Phonetics and Phonology Commons^™

Prosodylab-Aligner: A Tool For Forced Alignment Of Laboratory Speech, Kyle Gorman, Jonathan Howell, Michael Wagner

Department of Linguistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The Penn Forced Aligner automates the alignment process using the Hidden Markov Model Toolkit (HTK). The core of Prosodylab-Aligner is align.py, a script which performs acoustic model training and alignment. This script automates calls to HTK and SoX, an open-source command-line tool which is capable of resampling audio. The included README file provides instructions for installing HTK and SoX on Linux and Mac OS X, and can also be run on Windows. During training, the model is initialized with flat-start monophones, which are then submitted to a single round of model estimation. Then, a tied-state 'small pause' model is inserted …

The Effect Of Learning On Sentence Prosody In Japanese, Joanna Baldwin Clark

Linguistics Honors Projects

This study investigates the effect of learning on prosodic production competence in native English L2 speakers of Japanese. Intonation contour and speech rate as indicators of competency were examined. It was hypothesized that more experience with Japanese would lead to more native-like prosody. The study tested the production of fourteen L2 learners, ten non-learners and six native speakers. Participants recorded twenty-three sentences of Japanese. Acoustic data was analyzed for speech rate and fundamental frequency (F0). Results showed that experience is positively correlated with speech rate and not correlated with deviation from the Japanese mean intonation contour.

Sistem Fonetik Dan Fonologi Bahasa Melayu Dan Bahasa Perancis : Satu Analisis Kontrastif Dan Analisis Kesilapan., Roshidah Hassan

Student Works (2010-2019)

This study was undertaken to investigate the similarities and differences of the Malay and French sound systems and to identify what are the problems faced by Malay students when pronouncing the French words. This research also aims to help teachers involved in the teaching of French in Malaysia to have better understanding of what and why Malay students have problems in producing the French sounds. The Contrastive Analysis was conducted based on the approach proposed by Robert Lado (1957). The phonetics and phonological systems of both languages are described systematically and then compared to see the similarities and differences …

Measuring Variations Of Mimicry By Means Of Prosodic Cues In Task-Based Scenarios And Conversational Speech, Brian Vaughan, Celine De Looze

Other resources

Here, we address the measurement of mimicry, that is when speakers’ speech variations look like parallel patterns.

As a definition of mimicry, we often read in the literature description such as mimicry is “The situation where the observed behaviours of two inter-actants although dissimilar at the start of the interaction are moving towards behavioral matching”. These types of descriptions imply that mimicry is a linear phenomenon and that speakers tend to imitate over time. However, it can be assumed, especially when studying spontaneous speech, that there are rather phases of mimicry and non-mimicry and that mimicry should be rather …

Perbandingan Pengujaran Kata-Kata Dua Subdialek Terengganu., Rusidah Abdul Wahab

Student Works (2010-2019)

This is a study on the variation at utterances of residents in Kampung Surau Panjang and Kampung Atas Tol in Mukim Pengadang Buluh, located in Daerah Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, and effects of social interaction on the sound change of their utterances using comparative approach. It is found that final vowel phoneme /a/ in Terengganu dialect (or /au/ in Standard Malay) corresponds with /ɔ/ in Kampung Surau Panjang and /a/ in Kampung Atas Tol. The difference can be attributed to social interaction from the aspects of age, education and economic status of respondents. Sound shift was observed to be predominant in …

I'La:L Dan Ibda:L Dalam Pembentukan Kata Bahasa Arab., Nurul Asyikhin Mohd Hanafiah

Student Works (2010-2019)

This study aims at finding out the close relationship of phonological aspects in the formation of Arabic words through the i„la:l and ibda:l processes. The changes that Arabic words went through while they were being formed were also studied in a great depth. This was done in order to solve any problem which might occur during the changing process that the words went through. The right conceptual framework for the changes was also determined so that it became as a guideline for those who study Arabic. Through this study, the researcher has found out a guideline for all Arabic users …

The Perception Of Arabic-Accented English Vowels., Zhang Fan

Student Works (2010-2019)

Evaluation of speech perception is one of the highly focused research areas in the field of phonetics and phonology. However, there is limited research on the perception of the language produced by the Arabic-speakers of English. Since Arabic is the dominant language, it can be assumed that there is an L1 interference in the English produced by the Arabic speakers. Moreover, with the internationalization of education, there has been an increase in the number of foreign students pursuing their higher education in Malaysia. This provides the rationale for conducting a study on the intelligibility of the English spoken by the …

The Problems Of Perception And Production Of English Sounds By Persian Learners : A Contrastive And Error Analysis., Mohammad Javad Hejazi

Student Works (2010-2019)

The aim of the research presented in the current study is two fold: (i) to describe the phonetic and phonological systems of Persian and English, and (ii) to identify and analyze the errors committed by Persian learners in the perception and the production of English sounds. The research is based on a contrastive analysis of the Phonetic and Phonological systems of the two languages and an error analysis of the problems faced by Iranian students in the perception and pronunciation of the sounds of the English phonetic system. Findings of this study showed underprediction by CA, that is, the contrastive …

The Impact Of Interactive Multimedia Kits And Websites On Self-Directed Learning In Chinese Pronunciation And Tones, Hui-Kuei Hsieh

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined whether interactive multimedia (IM) and interactive websites (IW) have an impact on Millennials' self-directed learning in Chinese pronunciation and tones. A set of multimedia kits and several interactive websites were adopted for the study. Twenty-six volunteer German high school girls were involved in this study and were divided into two groups for two treatment conditions. Condition 1 was that the first group of learners used IM and IW to self-study Chinese pronunciation and tones for 4 weeks. Condition 2 was that the second group of learners used not only IM and IW for self-directed learning but also …

Second Occurrence Focus And The Acoustics Of Prominence, Jonathan Howell

Department of Linguistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Partee (1991) challenged the significance of the observation that certain adverbs (e.g., only) reliably associate with phonologically prominent words to truth‐conditional effect, noting second occurrence (i.e., repeated or given) focus (SOF) appears to lack a phonological realization. Rooth (1996), Bartels (2004), Beaver et al. (2004), Jaeger (2004), and Fry and Ishihara (2005) argued that, while not intonationally prominent, an SOF word can be marked by increased duration and/or increased rms intensity. An acoustic study of verb‐noun homophone pairs is reported. Three sophisticated speakers uttered five repetitions of the targets, embedded in discourses, in first occurrence (FOF), SOF, and unfocused (NF) …

Phonological Facilitation Through Translation In A Bilingual Picture-Naming Task, Paul Amrhein, Aimee Knupsky

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We present a critical examination of phonological effects in a picture-word interference task. Using a methodology minimizing stimulus repetition, English/Spanish and Spanish/English bilinguals named pictures in either L1 or L2 (blocked contexts) or in both (mixed contexts) while ignoring word distractors in L1 or L2. Distractors were either phonologically related to the picture name (direct; FISH–fist), or related through translation to the picture name (TT; LEG–milk–leche), or they were unrelated (bear–peach). Results demonstrate robust activation of phonological representations by translation equivalents of word distractors. Although both direct and TT distractors facilitated naming, TT facilitation was more consistent in L2 naming …

Task-Based Mood Induction Procedures For The Elicitation Of Natural Emotional Responses., Brian Vaughan, Charlie Cullen, Spyros Kousidis, Yi Wang

Other resources

This paper details experimental procedures designed to elicit real emotional responses from participants within a controlled acoustic environment. The experiments use Mood Induction Procedures (MIP’s), specifically MIP 4, to implement a co-operative task using two participants. These cooperative tasks are designed to engender emotional responses of activation and evaluation from the participants who are situated in separate isolation booths, thus reducing unwanted noise in the signal, preventing the participants from being distracted and ensuring a cleanly recorded audio signal. The audio is recorded at a professional level of quality (24bit/192Khz). The emotional dimensions of each audio recording will be evaluated …

Literal/Littoral Crossings: Re-Articulating Hope Atherton’S Story After Susan Howe’S Articulation Of Sound Forms In Time, W. Scott Howard

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Water transforms everything it touches: landscapes, lives & languages. This essay offers a true relation, or a sequence of contiguous reflections—some concentric, others eccentric—provoked by the strange story of Hope Atherton (1646-77), first minister of Hatfield, Massachusetts and protagonist of American poet Susan Howe’s Articulation of Sound Forms in Time (Awede, 1987): his involvement at the battle of Peskeompscut (May 19, 1676) and separation from Captain Turner’s men during their retreat, which became a rout; Rev. Atherton’s crossings of rivers & brooks, his fearful wanderings through woods, around marshes, swamps; his near captivity, miraculous signal escapes, deliverance from …

Phonological Awareness Instruction: Opinions And Practices Of Educators And Speech-Language Pathologists In West Virginia, Melinda J. Daniel

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Research has shown phonological awareness to be a strong predictor of literacy. To support literacy development, a phonological awareness project was piloted in several West Virginia schools in 2001. This study compared WV educators based on employment setting (schools participating and those not participating in the phonological awareness project) and professional category (classroom teacher, reading specialist, speech-language pathologist) on answers to survey questions related to phonological awareness. Results showed no significant relationships between employment setting and responses. However, reading specialists reported spending more minutes per week providing phonological awareness instruction to children at risk for reading difficulty than did speech-language …

Phonological Adaptation Of Spanish Loanwords In Northern Moroccan Arabic, Lotfi Sayahi

Languages, Literatures and Cultures Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, loanword phonology has attracted continuously growing attention as an area able to shed additional light on universal phonological patterns. The contexts and processes of loanword adaptation present a dy namic interaction between two distinct systems allowing for different theo retical interpretations (Paradis, 1996). Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky, 1993) has been suggested as a possible framework to analyze these processes (Yip, 1993; Katayama, 1998; Jacobs and Gussenhoven, 2000). The fact that OT recognizes the difference between languages as a difference in the ranking of the same universal constraints could explain the changes that loanwords may or may …

Consonantal Variation Of Spanish In Northern Morocco, Ruth Scipione, Lotfi Sayahi

Languages, Literatures and Cultures Faculty Scholarship

In former Spanish Morocco, many educated speakers are able to draw upon various phonological systems such as French, Moroccan Arabic, and Modern Standard Arabic in order to pronounce Spanish sounds. However, although the speakers of this study are highly proficient in Spanish, there are still some segmental features that set them apart from a native Spanish speaker. These features include the failure to produce the fricative allophones of bilabial, dental, and velar stops the failure to distinguish between the simple and multiple vibrant trill, and difficulties in producing the palatal nasal. While the Spanish of these Northern Moroccans seems to …

A Dialect Study Of Oregon Norms, Lisa Wittenberg Hillyard

Dissertations and Theses

The pioneers and settlers of the Oregon Territory were not of one ilk. They came from various places and brought their separate speech patterns with them. This study sought to identify which major North American English dialect was present in the first half of the 20^th century in Oregon. Analysis relied on the descriptions for the Southern, Northern, Midlands, and Western dialects. Some dialect features have acoustic measurements attached to their descriptions, and others do not. The analytical process was based on acoustic measurements for vowel classes and individual tokens, as well as global observations about the place of …

Listen To The Beat: Activities For English Pronunciation, Victor Yevmenov

MA TESOL Collection

Suggested in this work is a set of activities for learners of English as a foreign language developed with a special focus on suprasegmentals of connected speech such as rhythm, stress patterning, weak forms, linking, assimilation and elision of sounds. It is designed to meet the needs of teachers of English working with groups of adult and young adult learners whose native language is syllable-timed.

Sistem Fonetik Bahasa Mandarin : Satu Kajian Ke Atas Konsonan Initial Yang Dituturkan Di Kuching, Sarawak, Sheau Ping Wee

Student Works (2000-2009)

This study attempts to investigate the variety of Huayu which exists in a certain group of Chinese speakers in Kuching, Sarawak. In this study, the researcher examined the production of some initial consonants in a variety of Huayu which are different from the initial consonants in Standard Huayu. The present data was obtained through questionnaires, reading tests and literature references. Utterances were recorded in the fonn of continuous text and single syllables in order to identify the pronunciation consistency of the subjects between the two fonns. In this study, a substantial number of utterances were found to differ from that …

A Critique Of Markedness-Based Theories In Phonology, Naomi Gurevich

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

The notion of markedness has been prevalent in phonology since its use by one of the founders of the Prague school of phonology, Trubetzkoy (1939). In contemporary writing it is most often used as a measure of the relative naturalness of linguistic elements. In this paper I explore the use of markedness in phonology literature and argue that it is an ill-defined notion that relies on circular reasoning and, quite often, leads to conflicting or vacuous predictions. Specifically, I question the generative theory-internal notion that markedness is encoded in the grammar. I focus on the multi-dimensional aspect of markedness in …

Phonemic Awareness: One Approach To Individualized Instruction, Kimberly M. Ochs

Masters Theses

This study examined the effectiveness of a recently developed set of individualized lessons for kindergarten children at-risk for reading problems because of limited phonemic awareness skills. Four participants were selected via teacher referral and a score below the 25^th percentile on the Test of Phonological Awareness. Sixteen lessons (focusing on six phonemes) and weekly assessments followed the selection of the participants. Each child was individually instructed in two 10-15 minute sessions each week for eight weeks and then given an assessment at the end of each week. Single case design was utilized to document the effectiveness of the …

Language Attitudes And Academic Achievement: A Study Of Mexican Immigrant Esl Students In The Northwest, Julie Ann Cheshire

Dissertations and Theses

As the population of Mexican immigrant learners continues to increase in the Northwest, an understanding of the cultural, social and psychological realities of these students' lives becomes an ever more important issue for professional language educators, classroom teachers, and school administrators. Our understanding of the needs of these learners will have an important effect on how prepared they are to participate in academic situations and community life.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between language attitudes and ESL learning among young adult Mexican-immigrant learners in one community education program in the Northwest. Learners' values and beliefs …

Reduplication In Southern Paiute And Correspondence Theory, Naomi Gurevich

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

In Southern Paiute, word initial w is realized as a labialized velar nasal intervocalically if it finds itself in such an environment upon morphological concatenation. McCarthy and Prince (1995) argue that a serial analysis of this alternation vis-à-vis reduplication leads to an ordering paradox, but an Optimality Theoretic analysis of the interaction between reduplication and the morphophonemic alternation in the language is able to account for the data. This analysis of Southern Paiute data, along with a handful of other examples in their work, is put forth by McCarthy and Prince as strong evidence in support of Correspondence Theory. I …

The Current Relevance Of Nannul Collatikaram In Modern Tamil, Omonora K. Kathamuthu

Student Works (2000-2009)

Kajian ini adalah mengenai satu buku tatabahasa Tamil, Nannül, yang dikarang oleh seorang sami bernama Pavananti, pada tahun 1200 - 1300 A.D. Buku ini ada dua bahagian besar iaitu fonologi dalam bahagian pertama dan morfologi serta sintaksis dalam bahagian. Buku ini ditulis dalam bentuk sajak. Ia 462 sútra. Ramai pengulas telah menghasilkan ulasan dan keterangan mengenai buku Nannul yang telah menyenangkan jenerasi kini untuk memahami sutra-sutra yang terdapat dalam buku Nannul serta teori-teori dan peraturan-peraturan penulis buku Nannül. Kajian Inl menumpukan kepada bahagian kedua yang memperkatakan tentang morfologi dan sintaksis. Satu tajuk, "pataviyal' daripada bahaglan pertama juga diambll kira sebab …

Perbandingan Antara Bahasa Melayu Baku Dengan Subdialek Perak, Rafiza Abd. Rashid

Student Works (2000-2009)

The purpose of this dissertation is to make a comparison between the standard Bahasa Melayu and Perak subdialect that is the Parit dialect. This dissertation will focus on the phonological aspects such as the vowels, consonants and diphtongs. The methodology used were library research and field work that includes interview. During the interview, the researcher found that the Bahasa Melayu spoke by the respondents is influenced by the Parit dialect. Besides, the students observed also use their dialect in the classroom This affects the activities In the teaching of pronunciation in a Bahasa Melayu class. The different vowels and consonants …

A Study Of The Variant Forms Of Chinese Characters In Jiyun, Lye Hin Lee

Student Works (2000-2009)

This thesis attempts to give an initial etymological, semantics and phonological analysis of the variant forms of the Chinese characters found in a phonology lexicon, Jiyun. The focus of this study is on the comparison among the above-mentioned variant forms and the relevant scripts listed in the ancient Chinese etymological and phonological works, namely, Erya (EY), Shuowen Jiezi (SW), Fangyan (FY), Guangya (GYa), Yupian (YP), Longkan shuojing (LKSJ), Guangyun (GY) and other classical literary works. In the introduction, a brief elaboration of JY with its praises and disparages by the scholars through the ages is given, followed by the scope …

The Effect Of Usage On Degrees Of Constituency: The Reduction Of Don't In English, Joan Bybee, Joanne Scheibman

English Faculty Publications

In this paper we take the position that there are many degrees of constituency and that these derive in a direct manner from the frequency with which elements are used together: elements that are frequently found next to each other show a tighter constituent structure than those that collocate less frequently. We use both phonological and functional evidence from conversation to argue that repetition conditions chunking (Haiman 1994), sometimes overriding the syntactic and semantic logic of the organization of utterances. Our study examines the reduction of don't in American English conversation. We find that don't is reduced the most in …

Phonological Awareness Training: Effects On Phonological Awareness And Reading Skills, Cassie Nelson

Masters Theses

Past research has established that phonological awareness skills are an important precursor to the development of reading (Jenkins & Bowen, 1994; Catts & Karnhi, 1986; Bradley & Bryant, 1978; Frith, 1981). Results of numerous phonological awareness training programs have been published (Ball & Blachman, 1988, 1991; Lundberg, Frost, & Petersen, 1988; Bradley & Bryant, 1983, 1985), however, none have compared the roles of professionals involved in teaching phonological awareness skills. Additionally, the effectiveness of various service delivery models has not been reported. This study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of a phonological awareness training program on kindergarten children's phonological …

Kultúrna Slovenčina Administratívno-Právnych Textov Zo 16. Storočia „Čo S Fonológiou A Morfológiou?“, Mark Richard Lauersdorf

Linguistics Faculty Publications

It is generally accepted that the present-day Slovak standard language was codified in its basic form in the mid 19th century by the Slovak scholar Ľudovít Štúr. A similar, but unsuccessful, attempt to create a standard Slovak language was made by Anton Bernolák in the late 18th century. There is not general agreement, however, on the degree or type of standardization, or better, normalization, exhibited by Slovak texts in the pre-codification period (15th-18th centuries). The present study outlines a new methodological framework for the investigation of the issue of standard language development in early pre-codification Slovak texts, providing selected phonological …

English Sound Stucture [Book Review], Janet Mueller Bing

English Faculty Publications

Review of English Sound Structure, by John Harris. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1994.