Doris Mücke

The phonological status of Dutch epenthetic schwa

In this paper, we use articulatory measures to determine whether Dutch schwa epenthesis is an abstract phonological process or a concrete phonetic process depending on articulatory timing. We examine tongue position during /l/ before underlying schwa and epenthetic schwa and in coda position. We find greater tip raising before both types of schwa, and greater dorsal lowering in coda position, indicating light /l/ in the former and dark /l/ in the latter. We argue that the ability of epenthetic schwa to condition the /l/ alternation shows that Dutch schwa epenthesis is an abstract phonological process involving insertion of some unit, and cannot be accounted for within Articulatory Phonology.

Sources of variation in tonal alignment: Evidence from acoustic and kinematic data

Abstract This study is concerned with the alignment of f0 peaks in rising LH pitch accents in German, both in relation to acoustically defined segments, referred to as segmental anchors, as well as to dynamically defined speech gestures, referred to as articulatory anchors. The effects investigated were the effects of syllable structure (test words ˈCV:CV and ˈCVCV, where the test syllable is open or closed, respectively), dialectal background (the varieties of German spoken in Dusseldorf and Vienna), and accent status in the intonational hierarchy (prenuclear and nuclear accents). As reported for related languages, peaks in closed syllables tended to be later than those in open syllables. However, it was only in nuclear accents that those differences were systematic for all four speakers. Thus only limited support can be provided for an alignment with the syllable edge. Although there was a tendency for Southern varieties to have later peaks than Northern ones, as also found in previous studies, alignment latencies of individual speakers in the two dialectal groups overlapped. These results support a gradient view of dialectal variation in tonal alignment. In this view, dialectal differences are not represented symbolically. Rather, the rising accents used by speakers of both varieties can be adequately captured with one symbolic representation. When comparing prenuclear and nuclear accents, by contrast, differences were found which could be interpreted as discrete. Whereas nuclear accent peaks were anchored to the intervocalic consonant, prenuclear accent peaks were anchored to the following unstressed vowel. This anchor shift could clearly be observed both in the acoustic and articulatory records, reflecting a difference at the symbolic level, possibly in terms of an additional tone following the LH complex.

More than a magic moment – Paving the way for dynamics of articulation and prosodic structure

Abstract Research into human communication through the spoken language is full of dichotomies that have often stood in the way of progress in the past, notably the distinction between phonetics and phonology, and more recently, and somewhat orthogonally, between prosody and articulation. The papers collected here make considerable advances in overcoming these restrictions, providing valuable contributions towards the integration of these fields. The increasing evidence for dependencies across the different levels of linguistic structure, and the complexity of the interplay between them, has led to the application of dynamical approaches to spoken language description. With these approaches, coordination and variation within and across systems have begun to play a central role. This paper identifies a common thread through the papers in this issue, in which variation is a consequence of dynamically time-varying behavior that cannot be captured by static snapshots (magic moments).

The effect of focus marking on supralaryngeal articulation – Is it mediated by accentuation?

Abstract In this study we explore the effects of focus-background structure on accentuation (i.e. whether a word bears a pitch accent or not) and supralaryngeal articulation, measured in terms of acoustic durations (syllable and foot durations) and lip kinematics (parameters relating to the opening gesture: duration, displacement, peak velocity and stiffness). Although words in focus were accented and those out of focus were not, there were few supralaryngeal differences between accented words when they were produced in the broad focus context and unaccented target words (out of focus). Thus, accentuation per se did not appear to lead to supralaryngeal modifications. However, there was a clear distinction between the supralaryngeal articulation of words in broad focus and those in contrastive focus. We conclude that supralaryngeal articulation – in terms of acoustic duration and lip kinematics – is related directly to the expression of focus structure and contrastivity, and is not, contrary to conclusions drawn in previous studies, mediated by the presence or absence of accent.

The Effect of Deep Brain Stimulation on the Speech Motor System

PURPOSE Chronic deep brain stimulation of the nucleus ventralis intermedius is an effective treatment for individuals with medication-resistant essential tremor. However, these individuals report that stimulation has a deleterious effect on their speech. The present study investigates one important factor leading to these effects: the coordination of oral and glottal articulation. METHOD Sixteen native-speaking German adults with essential tremor, between 26 and 86 years old, with and without chronic deep brain stimulation of the nucleus ventralis intermedius and 12 healthy, age-matched subjects were recorded performing a fast syllable repetition task (/papapa/, /tatata/, /kakaka/). Syllable duration and voicing-to-syllable ratio as well as parameters related directly to consonant production, voicing during constriction, and frication during constriction were measured. RESULTS Voicing during constriction was greater in subjects with essential tremor than in controls, indicating a perseveration of voicing into the voiceless consonant. Stimulation led to fewer voiceless intervals (voicing-to-syllable ratio), indicating a reduced degree of glottal abduction during the entire syllable cycle. Stimulation also induced incomplete oral closures (frication during constriction), indicating imprecise oral articulation. CONCLUSION The detrimental effect of stimulation on the speech motor system can be quantified using acoustic measures at the subsyllabic level.

The variability of syllable patterns in Tashlhiyt Berber and Polish

Abstract In this study we investigate the timing of word-initial clusters and its relation to distinct phonological syllable parses in Tashlhiyt Berber and Polish. To this end, we use experimental, articulographic data (steps 1 and 2) combined with computer-based simulation (step 3). In step 1, we test how temporal properties of consonantal clusters such as overlap can vary within a single language. In step 2, we relate articulatory coordination patterns to distinct phonological syllable parses, involving simple and complex onsets, in order to calculate stability indices for each language. In step 3, we test the robustness of these stability patterns by adding anchor variability to the system. The analysis reveals that variability plays a different role in the two languages. Tashlhiyt shows a tight cluster timing with low variability in overlap across clusters. The phonetic heuristics for Tashlhiyt reveal a simple onset parse with a phonetic outcome that is strikingly robust against temporally induced variability. In contrast, Polish shows a considerably high variability in overlap between the different cluster types. The phonetic heuristics for Polish reveal a general trend towards a complex onset parse, but this time the picture is less clear. Furthermore, the Polish timing patterns are more sensitive to anchor variability than Tashlhiyt. This difference in the degree of sensitivity to variability is interpreted to be the result of different language-specific regulatory mechanisms mediating between different levels of description, such as segmental context and prosodic marking of different pragmatic functions. Natural human communication requires both stability and variability regulated by different needs and constraints within a given language, leading to differing degrees of flexibility in the hierarchical network of local weights and clocks attached to the different constituents of the prosodic hierarchy.

The Effect of Uni- and Bilateral Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation on Speech in Patients With Essential Tremor: Acoustics and Intelligibility.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) is performed to suppress medically‐resistant essential tremor (ET). However, stimulation induced dysarthria (SID) is a common side effect, limiting the extent to which tremor can be suppressed. To date, the exact pathogenesis of SID in VIM‐DBS treated ET patients is unknown.

The effects of Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation on speech dynamics in patients with Essential Tremor: An articulographic study

Acoustic studies have revealed that patients with Essential Tremor treated with thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) may suffer from speech deterioration in terms of imprecise oral articulation and reduced voicing control. Based on the acoustic signal one cannot infer, however, whether this deterioration is due to a general slowing down of the speech motor system (e.g., a target undershoot of a desired articulatory goal resulting from being too slow) or disturbed coordination (e.g., a target undershoot caused by problems with the relative phasing of articulatory movements). To elucidate this issue further, we here investigated both acoustics and articulatory patterns of the labial and lingual system using Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) in twelve Essential Tremor patients treated with thalamic DBS and twelve age- and sex-matched controls. By comparing patients with activated (DBS-ON) and inactivated stimulation (DBS-OFF) with control speakers, we show that critical changes in speech dynamics occur on two levels: With inactivated stimulation (DBS-OFF), patients showed coordination problems of the labial and lingual system in terms of articulatory imprecision and slowness. These effects of articulatory discoordination worsened under activated stimulation, accompanied by an additional overall slowing down of the speech motor system. This leads to a poor performance of syllables on the acoustic surface, reflecting an aggravation either of pre-existing cerebellar deficits and/or the affection of the upper motor fibers of the internal capsule.

Mechanisms of regulation in speech: Linguistic structure and physical control system

Abstract Speech variation is a naturally-induced phenomenon in human speech communication which can be attributed to the inevitably multifaceted nature of interactions between various higher-order linguistic and lower-order physiological factors. Speech is dynamic, and it is assumed that there are regulation mechanisms behind these complex interactions of structural, contextual and phonetic cues leading to an overwhelming variety of gradient phenomena in the speakers’ linguistic behaviour. Recent years have increasingly witnessed the extensive development of dynamical theories which attempt to capture mechanisms of regulation that underlie speech production and perception in a unified way. In this introductory paper, we touch on some basic theoretical groundings of speech dynamics, and discuss the significance of the contributions made by each paper of the special issue under the rubric of mechanisms of regulation in speech. The special issue is interdisciplinary in nature, bringing together papers from different perspectives, ranging from tutorial and critical review papers on dynamic systems to original research papers on the regulation of speech in both normal and adverse (atypical) conditions. These selected papers, taken together, make considerable advancements in illuminating how variation in production and perception can be seen as a window to linguistic structure within and across languages.