This dissertation investigates the phonetic and phonological characteristics of Danish stop consonants, with particular focus on their diachronic origin and synchronic variation. Using data... Show moreThis dissertation investigates the phonetic and phonological characteristics of Danish stop consonants, with particular focus on their diachronic origin and synchronic variation. Using data-oriented and statistical methods, it fills empirical gaps in phonetic research on Danish stops and in doing so contributes to our understanding of the overall sound system of the language.The dissertation reports the results of a number of studies which combine spontaneous speech corpora with state-of-the-art techniques in statistical modeling. Topics considered include intervocalic voicing, which is shown to be rare in all stops and in almost all phonetic contexts, and affrication of aspirated stop releases, which is shown to be strongly dependent on place of articulation. The dissertation also investigates a range of phonetic parameters in a legacy corpus of traditional varieties of Jutland Danish, with the results showing systematic regional variation even in minute acoustic details. Show less
One long-neglected fact in linguistic research on Standard Chinese (SC) is that most speakers of SC also speak a local dialect, which may share phonological features with SC. Tonal information can... Show moreOne long-neglected fact in linguistic research on Standard Chinese (SC) is that most speakers of SC also speak a local dialect, which may share phonological features with SC. Tonal information can be a determinant of the phonological similarities or differences between some Chinese dialects and SC, yet relatively little empirical research has been conducted on the tonal system of other language varieties in Chinese aside from SC. Among these dialects, Xi’an Mandarin (XM) is particularly interesting for the seemingly simple, yet intricate mapping between its lexical tones with those in SC. In this study, the tonal systems of XM and SC were compared empirically. Tones with similar contours from XM and SC were paired, and both tone production and perception experiments were car- ried out on bidialectal speakers of XM and SC. The two experiments together showed that there is indeed systematic mapping of tones between XM and SC. The degree of similarity of the mapped tone pair in tone perception was largely dependent on the acoustic phonetic similarity between the tones in tone production, with a phonological rule playing a role in the tone pair of low contour. Show less
Second language (L2) learners often face difficulties while learning L2 sounds. Evidence suggests that difficulties in learning L2 sounds are affected by the first language (L1). Given the... Show moreSecond language (L2) learners often face difficulties while learning L2 sounds. Evidence suggests that difficulties in learning L2 sounds are affected by the first language (L1). Given the prominent status of English as a foreign language in the multilingual context of Indonesia, it is important to investigate whether Javanese and Sundanese learners of English show systematic problems in learning English. The results could not only serve as a test of L2 speech learning models, but also improve English education in Indonesia. Therefore, speech production and perception experiments were carried out to investigate both the L1 vowel systems- and the pattern of L2 acquisition problems. The results showed that English vowel perception and production is difficult for Javanese and Sundanese learners of English. The L2 speakers do not accurately perceive the new L2 vowels /ɑː, ʌ, æː, ε, ɪ, ʊ/ and the similar L2 vowels /iː, uː/. They also have difficulty contrasting intended vowels using spectral parameters. In terms of pronouncing English vowels, the L2 learners are likely to shorten both long and short English vowels. This research recommends that teachers of English design vowel identification tasks to improve their sound perception of the English vowels. Show less
The most prominent prosodic feature of tonal languages such as Standard Chinese is their use of pitch to distinguish lexical meanings (i.e., tone). However, speech ambiguity arises in Standard... Show moreThe most prominent prosodic feature of tonal languages such as Standard Chinese is their use of pitch to distinguish lexical meanings (i.e., tone). However, speech ambiguity arises in Standard Chinese because the same pitch contour can also cue another linguistic function (i.e., intonation) in the same linguistic system. As most Standard Chinese speakers also speak a local Chinese dialect, speech ambiguity can further arise when the same or similar pitch contours cue the same linguistic function (e.g., tone), but different categories of that function in two linguistic systems of a bi-dialectal speaker. This dissertation investigates how pitch is processed within a linguistic system (i.e., Standard Chinese) and across two linguistic systems (i.e., Standard Chinese and Xi’an Mandarin) when the same pitch contour cues different linguistic functions (i.e., tone and intonation) or different categories of the same linguistic function (i.e., tone). Show less
This study describes the effects of prominence and boundary on the temporal and melodic structures of two Indonesian languages, viz. Toba Batak, a stress language and Betawi Malay, a non-stress... Show moreThis study describes the effects of prominence and boundary on the temporal and melodic structures of two Indonesian languages, viz. Toba Batak, a stress language and Betawi Malay, a non-stress language. Experimental evidence shows that lengthening effects were more than twice as strong in the non-stress Betawi Malay as in Toba Batak. Durational prominence effects in Toba Batak are comparable to those found in western stress language at the word level, but not at the lower levels: stress syllables, especially consonants are hardly affected. Arguably, the use of duration as a stress correlate is restricted by the phonemic consonant contrast in the language. To compensate for this, prominence-related pitch movements, which are connected to the stressed syllable, occur in non-prominent as well as prominent words in Toba Batak. In Betawi Malay, prominence-related pitch movements are larger but vary considerably in shape and position; they serve to cue accents and boundaries, but not stress position. To determine the audible consequences of the native language for the production of Dutch stress, three perception experiments were run. The native language clearly affects the prosody of second-language speech. Toba Batak speakers of Dutch sound more acceptable to Dutch listeners than Betawi Malay speakers do. Show less
This thesis describes several patterns of phonetic variation in Sign Language of the Netherlands. While lexical variation between different regions has been found in the Netherlands, little is... Show moreThis thesis describes several patterns of phonetic variation in Sign Language of the Netherlands. While lexical variation between different regions has been found in the Netherlands, little is known about phonetic or phonological variation. Phonetic variation in the realization of some of the traditional handshape and orientation features is analyzed in detail. Furthermore, data were elicited from different registers: short-distance signing (__whispering__) was compared to long-distance signing (__shouting__). Results show that differences between registers lead not only to variation in movement size, but also to changes in the traditional phonological categories. In enlarged realizations, as in shouting, handshape and orientation changes may be enhanced by a location change; in reduced forms, as in whispering, location changes may be realized as changes in orientation or handshape. While the distinction between the three parameters handshape, orientation and location remains valid, it is argued that their definition needs to be stated in global perceptual targets rather than in detailed articulatory terms in a comprehensive analysis of the various differences between registers. The data thus provide evidence for a strict separation of perceptual and articulatory characterizations of signs. The lexical specification contains only perceptual targets. The variation is thus not generated by a phonological process, but is a matter of phonetic implementation. Show less
