Showing papers on "Syllable published in 1990"

Constituent structure and government in phonology

Abstract: Our aim in this paper is to address certain empirical and conceptual issues in the theory of Universal Phonology. Specifically, we will formulate a number of proposals aimed at characterising the notion ‘possible syllable' and ‘possible word'. The principles we will lay out follow from what we see as a unified theory of phonological government.The introduction of the notion of multi-levelled representations, as well as the recognition of constituent structure organisation in phonology, has allowed for a shift from mainly segment-internal, paradigmatic considerations to the study of syntagmatic relations holding between phonological units. What is now required is nothing less than a syntax of phonological expressions.

Articulation rate and the duration of syllables and stress groups in connected speech

Abstract: Further analyses have been made on readings of two scripts by six talkers [T. H. Crystal and A. S. House, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 72, 705–716 (1982); 84, 1932–1935 (1988); 83, 1553–1573 (1988)]. Durations of syllables and stress groups are compared to earlier data and various pertinent published reports, and are used to evaluate reports of articulation rate variability. The average durations of syllables of different complexity have a quasilinear dependency on the number of phones in the syllable, where the linear factor and the vowel durations are functions of stress. The duration of stress groups has a quasilinear dependency on the number of syllables and the number of phones. It was found that variability of articulation rate, measured as the average syllable duration for interpause intervals (runs), is not random, but is the natural consequence of the content of the run. Durations of comparable runs of different talkers are highly correlated. Major determinants of average syllable duration are the average...

Syllable recognition system

Abstract: Syllables are recognized in voice data obtained from an input voice signal. Character arrays are used to represent the types and time frames of syllables with which the voice data are compared.

The use of rhythm in attending to speech.

Abstract: Three experiments examined attentional allocation during speech processing to determine whether listeners capitalize on the rhythmic nature of speech and attend more closely to stressed than to unstressed syllables. Ss performed a phoneme monitoring task in which the target phoneme occurred on a syllable that was either predicted to be stressed or unstressed by the context preceding the target word. Stimuli were digitally edited to eliminate the local acoustic correlates of stress. A sentential context and a context composed of word lists, in which all the words had the same stress pattern, were used. In both cases, the results suggest that attention may be preferentially allocated to stressed syllables during speech processing. However, a normal sentence context may not provide strong predictive cues to lexical stress, limiting the use of the attentional focus.

Acquisition of Speech Production: The Achievement of Segmental Independence

Abstract: As a primate communicative event, the repetitive, rhythmic, open-close alternation of the mandible, accompanied by phonation, is observable in three forms; some variants of the lipsmack, which is widespread in other primates, the initial babbling of human infants, and the production of the syllables of adult speech. In the first two of these, successive cycles tend to be uniform but in the third there is a highly variegated pattern in successive cycles. Adult segmental serial ordering errors, (e.g. spoonerisms) the effects of which are strongly constrained in terms of syllable structure, suggest that variegation is achieved by placement of independently controlled “Content” elements in syllable “Frames”. This paper considers implications of the view that development of infant communicative vocalizations from initial reduplicated babbling to variegated babbling and then to speech, primarily involves a gradual functional differentiation of segmental and subsegmental content elements from a phylogenetically prior basis consisting of ‘pure’ syllable frames; that is, mandibular oscillations without internal articulatory modulation.

Perception of Synthesized Audible and Visible Speech

Abstract: The research reported in this paper uses novel stimuli to study how speech perception is influenced by information presented to ear and eye. Auditory and visual sources of information (syllables) were synthesized and presented in isolation or in factorial combination. A five-step continuum between the syllables ibal and idal was synthesized along both auditory and visual dimensions, by varying properties of the syllable at its onset. The onsets of the second and third formants were manipulated in the audible speech. For the visible speech, the shape of the lips and the jaw position at the onset of the syllable were manipulated. Subjects’ identification judgments of the test syllables presented on videotape were influenced by both auditory and visual information. The results were used to test between a fuzzy logical model of speech perception (FLMP) and a categorical model of perception (CMP). These tests indicate that evaluation and integration of the two sources of information makes available continuous ...

Syllable structure assignment in Polish

Abstract: This study deals with syllable structure in Polish. The central theme is the question of when and how syllabification rules apply in the lexical phonology of Polish. In § i we lay the ground for our subsequent discussion by giving the basic syllable patterns of Polish. We also propose here a first version of the syllabification algorithm for Polish. In §2 we show that syllabification applies cyclically, because certain cyciic phonological rules make crucial use of information about the prosodic structure of their potential inputs. § 3 then shows that the syllabification algorithm has to apply both before and after the application of cyclic phonological rules on one cycle, and that syllabification is therefore a continuous process. In § we argue that the syllabification algorithm proposed in § i must be modified to enable us to predict whether a high [-consonantal] segment will surface as a vowel or as a glide. Since the distinction between vowels and glides is crucial for the application of certain cyclic phonological rules of Polish, this again shows that syllabification has to apply cyclically. § defends the hypothesis that resyllabification is restricted to Coda Erasure (and the subsequent syllabification of the desyllabified consonants). Again, the (un)predictability of the vowel/glide distinction plays a crucial role here. We summarise our conclusions in §6

Tone, syllable structure and interlanguage phonology: chinese learners' stress errors

Abstract: Dieser Artikel analysiert die Rolle von Tonhöhe (pitch) und Sübenstruktur bei Betonungsfehlern, die von Chinesen mit Englisch als Fremdsprache gemacht werden. Bei diesen Lernenden hängen Betonungsfehler besonders mit der Silbenstruktur der Lexeme und der Stellung der lexikalischen Elemente im Satzrhythmus zusammen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Analyse deuten u.a. daraufhin, daß die segmentalen phonetischen Elemente beim künstlichen Zweitsprachenerwerb vor den prosodischen Mustern erlernt werden, also in der umgekehrten Reihenfolge als beim Erstsprachenerwerb.

The timing of syllable repetitions in developmental dyslexia.

Abstract: The temporal organization of motor speech was examined in dyslexic dolescents and adults without overt speech difficulties, matched normal readers, and learning disabled adolescents without reading...

Similarity neighborhoods of spoken two syllable words: Retroactive effects on multiple activation

Abstract: This research examined the recognition of two‐syllable spoken words and the means by which the auditory word recognition system deals with ambiguous stimulus information. The perceptual identification of two‐syllable words comprised of two monosyllabic words (spondees) was examined. Individual syllables within a spundee were characterized as either “easy” or “hard” depending on the neighborhood characteristics of the syllable. An “easy” syllable was defined as a high‐frequency word in a sparse neighborhood of low‐frequency words, whereas a “hard” syllable was a low‐frequency word in a high‐density, high‐frequency neighborhood. Neighborhood structure was found to have a strong effect on identification. In particular, identification performance for spondees with a hard—easy syllable pattern was higher than for spondees with an easy‐hard syllable pattern, indicating a primarily retroactive pattern of influence in spoken word recognition. These results strongly suggest that spoken word recognition involves multiple activation and delayed commitment, thus ensuring accurate and efficient recognition.

Method for speaker-adaptive speech recognition

Abstract: A method for recognizing spoken words of a speech includes extracting feature vectors from a speech signal which corresponds to a spoken phrase, and segmenting and classifying the successive extracted feature vectors into syllable oriented word subunits by means of a stored supply of word subunits to form a set of hypotheses. The set of hypotheses is used to generate, by three dimensional time dynamic comparision, a set of word hypotheses by comparing the segmented and classified word subunits with standard pronunciations and pronunciation variants of a plurality of words stored in a reference pattern vocabulary. The generated set of word hypotheses are then subjected to syntactic analysis to determine the spoken phrase.

Syllable durations of preword and early word vocalizations.

Abstract: The continuity in development of syllable duration patterns was examined in 7 young children as they progressed from preword to multiword periods of vocalization development. Using a combination of...

Respecting metrical structure

Abstract: The paper argues that in order to locate stress in languages such as Macedonian, Latin and Cairene Arabic, where words have one stressed syllable, it is necessary to assign metrical structure to the entire word even though most of it is subsequently erased. In a discussion of Latin enclitic stress it is shown that this erasure of metrical structure must be combined with stages in the derivation where previously assigned metrical structure is scrupulously respected. This leads to a digression concerning the similar enclitic stress in the Austronesian language Manam. Attention is then focussed on the fact that in some languages — e.g., in Winnebago — foot boundaries may occur inside syllables that have more than one stress-bearing element, whereas in other languages — e.g., in Cairene Arabic and Yupik Eskimo — syllable-internal foot bound-aries are not allowed. To deal with this type of variability it is proposed that in addition to idiosyncratic stresses the theoretical framework must admit also idiosyncratic constituent boundaries. The effects of these theoretical innovations are illustrated by an examination of stress assignment in different Yupik dialects.

Acoustics and Phonology of Complex Tone Sandhi

Abstract: This paper presents a detailed acoustic and auditory description of the kind of complex tone sandhi found in the Northern Wu dialects of Chinese. Mean fundamental frequency, amplitude and duration values from many tokens of 1 native speaker of Zhenhai dialect are used to show how the acoustical characteristics of the 6 citation tones can be related to the 20 different forms in disyllabic lexical sandhi. Three phonetically motivated processes are demonstrated in this relationship: stress effects; paradigmatic replacement of pitch and phonation type features on the second syllable, and intrinsic effects associated with the intervocalic consonant, and phonation rate and duration of the first syllable.

Local and metrical tone shift in Nguni

Abstract: In this paper I argue that the Nguni languages have both a metrical tone shift rule and a non-metrical (local) tone shift rule which precedes and feeds assignment of metrical prominence (accent). As Goldsmith, Peterson, and Drogo [1986] and Peterson [1989b] have argued, a metrical tone shift rule best accounts for the fact that the rightmost high tone in most words surfaces on the antepenult. Not all high tones shift to the antepenult, however; instead, they shift one syllable to the right. Earlier metrical analyses accounted for (some) of these cases by proposing rules of accent shift. The present analysis accounts for all these cases by a local tone shift rule ordered before accent assignment. This approach not only is more general and more natural than the accent shift analyses, but it also straightforwardly accounts for a number of tonal phenomena which were inadequately treated in earlier analyses.

Syllables as signals for 2-day-old infants

Abstract: Neonates demonstrated two-stimulus auditory operant discrimination by altering nonnutritive sucking patterns during an 18-min session. Discriminative stimuli were two isolated, repeated syllables, and reinforcers were a recording of mother's adult-directed speech and quiet. During the final 6 min, 16 of 20 subjects ( M age = 55 hours) initiated bursts of sucking relatively more frequently during the syllable which signalled the availability of the recording of mother's voice versus quiet. In addition to providing new evidence of newborn speech perception and learning capacities, the results suggest a useful method for investigating neonatal auditory perception.

Acoustic properties for place of articulation in nasal consonants: A cross-linguistic study

Abstract: Previous critical band analyses have shown distinctive energy patterns for place of articulation in nasal consonants in English [K. M. Kurowski and S. E. Blumstein, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 81, 1917–1927 (1987)]. This study explored the extent to which these properties emerged across various languages (English, Polish, and French) by refining and evaluating a metric measuring rapid spectral changes in the vicinity of the nasal release. Utterances spoken by male and female speakers included nasals in five vowel contexts and two syllable positions. The results for syllable‐initial nasals showed that the metric correctly classifies labial and coronal consonants in English (83%), Polish (87%), and French (78%). Nasals in syllable‐initial clusters yielded similar results. Although some gender differences and vowel context effects were noted, the integrity of the boundaries of the broadly defined target areas of Bark 5–11 for labials and Bark 11–16 for coronals was generally maintained. The metric's overall success is viewed as support for a theory of acoustic invariance. [Work supported by NIH.]

Syllable-based morphology

Abstract: This paper presents a language for the description of morphological alternations which is based on syllable structure. The justification for such an approach is discussed with reference to examples from a variety of languages and the approach is compared to Koskenniemi's two-level account of morphonology.

A government-based analysis of the ‘mora’ in Japanese

Abstract: The mora is defined as something of which a long syllable ((C)VV or (C)VC) consists of two and a short syllable ((C)V) consists of one (McCawley 1968). According to some linguists, languages are classified into two groups: those that are best analysed in terms of morae and those that should be analysed in terms of syllables. Japanese is frequently cited as an example of a language that belongs to the former group. However, if the ultimate goal of the field of phonology is to seek for a group of principles that make up Universal Phonology, a unit such as the mora, which is indispensable in some languages but completely irrelevant in other languages, is an unwelcome innovation.

The structure of Korean prosody.

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to establish a theoretical framework of Korean prosody within which the correlation of the four major components stress/accent, rhythm, intonation and vowel length -- and their relationship with grammar, pragmatics, information structure and attitude are best described and explained. It is hoped that this thesis will contribute to the analysis of the prosody of other languages and eventually to the typology of prosody. In chapter 1, it is argued that Korean is a fixed stress language. The Korean Stress Rule is set up and syllable structure and stress shift in Korean are also discussed. In chapter 2, it is argued that Korean rhythm has a strong tendency towards stress-timing, and that the possible rhythmic patterns of a sentence are determined by the interaction between the rhythmic structure of the sentence, the scope of focus, and the speech tempo and style. The rhythmic structure of a sentence is assumed to be predictable by eight prosodic phrase structure rules. In chapter 3, the intonation system of Korean is established. It is argued that a tune consists of zero or more phrasal tones followed by one obligatory boundary tone, the latter conveying the greater part of the information conveyed by the tune. Nine boundary tones and four phrasal tones are set up. Intonation group boundary placement and the functions of the boundary tone are also discussed. In chapter 4, vowel shortening, both morphophonemic and phonetic, and compensatory vowel lengthening are investigated. It is argued that phonetic vowel shortening can be best described and explained in terms of accent placement. Finally, phonetic variations of vowel length are also discussed.

Effect of Speaking Rate on the Perception of Vowels

Abstract: Three experiments examined the conditions under which the speaking rate of a context sentence affects vowel identification. In these experiments, listeners identified the vowel in synthetic /b/-vowel-/t/ syllables that varied systematically in the duration (temporal), the formant frequencies (spectral), or both the duration and formant frequencies (temporal-spectral) of the steady-state portion of the syllable. These syllables were embedded in two synthetic sentence frames, one with the temporal characteristics of a natural fast sentence and one with those of a slow sentence. For two vowel distinctions that are specified in natural speech by both temporal and spectral characteristics, /I/-/i/ and /e/-/ae/, listeners adjusted their identification of the vowels according to the sentence rate in all three conditions. Although there was a trend for the rate effect to be reduced in the temporal-spectral condition, the influence of sentential rate was never eliminated. By contrast, for a vowel distinction that is naturally specified primarily by spectral characteristics, /e/-/I/, there was no effect of sentence rate in any of the conditions. We conclude that when vowels are differentiated in natural speech by both temporal and spectral information, listeners obligatorily use the duration of the vowel to identify it and do so in relation to the rate of the sentence in which the vowel occurs.

Principle of Sonority, Doublet Creation, and the Checkoff Monitor

Abstract: Syllable markedness as a means to characterize patterns observed in the production of phonological errors in aphasia is considered in this chapter. Specifically, the markedness theory incorporated here is the well known principle of sonority, and the error type in question is the often-observed “doublet creation.” Consonantal doublet creation, where an exact replica of some target-word consonant is duplicated and is either added to the string (in the sense of epenthesis) or substitutes from some other already existing consonant in the target word, is discussed. A basic assumption here is that syllable markedness can form a knowledge base for language production mechanisms; or, put slightly differently, productive mechanisms derived from psycholinguistic model construction should embody principles arrived at through linguistic inquiry. It is a sine qua non that linguistic theory must have an impact on the psychological constructs derived from performance domains.

Apparatus for providing sentence-final accents in synthesized american english speech

Abstract: A synthetic voice system which can convert typed text to speech calculates the intonation presented by the input text. The system utilizes a pitch (F0) module to calculate an F0 value for the beginning and middle of each phoneme. The following procedure is used. The F0 value for all the stressed syllables are calculated along with all F0 values for the syllables preceding a silence. The calculated F0 values for the syllables are placed on their associated phonemes. The valleys between the stressed syllables are approximated. When the last syllable of a declarative sentence is stressed and in WH question and exclamatory sentences, the FO fall is controlled to be gradual at first and then sharper toward the last utterance. When that last syllable of the declarative sentence is not stressed, the fall is sharper at first and then more gradual toward the last utterance. In "yes/no" questions, there is a final rise after the last stressed syllable of the sentence. The last stressed syllable is assigned a low FO value which is approximately equal to the average FO values of the speaker. To prevent an unnatural sounding, sharp FO rise in these questions when the last accented syllable occurs on the last syllable of the sentence, the final FO rise is lower than that of the "yes/no" question when the last accented syllable does not occur on the last stressed syllable of the sentence.