous one because many issues and definitions had to be discussed first. In so doing, the smallest unit of a cry had to be established. This led subsequently …
A Comprehensive Review Of Intonation: Psychoacoustics Modeling Of Prosodic Prominence, Ettien Koffi
A Comprehensive Review Of Intonation: Psychoacoustics Modeling Of Prosodic Prominence, Ettien Koffi
Linguistic Portfolios
Bolinger (1978:475), one of the foremost authorities on prosody of a generation ago, said that “Intonation is a half-tamed savage. To understand the tamed or linguistically harnessed half of him, one has to make friends with the wild half.” This review provides a brief explanation for the tamed and untamed halves of intonation. It is argued here that the pitch-centered approach that has been used for several decades is responsible for why one half of intonation remains untamed. To tame intonation completely, a holistic acoustic approach is required that takes intensity and duration as seriously as it does …
Prologue, Ettien Koffi
Let’S Stress It! Investigations Of Saudi Efl Teachers’ Lexical Stress Patterns, Mahdi Duris, Ettien Koffi
Let’S Stress It! Investigations Of Saudi Efl Teachers’ Lexical Stress Patterns, Mahdi Duris, Ettien Koffi
Linguistic Portfolios
Koffi (2019) investigated the acoustic correlates that Arabic L2 speakers of English use to encode lexical stress. This study replicates the same methodology and uses the same acoustic correlates and the same Just Noticeable Difference (JND) thresholds. Whereas Koffi (2019) focused on a general population of Arabic speakers of English, the current study investigates how 10 females Saudi L2 speakers of English who are college professors encode lexical stress. Do they encode lexical stress similarly or differently from the group that Koffi (2019) investigated? What does this entail for the acquisition of suprasegmentals in L2 English?
Do Acoustic Phonetic Correlates Vary In Relation To Grammatical Functions? Exemplification With "Her", Ettien Koffi, Matthew Beckstrand
Do Acoustic Phonetic Correlates Vary In Relation To Grammatical Functions? Exemplification With "Her", Ettien Koffi, Matthew Beckstrand
Linguistic Portfolios
Do speakers produce the same word differently if its grammatical function changes? The word is used to provide some answers. This word is optimal because it is one of a few English words whose orthography and pronunciation remain the same across three grammatical functions. is spelled and pronounced the same when it functions as a direct object, an indirect object, or a possessive adjective. This makes it ideal for investigating any putative correlation between grammatical functions and acoustic phonetic correlates. Twenty (10 females and 10 males) speakers of American English from 10 different states recorded themselves reading the Speech Accent …
Acoustic Phonetic Analysis Of Vietnamese-Accented English Vowels In Running Speech, Ettien Koffi, Cassandra Young
Acoustic Phonetic Analysis Of Vietnamese-Accented English Vowels In Running Speech, Ettien Koffi, Cassandra Young
Linguistic Portfolios
McCrum (2010:285) claims that English has now attained the status of a global language. He therefore coined the term “Globish” to describe the vast reach of English around the globe. He also notes that “Globish will remain the means by which an educated minority of the planet communicates.” On page 232, he attributes the expanding influence of English to capitalism, “The more global capitalism boomed, the more English developed as its preferred medium of communication: contagious, adaptable, populist and subversive. … A global information network, and a global market, require a global language, but one that is not, overtly, the …
Speech Digitalization, Coding, And Nasal(Ized) Vowel Synthesis: Demonstration With Beti, A Critically Endangered Language, Scarlet Dusosky
Speech Digitalization, Coding, And Nasal(Ized) Vowel Synthesis: Demonstration With Beti, A Critically Endangered Language, Scarlet Dusosky
Linguistic Portfolios
It is estimated that 40% of world languages are endangered and that some will go extinct in the near future. There is not enough funding nor interest to preserve all of them. In response to this crisis, experts are experimenting with speech synthesis in the hope of reviving some of them. Their goal is to digitalize these languages and use processing methods similar to those used for Siri and Alexa. This paper highlights the challenges and opportunities in doing so. Beti, (ISO: 639-3-eot), a critically endangered language spoken in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa, is used in this demonstration. The topics …
The Chinks In The Prosodic Classification Of Languages: What Kind Of A Tone Language Is Anyi?, Ettien Koffi
The Chinks In The Prosodic Classification Of Languages: What Kind Of A Tone Language Is Anyi?, Ettien Koffi
Linguistic Portfolios
Delafosse (1900:15-18) remarked more than one hundred twenty years ago that Anyi was not a full-fledged tone language like Yoruba, nor was it an accent language like English or French. Quaireau (1978:217-8) came to the same conclusion regarding the suprasegmental status of Anyi. I concur with them that Anyi is hard to classify suprasegmentally because it straddles the three prosodic types into which world languages are currently classified, namely: tone languages, pitch-accent languages, and accent languages. Six parameters are used to shed some light on why Anyi defies prosodic typologies.