Showing papers on "Voice published in 1973"

Some properties of linguistic feature detectors

Abstract: A series of experiments, using a selective adaptation procedure, investigated some of the properties of the linguistic feature detectors that mediate the perception of the voiced and voiceless stop consonants. The first experiment showed that these detectors are centrally rather than peripherally located, in that monotic presentation of the adapting stimulus and test stimuli to different ears resulted in large and reliable shifts in the locus of the phonetic boundary. The second experiment revealed that the detectors are part of the specialized speech processor, inasmuch as adaptation of a voicing detector (as measured by a shift in the phonetic boundary) occurred only when the voicing information was presented in a speech context. In the third experiment, the detector mediating perception of the voiced stops was shown to be more resistant to adaptation than the detector mediating perception of the voiceless stops.

Perception and production: some correlations on voicing of an initial stop.

Abstract: Various measures of the perception and of the production of voicing contrasts in initial stop consonants were intercorrelated to investigate a possible relationship between articulation and perception. The results showed inter-dependencies of factors within perception but no significant correlations between perception and production measures.

Stop Consonant Voicing and Pharyngeal Cavity Size

Abstract: Aerodynamic forces require a vocal tract volume increase subsequent to oral cavity occlusion if voicing is to proceed through stop consonant closure. Electromyographic recordings of pharyngeal musculature were obtained for three subjects during the production of the six stop consonants of English in controlled phonetic environments. In addition, simultaneous electromyographic recordings and fiberscopic motion pictures were obtained for one subject producing a subset of the total utterance set. Each subject shows differences in the pattern of cavity enlargement for the voiced stops. One subject shows increased levator palatini and sternohyoid activity, and demonstrates greater velar elevation (determined from the motion pictures) for voiced stops as compared with voiceless stops. A second shows decreased activity of the pharyngeal wall musculature along with increased activity of the sternohyoid for the voiced stop cognates. The third subject exhibits a composite of the activity patterns of the first two subjects. The data support earlier suggestions that pharyngeal expansion must be due, at least in part, to positive muscle activity. They also indicate that there may be intersubject variation of actuating mechanisms while the articulations are perceived as equal. [This research was supported by the National Institute of Dental Research, through an NIH grant.]

Influences of Phonetic Sequences and Stress on Fundamental Frequency Contours of Isolated Words

Abstract: At vowel onset following unvoiced consonants in /həCVC/ utterances spoken by two talkers, F0 began high (30% higher than in /ə/), and fell about 7% in the first 5 csec. At closure of voiced oral obstruents, F0 suddenly dipped about 10%, remained flat, suddenly rose about 25% at opening of closure, and, after vowel onset, gradually rose (an average of 8% in the first 10 csec). The high/low feature of the vowel and the manner and place of prevocalic consonant articulation had progressively less effect on vowel F0 values. The final consonant had no apparent effect on F0 contours in the vowel. As previous synthesis work has suggested, the fall or rise of F0 in the initial portion of a vowel appears to be a cue to the state of voicing of previous consonants. Initial and peak F0 values in the vowel also can indicate state of consonant voicing. However, F0 contours in bisyllabic words with contrasting stress patterns and similar phonemic sequences (e.g., permit, permit) showed that (1) an initially falling F0 in...

Aspiration and Voice Onset Time in Word‐Initial Consonant Clusters in English

Abstract: A list of 224 English words beginning with prestressed consonant clusters or single consonants was recorded in the frame “Say … instead” by three talkers. The timing of glottal gestures relative to supraglottal events was studied by spectrographic analysis of the data. Voice onset time (VOT) defined in this case by the onset of visible voicing striations in the spectrogram at frequencies above the first formant (relative to stop release) was measured for all words involving plosive consonants. In voiced plosives, this interval is occupied by frication noise of about 18‐msec duration before a vowel and 25 msec before a sonorant consonant. In voiceless plosives, the frication noise burst is followed by an interval of aspiration noise. The sum of these two noise intervals, i.e., the VOT, was about 60 msec preceding vowels and 75 msec preceding sonorant consonants. If a voiceless plosive was preceded by [s], the VOT was much less, i.e., about 5 msec greater than the data for the analogous voiced plosive. The VOT was always about 10 msec less for labial plosives and 10 msec greater for velar plosives. The VOT was about 20% longer preceding the high vowels [i] and [u]. In [s]‐sonorant clusters, an aspiration interval of 30–50 msec was observed following the disappearance of visible frication noise. [Work supported in part by National Institutes of Health and by Office of Naval Research.]

Categorical and Noncategorical Modes of Speech Perception along the Voice Onset Time Continuum

Abstract: Synthetic stop consonants varying in voice onset time (VOT) are generally perceived in a categorical mode. Listeners can discriminate two sounds only to the extent that the stimuli have been categorized as different phonetic segments. In the present study, native speakers of English were required to first identify and then discriminate stimuli which varied in VOT from /ba/ to /pa/. One group of listeners took a randomized absolute identification test, whereas another group took a sequential identification test. In the latter condition, stimuli along the continuum were presented in consecutive order. Half of the subjects in each group then took either an ABX discrimination test or a 41AX test. In the 41AX test, two pairs of sounds were presented on each trial. One pair was always the same and one pair was always different. Subjects were required to judge which pair was the same, the first or second. Noncategorical perception of the voicing distinction was obtained only for the group of listeners who received both the sequential identification test and the 41AX discrimination procedure. These findings suggest separate auditory and phonetic levels of processing in speech discrimination.

Phonetic Errors in Dichotic Listening to Simultaneous and Time‐Staggered CVs

Abstract: These data represent further analyses of experiments previously reported [C. I. Berlin, C. L. Loovis, S. S. Lowe, J. K. Cullen, Jr., and C. L. Thompson, J. Acoust. Soc. Amer. 48, 70–71 (1970)]. Analysis of the errors made by normal subjects reveal that at simultaneity unvoiced consonants are better perceived than voiced consonants, especially when the unvoiced compete with the voiced consonants. When two voiced consonants compete, the V‐V competition yields intelligibility about as good as the U‐U competition; however, when U and V compete, then the intelligibility of the unvoiced syllable goes up while the intelligibility of the voiced syllable drops. As time asynchronies are introduced, the intelligibility of the unvoiced consonants remains constant while the intelligibility of the voiced consonant in the competing pair increases until, by 90‐msec temporal offset, intelligibility of both voiceless and voiced CVs are the same. A preliminary hypothesis on switching during analysis time will be presented.

A computational investigation on the perception and acquisition of aspiration

Abstract: The phenomenon of aspiration in Hindi has intrigued phoneticians and phonologists for some time. However, so far no adequate investigation of this phenomena has been made. The earlier acoustical (i.e., perceptional) studies which have been performed on the phonetic aspects of Hindi can be grouped into two 1) acoustically-oriented, and 2) linguistically-oriented studies. In the area of acoustic studies, the most significant work was done byJ. GUVTA, S. AGRAWAL and R.. AHUAD (1969) and 1~. AHMAD and S. AG~AWAr (1969). In their experiment they have revealed the significant features in the perception of Hindi consonants in normal as well as in clipped speech. For example, they pointed out that the average effect of dipping on features follows the order: 1) place; 2) nasality; 3) flapped liquids; 4) liquids; 5) continuants; 6) voicing; 7) friction; 8) aspiration; 9) affrication, i.e., the place of articulation is most important in the intelligibility of any sound, and affrication is least important. The higher the rank, the higher the intelligibility. Earlier, W. J. BLACK and S. SINOH (1966), in their experiment with four language groups, namely English, Hindi, Arabic and Japanese, have also pointed out significant features. However, their rank order is as follows: 1) nasality; 2) place; 3) voicing; 4) friction; 5) liquid; 6) duration; 7) aspiration. The focus of the above experiments was not aspiration. The same is true about the linguistically oriented work done by D. P. GA~Dm and S. J^GGI (1971). The present study of Hindi consonants is significant for the following reasons: first, it examines the predictive role of