Mark J. Jones

Fricated realisations of / t / in Dublin and Middlesbrough English: an acoustic analysis of plosive frication and surface fricative contrasts

The frication of the voiceless plosives / p , t , k / in word-final intervocalic position in Dublin and Middlesbrough English is examined in controlled data, and the acoustic characteristics of fricated realisations of / t / are compared with other fricatives. The findings are that / t / is not the only plosive to be fricated in the data sample, but does appear to differ from other plosives in terms of the regularity of frication and its nongradient character for some subjects. The realisation of fricated / t / at both localities differs from that of other fricatives, and is probably perceptually distinct from other fricative contrasts at each locality, but is not identical across the two localities. On the basis of data presented here, it appears unlikely that fricated / t / in Middlesbrough English is a direct transfer effect from the language of Irish immigrants to Middlesbrough.

Frequency domain tracking of passive vessel harmonics.

This paper presents a method for passive acoustic detection and tracking of small vessels in noisy, shallow water marine environments. Passive spectra of boats include broadband noise as well as tones that are harmonics of the engine speed and shaft/propeller rotation. Past work suggests that the location in frequency and the relative amplitudes of these harmonics can be used to determine specific characteristics of the vessel such as the number of blades on the propeller and engine type/speed. However, the low signal to noise ratio of quiet targets and Doppler shifts incurred because of source and receiver motion complicate the identification of these tones in the lofargram. To address this issue, a combined detection and tracking approach is proposed in which intermittent and wandering harmonic content is tracked with a multi‐dimensional Kalman filter. Results from recorded passive signatures from several classes of vessels in marine and freshwater environments in the Pacific Northwest are presented and...

More on the “instability” of interdental fricatives: Gothic þliuhan ‘flee’ and Old English flēon ‘flee’ revisited

Abstract Kjellmer (1995) uses phonological observations from a number of sources in order to resolve a problem of Germanic historical linguistics—the identity of the Proto-Germanic initial cluster from which both Gothic þliuhan and Old English flēon are derived. Kjellmer focuses on the articulatory motivation for the change [θ] > [f], and concludes that the data support the Gothic initial as historically older, i.e. Proto-Germanic had *θ1-. This response assesses the approach employed by Kjellmer, and, whilst upholding his general conclusions about directionality, rejects his articulatory view of the change, preferring instead an acoustic motivation. Full support for this view is presented. Finally, a different analysis of the Germanic data is proposed which supports an original *fl- in Proto-Germanic.

Articulatory perturbation due to ultrasound imaging: an acoustic analysis

A safe, non-invasive imaging technique which captures articulatory movements in real time is the Holy Grail of articulatory analysis. Ultrasound imaging of the tongue seems suitable, albeit for a single articulator. However, ultrasound requires positioning a probe under the chin which may inhibit jaw movement. It is well-known that speakers compensate rapidly for similar articulatory perturbations such as bite-blocks. Consequently, the images obtained by ultrasound may show compensatory articulations due to jaw inhibition, rather than natural articulations. This study assesses the eects of articulatory compensation during ultrasound imaging using acoustic analysis. The experiment compares acoustic data from three speech conditions: probe-free, probe held manually, probe fixed non-manually. It is hypothesised that sounds requiring a low jaw position, such as low vowels, velars, and velarised laterals, will be worst aected. High jaw sounds such as /s/ and /i/ are also assessed. Any dierences between conditions are assumed to be due to compensation for jaw immobility rather than learnt segment-specific register eects and are therefore unlikely to diminish as the subjects relax. Variability may diminish, however, as compensatory strategies become more practised. We expect to find some eects on certain segments, but that manual probe holding allows for more natural speech.