Silvia Calamai

Nasal place assimilation between phonetics and phonology: An EPG study of Italian nasal-to-velar clusters

Abstract An acoustic and electropalatographic analysis of nasal place assimilation in /nk/ and /ng/ clusters is provided for five native Italian speakers. Place assimilation for pre-velar nasals in Italian is usually said to be categorical in both word-internal and word-boundary position. However, empirical research on place assimilation in non-homorganic clusters in different languages has uncovered aspects of variation supporting a non-discrete view of several phonological processes previously thought of as obligatory and categorical. The present study aims at investigating the role of stylistic and internal factors on Italian nasal-to-velar cluster assimilation, such as speech rate variations (normal vs. slow speech), the lexical status of the cluster (word-internal vs. cross-boundary), stress position, and postnasal voicing. Assimilation is evaluated for frequency of occurrence, strength of application, and target intrinsic variability. Results indicate that nasal-to-velar clusters in Italian are mostly fully assimilated and therefore homorganic, but the process is also sensitive to factors such as speech rate and the presence of a word boundary. Patterns of variability are observed both within and across speakers, and sporadic gradient reduction of gestures is also detected. Both anticipatory and carry-over coarticulatory effects are found within the cluster; nasal-to-velar clusters are conceived of as a constituent with a single articulatory target and a complex gestural pattern distributed over a relatively extended temporal interval.

Architecture, methods and purpose of the Gra.fo sound archive

The web-portal is configured to query the database and the server archive containing the preservation copies and to allow the end user to search all the documents (cataloguing records, .mp3 files, transcriptions and accompanying materials .pdf files) collected in Gra.fo. Two distinct types of search are supported: (i) linguistic area (an interactive map allows the users to click on the area of interest and access the corresponding records), and (ii) content (users can search by topic, genre, type of document, etc.). A huge number of oral texts which have been known, until now, to a very limited number of users is now available to the large public.

FAIR data principles and their application to speech and oral archives

Abstract This paper discusses current open data science and archive principles and issues and their applicability to speech and oral archives. Firstly, a definition of speech and oral archives is provided: they represent a rather tricky object of study not only in language related studies but also in the social sciences and humanities. Secondly, we introduce the FAIR principles for data science, which are now progressively being adopted in the humanities and in the domain of Language Resources, in connection with research infrastructures such as CLARIN and DARIAH. Finally we discuss some issues that may slow down the applicability adoption of FAIR principles for speech and oral archives, as well as current initiatives that may help in solving them.

Places speaking with their own voices. A case study from the Gra.fo archives

This paper proposes a novel approach for the fruition of cultural heritage based on the “Augmented Cultural Heritage” paradigm. This expression has been used to describe the improvement to the visit to a Tangible Cultural Site with additional Intangible Cultural Assets like audio recordings or oral testimonies. The proposed approach is applied to the area of the Montagna Pistoiese, Tuscany, Italy: in this case the visit to the site is enriched by providing visitors with oral material coming from the “Anna Buonomini” archive, a collection of audio recordings of high historical and cultural value. The audio files are geo-referenced and associated to a specific position in the area. The user is able to hear a recording only when he/she reaches the specific geographical point associated with the file. The audio is played adaptively with the distance to the point, so as to emulate a real voice coming from the place.

Sound Archives Accessibility

The paper analyses the conflicting issues that arise when dealing with Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) held in audio digital archives, when the demand for open access conflicts with ownership rights and ethical issues. It describes two case studies in order to evaluate the procedures used for doing research on oral materials while respecting the rights of others. The first refers to the activities carried on at the Phonotheque de la Maison mediterraneenne des sciences de l’homme, a French sound archive; the second refers to the solutions envisaged by an Italian research project, Grammo-foni. Le soffitte della voce (Gra.fo), jointly carried out by Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa and the University of Siena.

Voci italiane e straniere a confronto : indagine sugli stereotipi associati agli accenti stranieri

The essay runs through again the origin and development of prejudice and stereotype concepts, producing specific social representations, in sociology and other social sciences. In this particular case, social representations taken into account relate to conception of migrant into Italian society. Analyzing such fundamental concepts, the essay points out the outcomes of a sociolinguistic research, accomplished with verbal guise methodology. It identifies the individual’s value pattern starting from his/her reaction to precise items coming from some registered Italian and migrant voices.