Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Use of phonetics'

Six experiments were conducted to address the role of phonological information in visual word recognition. A semantic decision task was used to ensure that word meanings were accessed. Experiments 1-4 showed that subjects make more false positive errors on homophone foils (e.g. living thing-FLEE) than on spelling controls (e.g. living thing-FLEX) only when both members of the homophone pair are uncommon and are similarly spelled. In Experiment 5, there was an increase in errors on low but not high frequency homophone category exemplars when they were preceded by a word related to the other member of the homophone pair (e.g. SHATTER-BRAKE). In Experiment 6, subjects produced longer decision latencies on homophone exemplars than on semantic controls only when they were low in frequency. These results indicate that, even in skilled readers, phonological information mediates the access of meaning for low frequency words, and that orthographic activation also contributes to the activation of their meanings.

Contemporary studies of media Arabic often pass over issues of media form and the broader relevance of language use. The present thesis addresses these issues directly by examining the language used in Jordanian non-government radio programmes. It examines recordings and transcriptions of a range of programme genres - primarily, morning talk shows and 'service programmes' (barāmiž ḳadamātiyya), and Islamic advice programmes, both of which feature significant audience input via call-ins. The data are examined through an interpretive form of discourse analysis, drawing on linguistic anthropological theory that analyses language as a form of performance, through comparison of radio programmes as 'units of interaction'. This is supported by sociolinguistic data obtained from the recordings, including phoneme frequency analysis, in addition to the author's experience of 6 months of fieldwork in Jordan in 2014-15. The analysis focuses on four major themes: (1) the influence of media context, specifically the sonic exclusivity and temporal evanescence of radio, on language use, as well as the impact of digital media; (2) the indexicality of certain locally salient sociolinguistic variables, and the use to which they are put in radio talk; (3) the role of language in constructing the identity, or persona, of broadcasters; and (4) the role of language in constructing and validating authoritative discourse, in particular that of Islamic texts and scripture in religious programming. Through its analysis of these themes, using selected recording excerpts as demonstrative case studies, this thesis shows that specific strategies of Arabic use in the radio setting crucially affect both the publics - the addressed audiences - of radio talk, as well as the frameworks of participation in this talk - how and to what extent broadcasters and members of the public can participate in mediated discourse. The results demonstrate the unique value of an interpretive study of linguistic performance for highlighting broader social issues, including the inclusion and exclusion of particular segments of the society through linguistic strategies - Jordanians versus non-Jordanians, Ammanis versus non-Ammanis, and pious Muslims versus non-believers; and the use of language to reassert, or occasionally challenge, dominant ideologies and discourses, such as those of gender, nationalism, and religion. This study thus contributes an examination of contemporary Jordanian non-government radio language in its social and political context - something which has not been attempted before, and which provides important insights regarding both the nature of contemporary Arabic media language and its broader social and cultural import.

The development and acquisition of English pronunciation in learners of English is a much neglected area of linguistic study. Research predominantly focuses on the pronunciation skills in adult English learners. However, there is no relevant data pertaining to the pronunciation skills in young English learners. Studies pertaining to pronunciation and oral proficiency are needed in order to fully assess the development and promotion of English language pronunciation in educational settings. It is necessary to encourage the active learning of pronunciation skills in young learners, in order for them to under pin the phonetical and phonological structures of the English language at the earliest stages of their language acquisition. The natural curiosity that young children display for sounds, rhymes and words is a resource that should be exploited by teachers in order to promote and encourage proficient pronunciation at the earliest stage of a child’s Second Language Acquisition (SLA). The current study focuses on the use of nonsense language in Second Language educational settings in order to introduce phonology and phonetics at the earliest stage of English language acquisition to encourage correct pronunciation in young L2 learners of English. The materials chosen for the study are selected verses from Edward Lear’s nonsense ABC. The nonsense ABC is introduced as a teaching/learning tool to help young primary school children in Sweden develop their pronunciation skills and avoid fossilized language patterns at a later stage of Second Language Acquisition. Young language learners need a solid foundation on which to build their language skills in order to develop as mature Second Language learners. The findings of this investigation showed that the introduction of nonsense language as a practical and didactical tool for the development of pronunciation had a positive effect on the development of pronunciation skills in the beginner English Language Learners (ELL) who actively participated in the study.

<p><p><p>This study aimed to identify some of the strategies students used when pronouncing unfamiliar words. Questionnaires were handed out to 94 students in the 9th grade in a medium-sized Swedish town. In addition, two teachers and 13 students were interviewed. The results indicate that the students had acquired some basic knowledge about the English sound system from phonetic training in their past education. However, there seemed to be a tendency among the students to use the trial-and-error strategy to a larger extent than using tools such as phonetic transcription in order to figure out the pronunciation of a word. The results also show that the teachers did not teach planned lessons on pronunciation, but instead it was more common that they responded to errors made by students. In conclusion, the results show that the students' knowledge in pronunciation in general was limited. In addition, there seemed to be a connection between the way the students and the teachers approached pronunciation and the student's ability to solve pronunciation issues.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p></p></p>

Background: Ultrasound Tongue Imaging (UTI) is growing increasingly popular for assessing and treating Speech Sound Disorders (SSDs) and has more recently been used to qualitatively investigate compensatory articulations in speakers with cleft palate (CP). However, its therapeutic application for speakers with CP remains to be tested. A different set of developments, Visual Articulatory Models (VAMs), provide an offline dynamic model with context for lingual patterns. However, unlike UTI, they do not provide real-time biofeedback. Commercially available VAMs, such as Speech Trainer 3D, are available on iDevices, yet their clinical application remains to be tested. Aims: This thesis aims to test the diagnostic use of ultrasound, and investigate the effectiveness of both UTI and VAMs for the treatment of SSDs associated with submucous cleft palate (SMCP). Method: Using a single-subject multiple baseline design, two males with repaired SMCP, Andrew (aged 9;2) and Craig (aged 6;2), received six assessment sessions and two blocks of therapy, following a motor-based therapy approach, using VAMs and UTI. Three methods were used to measure therapy outcomes. Firstly, percent target consonant correct scores, derived from phonetic transcriptions provide outcomes comparable to those used in typical practice. Secondly, a multiplephonetically trained listener perceptual evaluation, using a two-alternative multiple forced choice design, to measure listener agreement provides a more objective measure. Thirdly, articulatory analysis, using qualitative and quantitative measures provides an additional perspective able to reveal covert errors. Results and Conclusions: There was overall improvement in the speech for both speakers, with a greater rate of change in therapy block one (VAMs) and listener agreement in the perceptual evaluation. Articulatory analysis supplemented phonetic transcriptions and detected covert articulations and covert contrast as well as supporting the improvements in auditory outcome scores. Both VAMs and UTI show promise as a clinical tool for the treatment of SSDs associated with CP.

Cette thèse en sociophonétique anglaise combine les approches de la sociolinguistique variationniste et de la phonétique expérimentale pour étudier les rhotiques et la rhoticité en Écosse en anglais écossais standard. Grâce aux analyses auditives de 147 locuteurs écossais et aux analyses acoustiques fines de locuteurs de Dundee et de Kinross, l'extrême variabilité de /r/ a été confirmée dans cette variété d'anglais, y compris pour des locuteurs de la classe moyenne en style de discours contrôlé. Les rôles respectifs des facteurs linguistiques et extralinguistiques ont également été évalués. L'origine géographique et l'environnement phonologique notamment sont des facteurs déterminants pour la réalisation phonétique de /r/, et dans une moindre mesure les facteurs de l'âge et du genre des locuteurs. Ces résultats confirment que la variation est structurée et que le changement phonétique est en cours, avec une réduction progressive des rhotiques en anglais écossais<br>This thesis in English sociophonetics combines the approaches of variationist sociolinguistics and experimental phonetics to study rhotics and rhoticity in Standard Scottish English. With auditory analysis of 14 7 Scottish speakers and fine acoustic analyses of speakers of Dundee and Kinross,the extreme variability of /r/ was confirmed in this variety of English, including for middle-class speakers in controlled speech. The respective roles of linguistic and non-linguistic factors were also evaluated. The geographical origin and phonological environment in particular are decisive factors for the phonetic realization of /r/ and to a lesser extent the factors of the age and gender of the speakers. These results confirm that the variation is structured and that sound change is underway, with a graduai reduction of Scottish English rhotics

Le bribri est une langue chibcha parlée au Costa Rica (Amérique Centrale). Les langues chibcha représentent la principale famille de l’Aire Intermédiaire (Constenla 1991), qui relie la Mesoamérique aux zones amazonienne et andine. Ce sont cependant toutes des langues en danger, encore relativement peu décrites.Cette thèse est une analyse de la phonologie du bribri (Schlabach 1974 ; Wilson 1974 ; Constenla 1981 ; Jara 2004), problématisée autour de ses caractéristiques typologiques :(i) Le système nasal : le bribri fait partie des rares langues du monde dans lesquelles la nasalité n’est pas distinctive pour les consonnes. Les consonnes nasales présentes dans l’output sont le résultat d’harmonies nasales (Cohn 1993 ; Walker 1998, 2001) et d’hypervoisement par abaissement du voile du palais (Iverson &amp; Salmons 1996 ; Solé 2009). Alors que le premier processus avait en partie été décrit pour le bribri (Wilson 1970 ; Constenla 1982, 1985 ; Tohsaku 1987), le second n’avait pas encore été identifié.(ii) La consonne /tk/ : une unité distinctive, combinant deux lieux, sans pour autant être une consonne doublement articulée, contrairement à ce qui avait précédemment été décrit (Lehmann 1920 ; Schlabach 1974 ; Wilson 1974 ; Constenla 1981 ; Jara 2004). Je propose de l’analyser comme une géminée modulée (contour segment, Sagey 1990).La présente étude s’inscrit dans la lignée des travaux qui considèrent que les structures phonologiques doivent être expliquées par des contraintes phonétiques, comme les travaux précurseurs d’Ohala (1975, 1981, 1983). J’utilise plus particulièrement le modèle de la Phonologie Articulatoire (Browman &amp; Goldstein 1986, 1989). Les analyses s’appuient sur des données acoustiques, récoltées dans deux communautés bribri entre 2012 et 2014 (Bajo Coen - Coroma et Amubre).En plus d’une démarche typologique et phonétique, j’adopte une approche dialectale et diachronique, afin de mieux appréhender le système phonologique de la langue<br>Bribri is a Chibchan language spoken in Costa Rica (Central America). Chibchan languages form the main family of the Intermediate Area (Constenla 1991), which links Mesoamerica to the Amazonian and the Andean regions. All of them are endangered and are still under described.This dissertation provides an analysis of Bribri phonology (Schlabach 1974; Wilson 1974; Constenla 1981; Jara 2004) problematized according to its typological characteristics:(i) The nasal system: Bribri is among the few languages in the world to lack distinctive nasal consonants. The nasal consonants present in the output result from nasal harmony (Cohn 1993; Walker 1998, 2001) and hypervoicing through velopharyngeal opening (Iverson &amp; Salmons 1996; Solé 2009). While the first process has been partially described for Bribri (Wilson 1970; Constenla 1982, 1985; Tohsaku 1987), the second has not been individuated in the language.(ii) The consonant /tk/: the consonant /tk/ is a distinctive unit which combines two places of articulation. Contrary to what has been previously described (Lehmann 1920; Schlabach 1974; Wilson 1974; Constenla 1981; Jara 2004), it is not a doubly articulated consonant. I propose to analyse it as a contour geminate consonant (based on the concept of contour segment, Sagey 1990).Following Ohala’s pioneering work (1975, 1981, 1983), this work is based on the assumption that phonological structures must be explained by phonetic constraints. More specifically, I use the Articulatory Phonology frame (Browman &amp; Goldstein 1986, 1989). The analysis is based on acoustic data collected among two Bribri communities, between 2012 and 2014 (Bajo Coen - Coroma and Amubre).Along the typological and phonetic approach, I have adopted a dialectal and diachronical point of view to better capture the phonological system of the language

Cette thèse s'inscrit dans le cadre d'un travail descriptif en phonétique acoustique, avec comme objet d'étude les productions des voyelles du luxembourgeois dans la parole native et non native. L'intérêt est de concilier la variation du luxembourgeois, une langue principalement parlée, composée de nombreuses variétés régionales, évoluant dans un contexte multilingue, et son apprentissage dans le cadre de l'enseignement des langues étrangères au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. Comme nous partons du fait que l'apprentissage d'une langue implique la connaissance des traits contrastifs des sons, nous nous intéressons aux productions de locuteurs dont la langue maternelle possède des traits différents de ceux du luxembourgeois, comme le français, afin de voir si ces traits sont reproduits dans la parole non native. Les productions vocaliques de locuteurs francophones sont étudiées en comparaison aux productions de locuteurs natifs de la région située autour de la capitale du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, dont la variété sert de référence à l'enseignement du luxembourgeois en tant que langue étrangère. Le but de l'analyse est :- d'étendre les descriptions sur les propriétés acoustiques des voyelles produites dans une variété régionale du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg,- de relever les difficultés de productions de locuteurs francophones qui apprennent le luxembourgeois,- d'interpréter les résultats dans le cadre de l'enseignement du luxembourgeois en tant que langue étrangère. Une partie importante du travail empirique a été consacrée à la collecte des données et la création d'un corpus obtenu à travers des enregistrements de 10 locuteurs luxembourgophones et de 10 locuteurs francophones. Le corpus de compose de 12h30 de parole lue et spontanée, incluant de la parole native et non native du luxembourgeois, ainsi que de la parole native du français. Ce corpus constitue un premier corpus sur la parole native et non native du luxembourgeois et permet de faire divers analyses comparatives. Dans notre étude, nous avons fait des analyses acoustiques sur les données de la parole lue. La méthodologie utilisée a permis d'effectuer des comparaisons entre les données de la parole native et non native du luxembourgeois ainsi qu'entre les données de la L1 et la L2 des francophones. Les résultats ont apporté des informations tant sur les productions natives que sur les productions non natives des voyelles. Ils ont montré que, d'un côté, les productions vocaliques varient en fonction des locuteurs, même si ceux-ci parlent la même variété régionale et, d'un autre côté, les locuteurs francophones apprenant le luxembourgeois en niveau B1/B2 ont des difficultés à produire les contrastes en luxembourgeois, à savoir :- la durée des voyelles longues [i:], [e:], [a:], [o:], [u:] et brèves [i], [e], [ɑ], [ɔ], [u],- le timbre de la voyelle longue [a:] et des voyelles brèves [æ] et [ɑ],- le timbre du début des diphtongues [æi], [æu], [ɑi], [ɑu].Ces résultats, ainsi que les descriptions approfondies sur les voyelles dans la parole native, enrichissent non seulement les connaissances sur le luxembourgeois, mais aussi sur la variété servant de référence au luxembourgeois en tant que langue étrangère. En outre, ils ouvrent des perspectives d'étude sur le luxembourgeois en problématisant l'instauration de règles pour ce type d'enseignement, malgré l'absence d'un enseignement suivi de la langue dans les écoles et l'évolution des variétés régionales sur un territoire géographique concentré<br>This thesis is part of a descriptive work in acoustic phonetics, with the aim of studying the productions of Luxembourgish vowels in native and non-native speech. Its objective is to conciliate the variation of Luxembourgish, mainly a spoken language, composed of many regional varieties, evolving in a multilingual context, and the learning of Luxembourgish as a foreign language in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. As we assume the fact that language learning implies knowledge of sound contrast in speech, we investigate the productions of speakers whose mother tongues have different features than Luxembourgish, such as French, to see whether if the contrast are reproduced in non-native speech. Productions of French speakers are compared to those of native speakers from the region around the capital city of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, whose variety serves as a reference to the teaching of Luxembourgish as a foreign language. The purpose of the study is the following :- to extend the descriptions on the acoustic properties of vowels produced in a regional variety of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg,- to highlight the specific difficulties of productions by French learners of Luxembourgish,- to interpret the results regarding the teaching of Luxembourgish as a foreign language.Fieldwork and the creation of a corpus through recordings of 10 Luxembourg speakers and 10 French speakers are an important part of the empirical work. We obtained a corpus of 12 hours and a half of spoken and spontaneous speech, including native speech and not native of Luxembourgish and also native speech of French. This corpus represents a first corpus containing native and non-native speech of Luxembourgish and enables to conduct different comparative studies. In our thesis, we did comparative analyses of the data in read speech. The methodology we used made it possible to compare data of native and non-native speech and also data of the L1 and L2 of French speakers.The results gave information about native and non-native productions of vowels. They showed that, on the one hand, vowel productions vary among speakers, even if these speak the same regional variety and, on the other hand, French speakers who learn Luxembourgish at B1/B2 level have difficulties producing contrasts in Luxembourgish. This concerns :- the quantity of the long vowels [i:], [e:], [a:], [o:], [u:] and short vowels [i], [e], [ɑ], [ɔ], [u],- the quality of the long vowel [a:] and the two short vowels [æ] et [ɑ],- the quality of the beginning of the diphthongs [æi], [æu], [ɑi], [ɑu].These results as well as thorough descriptions of the vowels in native speech, extend knowledge not only of Luxembourgish, but also of the variety which serves as the reference for Luxembourgish as a foreign language. In addition, they open up prospects for studying Luxembourgish by problematizing the introduction of rules for this type of education, despite the absence of language instruction in schools and the evolution of regional varieties in a concentrated geographical area

Cette étude transversale et expérimentale, menée dans une perspective acquisitionniste, porte sur l’appropriation des accents final (AF) et initial (AI) en français L2 par 19 adultes plurilingues turcophones (13 femmes et 6 hommes). Ils sont âgés de 18 à 47 ans, vivent plusieurs mois ou années en France (Normandie) et sont de niveau A1 à C1-­‐C2 en français (CECRL). Étant donné les convergences et divergences entre ces accents AF et AI en français et les accents primaire (A1) et secondaire (A2) en turc concernant leurs places, fonctions et paramètres acoustiques, l’objectif est de voir comment sont réalisés ces accents en français L2 par les locuteurs turcs. L’analyse contrastive des deux systèmes accentuels suggère que, par rapport au français L1, les locuteurs turcs réalisent plus d’écarts phonétiques que d’écarts phonologiques. L’analyse acoustique avec le logiciel Praat des énoncés produits lors de la lecture oralisée d’un corpus contrôlé confirme cette principale hypothèse. Sur le plan phonologique, l’AI et l’AF en français L2 sont bien placés, respectivement en début et fin de mot lexical et de Syntagme Prosodique/Phonologique (SP), avec leur fonction surtout démarcative et les paramètres acoustiques pertinents (surtout F0 et durée). L’AI n’est pas non plus réinterprété comme un A1 turc non final. Mais les locuteurs sont confrontés à deux problèmes importants. D’une part, au niveau phonologique, ils ont des difficultés à réaliser les deux accents du français comme des accents de groupe (le SP vs le Mot Prosodique ou Phonologique/MP en turc). C’est pourquoi ils produisent plusieurs SP courts au lieu de quelques SP longs. Les débutants réalisent aussi des AF sur les mots grammaticaux, inexistants en turc. Enfin, plusieurs locuteurs produisent des pauses après les mots, dues en partie à la tâche choisie : les SP sont en fait souvent des Unités Intonatives (Intonational Phrases/IP). D’autre part, sur le plan phonétique, les locuteurs ont des difficultés à gérer en français les proportions des allongements et des variations de F0, ainsi parfois que l’alignement temporel des pics accentuels par rapport aux syllabes accentuées. Leur sur-­‐ utilisation des accents et des allongements confirme d’autres études, mais ces résultats ne confirment pas entièrement les prédictions de l’Hypothèse de la surdité accentuelle (Dupoux et al. 1997/2010). En effet, les turcophones sont « sourds » aux accents de groupe du français, mais pas à l’allongement des syllabes accentuées. Ces résultats confirment en partie les prédictions de la version modérée de l’Hypothèse de l’Analyse Contrastive (Brown 1987, Flege 1992) : c’est la ressemblance entre l’emplacement final de l’AF français au niveau du SP et de l’A1 turc au niveau du MP qui pose des difficultés. Les résultats confirment surtout les prédictions de l’Hypothèse de la Différence de Marque (Eckman 1977/2008) : l’A1 turc est plus complexe au niveau du mot lexical que l’AF français, c’est pourquoi les locuteurs turcs perçoivent les différences de l’AF français à ce niveau. En revanche, l’AI et l’AF français sont plus marqués car leur domaine de réalisation est le groupe de mots (SP), d’où les difficultés des locuteurs à acquérir ce domaine prosodique<br>This transversal and experimental study conducted from a language acquisition perspective deals with the mastering of final (AF) and initial (AI) accents in L2 French by 19 multilingual L1 Turkish adult speakers (13 women and 6 men). Those speakers are between 18 and 47 years old, have lived for several months or years in France (Normandy) and their skills in French range from A1 to C1-­‐C2 (CECRL). Given similarities and differences between these French final and initial accents and the Turkish primary (A1) and secondary (A2) accents regarding their locations, functions and acoustic features, the aim is to examine how these accents are executed in L2 French by Turkish speakers. A contrastive analysis of accentual systems of both languages suggests that, compared with L1 French, the Turkish speakers make more phonetic differences than phonological ones. The acoustic analysis (made thanks to Praat software) of the utterances produced during the out-­‐loud reading of a controlled corpus confirms this main hypothesis. At the phonological level, the French AI and AF are correctly located, respectively at the beginning and the end of lexical words and Prosodic or Phonological Phrases (PP) with their demarcative function and relevant acoustic features (especially F0 and duration). Also, the AI is not reinterpreted as a Turkish non final A1. However, the speakers struggle with two big issues. On the one hand, at the phonological level, their problem consists in performing both French accents as group accents (PP vs Prosodic or Phonological Word/PW in Turkish). That’s why the speakers make several short PP instead of a few long PP. Secondly, the speakers whose French skills range from A1 to A2 produce also some AF on functional words, which do not exist in Turkish. Finally, many speakers make pauses after words, notably because of the selected task: PP are actually often Intonational Phrases (IP). On the other hand, at the phonetic level, speakers hardly achieve, in French language, the proportions of lengthening and F0 variations and some temporal alignments of the accentual peaks with regard to the accented syllables. Their overuse of accents and lengthening confirms other studies whereas these results do not confirm entirely the predictions of the stress deafness Hypothesis (Dupoux et al. 1997/2010). Indeed, the Turkish speakers are “deaf” to French group accents, but not to French accented syllables lengthening. These results confirm to a certain extent the predictions of the moderate version of the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (Brown 1987, Flege 1992): the similarity between final location of French AF at the level of the PP and Turkish A1 at the level of the PW generates difficulties. In particular, results confirm the predictions of the Markedness Difference Hypothesis (Eckman 1977/2008): Turkish A1 is more complex at the level of the lexical word than French AF. That’s why the Turkish speakers can hear French AF differences at this level. However, French AI and AF are more marked because their domain of realization is the group of words (PP): hence, the difficulties of the speakers to acquire this prosodic domain

L'objectif de ce travail, mené en partenariat avec le Département de Chirurgie Oncologique du Centre Paul Strauss à Strasbourg, est d'évaluer les conséquences d'une chirurgie thyroïdienne sur la voix des patients, afin de déceler les différentes perturbations qu'entraîne cette opération chirurgicale, et de mettre au jour les possibles stratégies de compensation ou de réajustements que le patient peut mettre en place, seul ou à l'aide d'une rééducation orthophonique ; il s'agit d'une étude longitudinale. L'évaluation reposait sur l'analyse de signaux acoustiques, à partir desquels une quantité importante d'indices relatifs à la qualité vocale, mais aussi aux comportements articulatoires des locuteurs, a pu être extraite. La production de voyelles soutenues a permis de conduire deux études spectrales. L'étude spatio-temporelle a été rendue possible grâce à l'analyse de logatomes, et plus précisément de séquences VCV. Nous avons mené trois expériences sur le plan acoustique. La première expérience traite des caractéristiques spectrales de la voix de patients ayant subi une thyroïdectomie et ne présentant pas d'immobilité laryngée. La deuxième étude est menée à partir des caractéristiques spectrales de la voix de locuteurs présentant une immobilité laryngée post-thyroïdectomie. Enfin, notre dernière expérience a pour objet, l'étude des caractéristiques spatio-temporelles de la voix de locuteurs qui ont subi une thyroïdectomie et présentant une immobilité laryngée. L'interprétation articulatoire, effectuée à partir des données acoustiques, révèle des perturbations aussi bien des gestes glottiques que des gestes supraglottiques, avec des stratégies de réajustements variables suivant les patients. La conception d'une " cible ", comme espace de contrôle pour la réalisation de possibles articulatoires et acoustiques perceptivement acceptables, semble particulièrement pertinente ici, dans la mesure où les locuteurs pathologiques réorganisent leurs productions selon leurs propres contraintes physiologiques et anatomiques, provoquées par leur pathologie.

Els instruments musicals digitals es descomponen usualment en dues parts: la interfície d'usuari i el motor de síntesi. Tradicionalment la interfície d'usuari pren el nom de controlador musical. L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és el disseny d'un interfície que permeti el control de la síntesi de sons instrumentals a partir de la veu cantada.<br/><br/>Amb la present recerca, intentem relacionar la veu amb el so dels instruments musicals, tenint en compte tan la descripció del senyal de veu, com les corresponents estratègies de mapeig per un control adequat del sintetitzador.<br/>Proposem dos enfocaments diferents, d'una banda el control d'un sintetitzador de veu cantada, i d'altra banda el control de la síntesi de sons instrumentals. Per aquest últim, suggerim una representació del senyal de veu com a gests vocals, que inclou una sèrie d'algoritmes d'anàlisis de veu. A la vegada, per demostrar els resultats obtinguts, hem desenvolupat dos prototips a temps real.<br>Los instrumentos musicales digitales se pueden separar en dos componentes: el interfaz de usuario y el motor de sintesis. El interfaz de usuario se ha denominado tradicionalmente controlador musical. El objectivo de esta tesis es el diseño de un interfaz que permita el control de la sintesis de sonidos instrumentales a partir de la voz cantada.<br/><br/>La presente investigación pretende relacionar las caracteristicas de la voz con el sonido de los instrumentos musicales, teniendo en cuenta la descripción de la señal de voz, como las correspondientes estrategias de mapeo para un control apropiado del sintetizador. Se proponen dos enfoques distintos, el control de un sintetizador de voz cantada, y el control de la sintesis de sonidos insturmentales. Para este último, se sugiere una representación de la señal de voz como gestos vocales, incluyendo varios algoritmos de analisis de voz. Los resultados obtenidos se demuestran con dos prototipos a tiempo real.<br>Digital musical instruments are usually decomposed in two main constituent parts: a user interface and a sound synthesis engine. The user interface is popularly referred as a musical controller, and its design is the primary objective of this dissertation. Under the title of singing-driven interfaces, we aim to design systems that allow controlling the synthesis of musical instruments sounds with the singing voice. <br/><br/>This dissertation searches for the relationships between the voice and the sound of musical instruments by addressing both, the voice signal description, as well as the mapping strategies for a meaningful control of the synthesized sound. <br/>We propose two different approaches, one for controlling a singing voice synthesizer, and another for controlling the synthesis of instrumental sounds. For the latter, we suggest to represent voice signal as vocal gestures, contributing with several voice analysis methods.<br/>To demonstrate the obtained results, we developed two real-time prototypes.

In linguistic research, current practices of recording audio data involves a mixture of analogue and digital technologies giving little forethought to methodological issues and insight into the consequences of using one technology over the other. Analogue recorders are inherently flawed and are not ideal for acoustic analysis. With the introduction of digital recorders into the consumer market, it is difficult to decide which recorder is best suited for linguistic and acoustic analysis. The MiniDisc, introduced by Sony in 1992, is a magneto-optical recorder that offers 'CD-like' quality, in a compact and shock-resistant system, thus making it a potential tool for linguistic field research. However it is not known how the psycho-acoustically based compression system, ATRAC, affects the spectrum of speech sounds. This thesis compares the MiniDisc with a DAT recorder and analyses the differences using spectral and spectrographic analyses. In addition, this thesis tries to establish sound practices for using the MiniDisc in linguistic research.

Fourteen-month-old infants raised in a monolingual English environment confuse phonetically similar words in a word-object association task (Stager & Werker, 1997); however, older infants, who are more proficient at word learning, do not (Werker, Corcoran, Fennell, & Stager, 2000). This temporary confusion of phonetic detail occurs despite the fact that 14- month-old infants still have the ability to discriminate native language phonemes in speech perception tasks not involving word learning. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that 14- month-olds fail because linking words to objects is difficult at the beginning stages of word learning, leaving infants with insufficient attentional resources to listen closely to the words. Extending this hypothesis to infants raised in a bilingual environment generates two possibilities. (1) Bilingual infants will not show the temporary deficit at 14 months. As a function of growing up with two languages, they will have already developed a greater awareness of the sounds of words because more detail is needed to discriminate words in two languages. (2) Bilingual infants will perform at least as poorly as infants being raised with only English because of the cognitive load of learning two languages. Bilingual infants of 14 months were tested in the word-object association task using the phonetically similar labels 'bih' and 'dih' paired with two distinct and colourful moving objects. Following habituation, infants were tested on their ability to detect a 'switch' in the word-object pairing. Bilingual language exposure was assessed with a structured parental interview. The 16 infants included in the sample had been exposed to two languages from birth and had at least 30% exposure to one language and no more than 70% to the other. The results showed that, like the monolingual-learning infants of the same age, the 14-month-old bilingual-learning infants confused similar sounding words. These data are consistent with the cognitive load hypothesis, and argue against the proposition that early bilingual exposure facilitates metalinguistic awareness. Future research with slightly older bilingual word learners who have reached the age at which monolingual infants can successfully learn phonetically similar words will help to clarify if these bilingual infants maintain, or diverge from, a monolingual pattern of development.

碩士<br>國立臺南大學<br>教育學系課程與教學碩士班<br>95<br>The study is aimed at the use of Minan language spellings in the elementary schools of Tainan and the teaching difficulties. Besides, three phonetic systems, Taiwanese Romanization, TLPA, and Universal Phonetics are discussed. The opinions of professors and teachers are also collected. Finally, “The Program of Taiwanese Romanization Phonetic System” announced by National Language Committee on October 14th 2006 is discussed. After Minan language phonetic system is settled, the opinions of professors and teachers, the reasons it is chosen, and the difficulties we may meet are discussed. According to the research purpose, literature analysis, survey, and interview are used in the study. Textbook publishers, professors, and teachers are interviewed. In addition, the official documents of Ministry of Education are analyzed, discussed and concluded. The research results are as following: 1. The highest usage proportion in the elementary schools of Tainan in 2006 is TLPA, then is Universal Phonetic, and the last one is Taiwanese Romanization. 2. The teaching difficulties in the elementary schools of Tainan are students learn different phonetic systems, the incorrect pronunciation, and the low willingness of learning. 3. The professors and teachers think that the history of Taiwanese Romanization is the longest, and has rich literature; TLPA is more convenient for document management; the symbol use of Universal Phonetics has some defects. The difference is if the use of Universal Phonetics is similar to the pronunciation in English. 4. The professors and teachers have positive attitude toward the union of the phonetics system. 5. The reasons why Ministry of Education chooses Taiwanese Romanization are universal, convenience, cultural continuity, learning effectiveness, exactness of phonetics, and systematization. 6. After the phonetics system is united, Minan language teachers are all concerned about the measures. 7. The professors and teachers think the words of Minan language will be the next issue.

The present study was designed to examine differences between subtypes of readers and spellers in their performance on several phonological, orthographic, and memory tasks. A central question involved whether subtypes of readers and spellers could be distinguished based on their performance across the tasks administered. Based on their performance on a standardized achievement test, fourth and fifth grade children (N=50) were classified as having no difficulties with reading and spelling (good readers and spellers), difficulties with spelling, but not reading (mixed readers and spellers), or difficulties with both reading and spelling (poor readers and spellers). Each student was given a series of tasks to assess their use of phonological and orthographic information for memory and spelling. These tasks included: 1) rhyme judgment, 2) cued recall, 3) reading pronounceable pseudowords, 4) deciding which of. two pseudowords looks most like a real word, and 5) reporting on the kinds of strategies used to spell words. An error analysis was also conducted. Students with reading and spelling difficulties performed consistently lower than good and mixed readers and spellers on tasks assessing their use of phonological information. Good and mixed readers and spellers were not distinguishable on these tasks. Students with no reading and spelling difficulties or with spelling difficulties only performed better than poor readers and spellers on some tasks assessing orthographic processing. Specifically, mixed readers and spellers were distinguishable from good readers and spellers by their poorer recall of visually similar words. Good and poor subtypes were not distinguishable on this task. Poor readers and spellers also achieved comparable scores to the good and mixed readers and spellers on a measure of orthographic awareness. Overall results provided evidence supporting subtypes of reading and spelling ability groups. Students with no reading and spelling difficulties, or difficulties with spelling but not reading were similar in their use of phonological information. However, students with reading and spelling difficulties were more similar to the good readers and spellers in their use of orthographic information in memory. The findings from the present study have implications to subsequent research examining spelling ability, provide further evidence of the unique processing characteristics of the paradoxical good reader but poor speller, and suggest the possibility of unique programming needs to remediate spelling difficulties in mixed and poor readers and spellers.

This study hypothesizes that the Epenthetic Vowel (EV) that occurs in Spanish consonant clusters, although produced unconsciously, is part of the articulatory plan of the speaker. As part of the plan, the epenthetic vowel occurs more often in the least perceptually recoverable contexts in order to enhance them. To achieve a better understanding of the role of the epenthetic vowel, this study shows that the linguistic and phonotactic contexts condition the occurrence of these vowels. Specifically, it argues that linguistic and phonotactic contexts that are perceptually weak compel a significantly higher occurrence of EVs. The EV was analyzed from both production and perceptual standpoints. The results show that from the production standpoint, the occurrence of the EV is affected by the type of liquid that forms the clusters: in clusters with /r/ the variables that made a statistical contribution were post-tonic position (odds ratio, 4.46), and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 1.42). In the case of clusters with /l/ an EV has a higher probability of occurring in the context of bilabial consonants (odds ratio, 4.19), and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 1.3). As for the effects of speech rate on the duration of EVs, the results show that speech rate accounts for 14% of the variation in an EV’s length. From the standpoint of perception, listening was divided into the tasks of perceptual identification and perceptual discrimination. The results show that the strongest predictor is the interaction voiceless x post-tonic position (odds ratio, 4.8). For the identification of the Cr clusters, the strongest predictor is the context of voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 4.42). Regarding identification of the Cl clusters, the strongest predictors are the tonic position (odds ratio, 1.54) and the labial place of articulation (odds ratio, 1.39). With regard to the discrimination of the Cr clusters, the strongest predictors for perceptual recoverability are the interaction voiceless x post-tonic position (odds ratio, 2.22), and the labial place of articulation (odds ratio, 1.37), while for the Cl cluster, the strongest predictors are the tonic position (odds ratio, 5.83) and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 3).

Although spoken dialogue systems have greatly improved, they still cannot handle communications involving unknown topics. One of the problems is, that they experience difficulties when they should pronounce unknown words. We will investigate methods that can improve spoken dialogue systems by correcting the pronunciation of unknown words. This is a crucial step to provide a better user experience, since for example mispronounced proper nouns are highly undesirable. Incorrect pronunciation is caused by imperfect phonetic representation of the word. We aim to detect incorrectly pronounced words, use knowledge about the pronunciation and user's feedback and correct the transcriptions accordingly. Furthermore, the learned phonetic transcriptions can be added to the speech recognition module's vocabulary. Thus extracting correct pronunciations benefits both speech recognition and text-to-speech components of the dialogue systems.