http://www.gipsa-lab.grenoble-inp.fr/~jean-luc.schwartz/fichiers_public_JLS/fichiers_pdf/Schwartz_Boe_JPhonetics1997_1.pdf

Major trends in vowel system inventories

The search for universal tendencies in the languages of the world is a necessary anchor point for any theoretical approach to phonetics. The present typology of vowel systems aims to provide material for testing substance-based theories, including, among others, the Dispersion-Focalization Theory of vowel systems presented in a companion paper (Schwartz, Boe, Vallee & Abry, this issue). It is focused on the economy of vowel systems, specifically the way a system of vowels functions as a whole, and the way vowels interact within a given system. The UPSID (UCLA Phonological Segment Inventory Database, Maddieson, 1984) inventory is analyzed using an original methodology, with the following main results. 1. Vowel systems first exploit a primary system of sounds; with more than 9 vowels, there is a clear trend for exploiting at least one new dimension (secondary systems). 2. Primary systems mainly contain 3 to 9 vowels, and secondary systems 1 to 7 vowels, both with a preference for 5 vowels. 3. In both primary and secondary systems, vowels are mainly concentrated at the periphery. For peripheral systems, symmetry (same number of front and back vowels) is the rule; if there is an asymmetry, the number of front vowels is generally greater than the number of back vowels. 4. For interior vowels in primary systems, central vowels are preferred; among non-central vowels, front rounded vowels are twice as frequent as back unrounded ones. 5. Schwa is the preferred interior vowel, and it does not seem to interact with other sounds within vowel systems.

http://www.summer10.isc.uqam.ca/page/docs/readings/BOE_Louis-Jean/Boe_et_al_J_Phonetics_2002.pdf

The potential Neandertal vowel space was as large as that of modern humans

The development of speech from infancy to adulthood results from the interaction of neurocognitive factors, by which phonological representations and motor control abilities are gradually acquired,...

Role of vocal tract morphology in speech development: perceptual targets and sensorimotor maps for synthesized French vowels from birth to adulthood.

The present article aims at exploring the invariant parameters involved in the perceptual normalization of French vowels. A set of 490 stimuli, including the ten French vowels /i y u e o o E oe (inverted c) a/ produced by an articulatory model, simulating seven growth stages and seven fundamental frequency values, has been submitted as a perceptual identification test to 43 subjects. The results confirm the important effect of the tonality distance between F1 and f0 in perceived height. It does not seem, however, that height perception involves a binary organization determined by the 3-3.5-Bark critical distance. Regarding place of articulation, the tonotopic distance between F1 and F2 appears to be the best predictor of the perceived front-back dimension. Nevertheless, the role of the difference between F2 and F3 remains important. Roundedness is also examined and correlated to the effective second formant, involving spectral integration of higher formants within the 3.5-Bark critical distance. The results shed light on the issue of perceptual invariance, and can be interpreted as perceptual constraints imposed on speech production.

/pdf/auditory-normalization-of-french-vowels-synthesized-by-an-49cmt1smoa.pdf

Auditory normalization of French vowels synthesized by an articulatory model simulating growth from birth to adulthood.

Maximal vowel space.

Perceptual contract and stability in vowel systems: a 3-d simulation study.

Une voyelle peut etre caracterisee par ses trois premiers maxima spectraux, les formants ; mais toutes les combinaisons F1 F2 F3 ne sont pas possibles : l'ensemble des voyelles humainement productibles est contenu dans l'Espace Vocalique Maximal. Le but de ce travail est d'analyser quelles sont les causes acoustiques et les contraintes articulatoires qui sont a l'origine des caracteristiques de cet espace et d'en proposer une description bi- et tridimensionnelle.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/jpa-00230411/document

Espace vocalique maximal

A two-mass model of the vocal cords is controlled by physiological control parameters : subglottal pressure, mass and stiffness of the vocal cords. Their values, specified in the frame of this study, are investigated by an indirect method and a statistical proceeding. Several kinds of models are considered. Each of them can give, with different stiffness, a right shape corresponding to the volume velocity signal. A simplified control is proposed. The characteristics of the glottal flow (waveform, duty ratio, frequency, intensity) are specified according to the control parameters. Results show that the two-mass model, with the proposed control parameters, duplicates principal features of cord behavior in the human.

Bernard Guérin

Papers

Maximal vowel space.

Perceptual contract and stability in vowel systems: a 3-d simulation study.

Espace vocalique maximal

A two-mass model of the vocal cords: Determination of control parameters and their respective consequences