Sven Grawunder

Assessing incomplete neutralization of final devoicing in German

Abstract It has been claimed that the long established neutralization of the voicing distinction in domain final position in German is phonetically incomplete. However, many studies that have advanced this claim have subsequently been criticized on methodological grounds, calling incomplete neutralization into question. In three production experiments and one perception experiment we address these methodological criticisms. In the first production study, we address the role of orthography. In a large scale auditory task using pseudowords, we confirm that neutralization is indeed incomplete and suggest that previous null results may simply be due to lack of statistical power. In two follow-up production studies (Experiments 2 and 3), we rule out a potential confound of Experiment 1, namely that the effect might be due to accommodation to the presented auditory stimuli, by manipulating the duration of the preceding vowel. While the between-items design (Experiment 2) replicated the findings of Experiment 1, the between-subjects version (Experiment 3) failed to find a statistically significant incomplete neutralization effect, although we found numerical tendencies in the expected direction. Finally, in a perception study (Experiment 4), we demonstrate that the subphonemic differences between final voiceless and “devoiced” stops are audible, but only barely so. Even though the present findings provide evidence for the robustness of incomplete neutralization in German, the small effect sizes highlight the challenges of investigating this phenomenon. We argue that without necessarily postulating functional relevance, incomplete neutralization can be accounted for by recent models of lexical organization.

The phonetic profile of Korean formal and informal speech registers

In this exploratory sociophonetic study, we investigated the properties of formal and informal speech registers in Korean. We found that in formal speech, Korean male and female speakers lowered their average fundamental frequency and pitch range. The acoustic signal furthermore exhibited overall less variability, as evidenced by decreased fundamental frequency and intensity standard deviations, and decreased period and amplitude perturbations. Differences in speech registers affected Harmonics-toNoise-ratio and the difference between the first and second harmonic as well, suggesting breathinessrelated changes, and the speech was slower and included more non-lexical fillers such as ah and oh. Unexpectedly, formality also affected breathing patterns, leading to a noticeable increase in the amount of loud ‘‘hissing’’ breath intakes in formal speech. We thus show that a variety of different means of vocal expression play a role in signaling formality in Korean. Further, we outline the implications of this study for phonetic theory and discuss our results with respect to the Frequency Code and research on clear speech. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

*KL > TL sound change in Germanic and elsewhere: Descriptions, explanations, and implications

An underdescribed sound change in Germanic is the shift of initial kl and gl to tl and dl respectively. Though not widely known, KL > TL has occurred more than once in the history of Germanic. Relevant phonetic factors include coarticulation and perceptual similarity. A third structural factor in Germanic and elsewhere is a pre-existing TL gap. KL > TL gives rise to common TL clusters, though, under many phonological analyses, TL clusters are disfavored or marked. Typological comparison suggests that TL clusters are not marked, but that contrasts between KL and TL are disfavored.

Perceiving politeness from speech acoustics alone: A cross-linguistic study on Korean and English

Politeness is a crucial aspect of everyday speech communication; however, there are to date only few acoustic studies on this topic. Winter and Grawunder (2012) showed that for Korean speakers, politeness is reflected in pitch, intensity, voice quality and speaking rate. Here, we extend this production study by investigating whether Korean and English listeners can perceive the intended politeness of short Korean utterances based on speech acoustics alone. In two experiments with a total of 47 English and 30 Korean listeners, we found that both groups can detect the intended politeness purely based on the phonetic qualities of speech. In one experiment, accuracy was low (Korean: 58%, English: 53%) because speakers heard multiple voices in a randomized fashion, not allowing them to familiarize with any particular voice. In a design that was blocked by speaker voice, accuracy was higher (Korean: 70%, English: 58%), showing that vocal politeness can be used as a cue when the voice is known. This shows that p...

Reducing language to rhythm: Amazonian Bora drummed language exploits speech rhythm for long-distance communication

Many drum communication systems around the world transmit information by emulating tonal and rhythmic patterns of spoken languages in sequences of drumbeats. Their rhythmic characteristics, in particular, have not been systematically studied so far, although understanding them represents a rare occasion for providing an original insight into the basic units of speech rhythm as selected by natural speech practices directly based on beats. Here, we analyse a corpus of Bora drum communication from the northwest Amazon, which is nowadays endangered with extinction. We show that four rhythmic units are encoded in the length of pauses between beats. We argue that these units correspond to vowel-to-vowel intervals with different numbers of consonants and vowel lengths. By contrast, aligning beats with syllables, mora or only vowel length yields inconsistent results. Moreover, we also show that Bora drummed messages conventionally select rhythmically distinct markers to further distinguish words. The two phonological tones represented in drummed speech encode only few lexical contrasts. Rhythm thus appears to crucially contribute to the intelligibility of drummed Bora. Our study provides novel evidence for the role of rhythmic structures composed of vowel-to-vowel intervals in the complex puzzle concerning the redundancy and distinctiveness of acoustic features embedded in speech.

Higher fundamental frequency in bonobos is explained by larynx morphology

Acoustic signals, shaped by natural and sexual selection, reveal ecological and social selection pressures [1]. Examining acoustic signals together with morphology can be particularly revealing. But this approach has rarely been applied to primates, where clues to the evolutionary trajectory of human communication may be found. Across vertebrate species, there is a close relationship between body size and acoustic parameters, such as formant dispersion and fundamental frequency (f0). Deviations from this acoustic allometry usually produce calls with a lower f0 than expected for a given body size, often due to morphological adaptations in the larynx or vocal tract [2]. An unusual example of an obvious mismatch between fundamental frequency and body size is found in the two closest living relatives of humans, bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Although these two ape species overlap in body size [3], bonobo calls have a strikingly higher f0 than corresponding calls from chimpanzees [4]. Here, we compare acoustic structures of calls from bonobos and chimpanzees in relation to their larynx morphology. We found that shorter vocal fold length in bonobos compared to chimpanzees accounted for species differences in f0, showing a rare case of positive selection for signal diminution in both bonobo sexes.

Acoustic and articulatory characteristics of “weak” and “strong” initial sibilants in Chamalal (Andic)

In the phonological descriptions of a number of Caucasian languages appears a “weak” vs. “strong” contrast for otherwise voiceless obstruents, which was previously described as a lenis-fortis contrast, but recently attributed as geminate. Hence, we investigate field and lab data from the Gigatli dialect of Chamalal (CJI), a language belonging to the Andic branch of Avar-Andic-Tsezic group in the Nakh-Dagestanian family, spoken in Dagestan (Russian Federation). The weak-strong contrast in Chamalal involves glottalic and pulmonic fricatives at the same place of articulation. Concretely the series of central alveolar sibilant fricatives (/s/, /sː/, and /sː’/) is focused, of which all can occur in initial position. Sagittal ultrasound-articulatography of one female speaker demonstrates wide consistency in place of articulation of the tongue tip, although differences in pre-dorsal curvatures between /sː’/ and /s, sː/ are observed. The acoustic data are based on word list elicitations of six speakers (two males/four females): the ejectives show pronounced central envelope peaks and highest intensity slopes of the following vowel, but take a middle position in duration. Two distant peaks are frequently observed in the longer envelopes of “strong” /sː/. /s/ and /sː’/ differ strongest for (>2kHz) weighted COG, whereas /sː/ ranges widely in between.

Coupling relations underlying complex coordinative patterns in speech production

In studying linguistic behavior, we are often faced to complex dynamical patterns arising from the highly coordinated activity of many partially autonomous processes. In this work, we apply a new approach aimed at studying abstract coupling relations coordinating the behavior of dynamical systems governed by goal oriented behavior. The approach, based on an original version of recurrence analysis, allows to deal with the principal difficulties of this task, which are mainly related to the heterogeneity, the lack of separability and the lack of stationarity of the processes under study. The method is validated trough simulations of theoretical systems and it is adopted to capture (1) invariant abstract coupling structure underlying systematically varying trajectories of the speech articulators involved in the production of labial and coronal plosive and fricative consonants (produced at slow and fast speech rate by five German speakers and recorded via electromagnetic articulography); (2) systematic differ...

Intensity slopes as robust measure for distinguishing glottalic vs pulmonic stop initiation

A novel cross-linguistically robust measure is introduced for the linguistically relevant distinction of pulmonic vs glottalic (ejective) stops. We propose to parametrize the abruptness of the following vowel onset by using intensity slope (RMS-trajectory) at the voicing onset. This measure was previously discussed only for voicing distinction of pulmonic stops (Harrington, 2012). The dependencies on vowel quality of the following vowel, voice onset time (VOT), phonetic prominence and speaking rate are investigated on a small-scale sample of two speakers from Avar (Nakh-Dagestanian), Ingush (Nakh-Dagestanian), and Georgian (Kartvelian). The results demonstrate robust significant differences of intensity slopes between pulmonic and glottalic stops, the latter showing the steepest slopes/the most abrupt onsets. In some cases of prevoiced stops, the intensity slopes allow even a tripartite distinction of (pre-)voiced, voiceless (aspirated), and ejective stops. However, in order to countervail the influence of vowel specific onset characteristics (e.g., degree of lip rounding) or the influence of VOT, the sample must be controlled for vowel quality and place of articulation. And, since higher speaking rates and less prominent syllables involve higher rates of laryngealized (creaky) vowel onsets, a breakdown of the abruptness distinction is observed under these conditions.

Voice production modes and vocal tract shape in South‐Siberian throat‐singing

South‐Siberian throat‐singing features reinforced harmonics as carrier of sung melodies and enforced phonation modes. Available articulatory studies of throat‐singers suggest that throat‐singing makes use of three voice production mechanisms which result in two basic voice modes (mid tensed vs. low rough). Thus all three mechanisms share an excessive constriction of the larynx entrance i.e. approximation of the aryepiglottic folds and the epiglottis. The current study comprises acoustic data from 69 male singers. 25 singer were recorded by use of a field setting for acoustic, electroglottographic and subglottal resonance signal acquisition. Perturbation measures show dominance of individual variability over areal (cultural) factors, but strong influence of articulatory reinforcement strategies. The data also provide evidence for a model of reinforcement of harmonics by means of (1) voice source variation (closing phase, excitation strength), i.e. increased subglottal pressure, while air flow remains const...