Transcript Slide 1 Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics Jeff Conn Webpage with lecture slide info: web.pdx.edu/~connjc.

Slide 1
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Jeff Conn
Webpage with lecture slide info: web.pdx.edu/~connjc
Slide 2
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
acoustic characteristics of speech sounds (not articulatory) – how sounds sound
rather than how they’re made
Sound is waves (complex waves) = composed of a fundamental wave which repeats
itself at the frequency of the opening and closing of vocal folds and a set of
harmonic waves which repeat at frequencies which are multiples of the
fundamental.
Make Sound by small variations in air pressure caused by vocal organs
superimposed on airflow
For Voiced Consonants & Vowels - Vocal folds chop up airstream, high and
low pressure
Fricatives - Narrow Constriction of blowing air with varying peaks of air
pressure
Sounds cause air particles to move, which makes tympanic membrane move
(auditory)
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Waveforms plot air pressure variation over time – Peaks indicate vocal fold
vibrations (see sample waveform)
Very difficult to get much information from waveforms, but can tell where the
loudest segments are (usually vowels) and can see fricative energy, as well as
stops and release, and some info about nasal, glide and liquids (can’t see place
of articulation really, only voicing and manner)
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Pitch - A subjective measure of low to high with regard to acoustic properties.
Dependent on how fast/slow vocal folds vibrate. Increase pitch with an
increase in rate of vibration.
Measure objectively by frequency = how many cycles per second of vibration.
If vocal folds vibrate 200 times per second - 200 cps - 200 Hertz
Pitch = Fundamental Frequency or F0 (for our purposes)
Male voice - 80-200 Hz
Female Voice - 400+Hz
Child Voice - 800+ Hz
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Loudness & Intensity
Loudness depends on size of air pressure variations; subjective judgment.
Intensity is objective measure, in decibels (dB), the amplitude of air pressure
variations.
More intensity-------------------------Less intensity
Vowels --Nasals, Liquids & Glides -- Sibilants
Actual Intensity of a Segment dependent on Factors, to include:
its position in the sentence
degree of stress on each word
speaker characteristics
*Some vowels seem to show an overall lower intensity – commonly, higher
vowels have less intensity than lower vowels (although this can change
depending on above factors)
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
In the production of vowels, the filtering effect of vocal tract produces amplitude
peaks at certain frequencies by enhancing the harmonics (which are the
component waves of a complex wave form) at those frequencies while
dampening harmonics at other frequencies.
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
The peaks in the filter function are called formants (resonant
frequencies of the vocal tract).
You can change the pitch of a vowel without changing the vowel
quality (the rate of vibration of the air in the vocal tract
[vowel] is independent of the rate of vibration of the vocal
folds [pitch])
Listen to different parts of speech on website
So - have vocal folds that open and close. Causes fundamental
frequency, or F0. Then have this air that resonates differently
according to the position of the vocal organs (different
vowels)
Slide 8
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Acoustic analysis of consonants
Stops show burst - Fricatives show chaotic noise – Different
fricatives show different energy (sibilants versus not)
Notice the difference between [f] and [s] is above 3000 Hz so phones cut
this off which is why I have restaurant reservations for Jess!
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Acoustic analysis of consonants
Liquids look like vowels, and glides even more so
[] show lowering of F3 with F2
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Acoustic analysis of consonants
Liquids look like vowels, and glides even more so
[] show lowering of F3 with F2
From Rob Hagiwara’s webpage: http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~robh/howto.html#
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Acoustic analysis of consonants
Bilabial show F1 and F2 together at low frequencies
Alveolar F2 locus around 1700 Hz
Velar F2 and F3 merge - velar pinch
Slide 12
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Acoustic analysis of consonants
Bilabial show F1 and F2 together at low frequencies
Alveolar F2 locus around 1700 Hz
Velar F2 and F3 merge - velar pinch
Figure 4. Spectrograms of "bab" "dad" and "gag".
From Rob Hagiwara’s webpage: http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~robh/howto.html#
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Acoustic analysis of consonants
Voicing shows voice bar across bottom of spectrogram
Nasal has nasal formants (sonorant)
What can you tell about vowels from below spectrograms?
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Acoustic analysis of consonants
Table 8.1
Acoustic correlates of consonant features
Voiced
Vertical striations corresponding to the vibrations of vocal folds
Bilabial
Locus of both 2nd and 3rd formants comparatively low
Alveolar
Locus of 2nd formant about 1700-1800 Hz
Velar
Usually high locus of 2nd formant. Common origin of 2nd and 3rd formant transitions
(velar pinch where 2nd and 3rd formants meet)
Retroflex
General lowering of 3rd and 4th formants
Stop
Gap in pattern, followed by burst of noise for voiceless stops or sharp beginning of
formant structure for voiced stops.
Fricative
Random noise pattern, especially in higher frequency regions, but dependent on place of
articulation
Nasal
Formant structure similar to the of vowels but with nasal formants at about 250, 2500 and
3250 Hz.
Lateral
Formant structure similar to the of vowels but with formants at about 250, 1200 and 2400
Hz. The higher formants are considerably reduced in intensity.
Approximant
Formant structure similar to that in vowels, usually changing.
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Dialect regions according to some dialectologists/sociolinguists
O’Grady, et al., 2010
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Based on lexical variation: O’Grady, et al., 2010
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Linguistic variation and change
Regional difference by vowel production shifts (language change) over
time
Northern Cities Shift (play Chicago sample - 3mins)
O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2010).
Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Based on lexical variation: O’Grady, et al., 2010
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Linguistic variation and change
The Southern Shift (Play Arkansas 2mins; play Eng 3mins;
O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2010).
Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Based on lexical variation: O’Grady, et al., 2010
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Linguistic variation and change
The California/Canada Shift (Play Cali - 1:45; Ontario 2:15)
O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2010).
Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
?
Based on lexical variation: O’Grady, et al., 2010
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
California different from Canada – Is Seattle/Portland
different from Vancouver BC?
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Linguistic variation and change – cot vs. caught
From Linguistic Atlas of N American English
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Cot/Caught Merger
‘cot’
‘caught’
Melissa, 28
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Cot/Caught Merger
‘off’
Dorothy, 89
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
The Fronting of /ow/
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
The Fronting of /ow/ in Pdx
2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900
350
400
450
Sabrina, 28
Daisy, 56
Jan,
Jan,5353
500
550
600
650
700
Stacy, 14 ???
Kenneth, 53
Kenneth, 53
800
eyF
eyC
e
ow
ow-N
owN
owL
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
The Canadian Shift
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
The Canadian Shift
2500
500
2400
2300
2200
2100
2000
1900
1800
1700
1600
1500
1400
1300
1200
1100
550
Robbie, 14
600
short-e F1 > 650 Hz.
short-o
F2 <
1275 Hz.
650



700
750
short-a F2 < 1750 Hz.
800
Melissa, 28
850
900
Slide 31
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Acoustic analysis of vowels
Whisper vowel corners to hear F2
Thump throat to hear F1




First formant (F1) represents vowel height (inversely) (dark band near
bottom)- measure from middle of dark band vertically
Second formant (F2) represents vowel front/back with the higher the F2,
the fronter the vowel (2nd dark band) – measure from middle of dark
band
Sound spectrograph - an instrument that translates a sound into a visual
representation - called a spectrogram.
Waveforms and spectrograms - see Praat for vowel measurement and
representation
Slide 32
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Acoustic analysis of vowels
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Acoustic properties of vowels (from Mike Ward, 2003, master’s thesis at PSU)
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Acoustic properties of vowels (from Mike Ward, 2003, master’s thesis at PSU)
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 8 – Acoustic Phonetics
Acoustic analysis of vowels – from Plotnik
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Different Vowel Systems - Philadelphia
C = syllable closed by Cons; F = free – vowel final; V = closed by voiced Cons or
final; 0 = closed by voiceless Cons
Slide 37
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Different Vowel Systems – Philly Bonnie
C = syllable closed by Cons; F = free – vowel final; V = closed by
voiced Cons or final; 0 = closed by voiceless Cons
Slide 38
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Different Vowel Systems - Portland
C = syllable closed by Cons; F = free – vowel final; V = closed by voiced Cons or
final; 0 = closed by voiceless Cons
Slide 39
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Different Vowel Systems - Portland
C = syllable closed by Cons; F = free – vowel final; V = closed by voiced Cons or
final; 0 = closed by voiceless Cons
Slide 40
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Different Vowel Systems - Portland
C = syllable closed by Cons; F = free – vowel final; V = closed by voiced Cons or
final; 0 = closed by voiceless Cons
Slide 41
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9 - Vowels and vowel-like articulations
Cardinal vowels = not real language - the extreme positions of the
vowel space - use IPA vowel symbols to represent
A language uses these symbols for the closest vowel like articulation
in that language (English [i] is not cardinal [i] but cardinal [i] is
closest)
Cardinal vowel (1) = [i] – any further front/high would be
(voiced palatal fricative)
Cardinal vowel (5) =
- any further lower/back would be
(voiced pharyngeal fric)
Vowel quality in different languages and varieties of the same
language differ - not always phonetically accurate
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9 - Vowels and vowel-like articulations
Cardinal vowels pretend equal distance between each vowel, but the
front vowels have much further space from high to low than the back
vowels (See Figure 9.3, p. 215)
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9 - Vowels and vowel-like articulations
Tongue height not really valid – there is an auditory quality that is
more appropriately captured by “vowel height” and can be measured
acoustically (F1, F2, etc).
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9 - Vowels and vowel-like articulations
Secondary cardinal vowels are identical to primary, but have
opposite lip rounding (plus a couple extra) See Figure 9.5, p. 217
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9
Acoustic analysis of vowels – from Plotnik – Portland speaker (contrast with Figures 9.6-9.8, pp 219-220)
IPA
C = syllable closed by Cons; F = free – vowel final; V = closed by voiced Cons or
final; 0 = closed by voiceless Cons
iy
[i]
ey
[eI
]
i
[I]
e
[]
uw
[u]
u
[U]
ow
[oU]
o
[]
oh
[]
oy
[oI]
aw
[aU
]
ay
[aI
]
ah
[]
Slide 46
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9 - Vowels and vowel-like articulations
Vowels - vowel space broken down even more than in English
Slide 47
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9 - Vowels and vowel-like articulations
Vowel Chart Modified
HIGH
MID
LOW

a
Slide 48
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9 - Vowels and vowel-like articulations
Summary of vowel quality (see Table 9.2, p. 226)
Height
Backness
Rhotaciziation
Rounding
ATR
Naasalization
Slide 49
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9 - Vowels and vowel-like articulations
Advanced tongue root = ATR - pharyngeal constriction
Not the same as tense/lax but kinda sorta
[ e2 ] = retracted tongue root (-ATR)
[ e1 ] = advanced tongue root (+ATR)
Slide 50
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9 - Vowels and vowel-like articulations
Rhotacized vowels - different ways to produce r-coloring (shown in
acoustic signal by lowering of F3)
Nasalization - Vowels are nasalized = air is allowed to escape the
nasal passage AS WELL AS the oral passage
Approximants can also be nasalized
Vowel quality - Height, backness, rounding, rhotacization, ATR,
nasalization
Slide 51
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9 - Vowels and vowel-like articulations
Secondary articulations (See p.231 – Table 9.5)
Palatalization - as in Russian = added [j] after consonant
Palatalized = above; a sound made closer to palatal region (English [k]
in word ‘key’ is palatalized); historical process that turns sounds into
alveopalatal consonants
Velarization - secondary raising of back of tongue (dark [l] in
English)
Slide 52
Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9 - Vowels and vowel-like articulations
Secondary articulations (See p.231 – Table 9.5)
Pharyngealization - narrowing of pharynx (Hebrew, Arabic)
Labialization - additional lip rounding ([w] after/at the same time as
consonant)
Labialization + palatalization
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Jeff Conn guest lecture on Pdx Dialect/Vowel acoustics
Chapter 9 - Vowels and vowel-like articulations