Prosodic description: An introduction for fieldworkers

This article provides an introductory tutorial on prosodic features such as tone and accent for researchers working on little-known languages. It specifically addresses the needs of non-specialists and thus does not presuppose knowledge of the phonetics and phonology of prosodic features. Instead, it intends to introduce the uninitiated reader to a field often shied away from because of its (in part real, but in part also just imagined) complexities. It consists of a concise overview of the basic phonetic phenomena (section 2) and the major categories and problems of their functional and phonological analysis (sections 3 and 4). Section 5 gives practical advice for documenting and analyzing prosodic features in the field.National Foreign Language Resource Cente

Design of a Controlled Language for Critical Infrastructures Protection

We describe a project for the construction of controlled language for critical infrastructures protection (CIP). This project originates from the need to coordinate and categorize the communications on CIP at the European level. These communications can be physically represented by official documents, reports on incidents, informal communications and plain e-mail. We explore the application of traditional library science tools for the construction of controlled languages in order to achieve our goal. Our starting point is an analogous work done during the sixties in the field of nuclear science known as the Euratom Thesaurus.JRC.G.6-Security technology assessmen

A Study of Accomodation of Prosodic and Temporal Features in Spoken Dialogues in View of Speech Technology Applications

Inter-speaker accommodation is a well-known property of human speech and human interaction in general. Broadly it refers to the behavioural patterns of two (or more) interactants and the effect of the (verbal and non-verbal) behaviour of each to that of the other(s). Implementation of thisbehavior in spoken dialogue systems is desirable as an improvement on the naturalness of humanmachine interaction. However, traditional qualitative descriptions of accommodation phenomena do not provide sufficient information for such an implementation. Therefore, a quantitativedescription of inter-speaker accommodation is required. This thesis proposes a methodology of monitoring accommodation during a human or humancomputer dialogue, which utilizes a moving average filter over sequential frames for each speaker. These frames are time-aligned across the speakers, hence the name Time Aligned Moving Average (TAMA). Analysis of spontaneous human dialogue recordings by means of the TAMA methodology reveals ubiquitous accommodation of prosodic features (pitch, intensity and speech rate) across interlocutors, and allows for statistical (time series) modeling of the behaviour, in a way which is meaningful for implementation in spoken dialogue system (SDS) environments.In addition, a novel dialogue representation is proposed that provides an additional point of view to that of TAMA in monitoring accommodation of temporal features (inter-speaker pause length and overlap frequency). This representation is a percentage turn distribution of individual speakercontributions in a dialogue frame which circumvents strict attribution of speaker-turns, by considering both interlocutors as synchronously active. Both TAMA and turn distribution metrics indicate that correlation of average pause length and overlap frequency between speakers can be attributed to accommodation (a debated issue), and point to possible improvements in SDS “turntaking” behaviour. Although the findings of the prosodic and temporal analyses can directly inform SDS implementations, further work is required in order to describe inter-speaker accommodation sufficiently, as well as to develop an adequate testing platform for evaluating the magnitude ofperceived improvement in human-machine interaction. Therefore, this thesis constitutes a first step towards a convincingly useful implementation of accommodation in spoken dialogue systems

The listening talker: A review of human and algorithmic context-induced modifications of speech

International audienceSpeech output technology is finding widespread application, including in scenarios where intelligibility might be compromised - at least for some listeners - by adverse conditions. Unlike most current algorithms, talkers continually adapt their speech patterns as a response to the immediate context of spoken communication, where the type of interlocutor and the environment are the dominant situational factors influencing speech production. Observations of talker behaviour can motivate the design of more robust speech output algorithms. Starting with a listener-oriented categorisation of possible goals for speech modification, this review article summarises the extensive set of behavioural findings related to human speech modification, identifies which factors appear to be beneficial, and goes on to examine previous computational attempts to improve intelligibility in noise. The review concludes by tabulating 46 speech modifications, many of which have yet to be perceptually or algorithmically evaluated. Consequently, the review provides a roadmap for future work in improving the robustness of speech output

Atrice mateřského jazyka zkoumaná na době nástupu hlasivkového tónu rodilých mluvčích češtiny přebývajících v anglofonním prostředí ve srovnání se studenty anglického jazyka

The present thesis investigates first language attrition on the level of phonetics, specifically the voice onset times of Czech expatriates living in Anglophone countries and advanced Czech students of English residing in the Czech Republic. First, it is questioned whether first language attrition occurs only in a migration context or whether it is possible for it to occur to advanced language learners still residing in their native environment. The results show non-monolingual like behaviour in both groups, however, of a different kind. Students drifted further from the English paradigm in the VOT of their L1 while expatriates drew closer to it. The results replicate what some other researchers found and suggests that L2 immersion environment determines the kind of crosslinguistic influence but is not conditional to L1 attrition, defined as diversion from the monolingual standard. The thesis also questions whether more frequent and variable L1 use decreases first language attrition, suggesting that it does, however, only partially and only in lenis plosives and not in fortis plosives.Tato práce se zabývá atricí, neboli nepatologickou změnou jazykových schopností, prvního jazyka na fonetické jazykové úrovni. Zejména se zaměřuje na nástup hlasivkového tónu Českých emigrantů žijících v anglicky mluvící zemi a pokročilých studentů angličtiny stále pobývajících v České republice. Nejprve se práce zaměřuje na otázku, zda li atrice prvního jazyka zasahuje pouze jedince žijící v emigraci, anebo jestli je možné ji pozorovat i u pokročilých studentů druhého jazyka stále žijících ve svém rodilém prostředí. Výsledky ukazují formy odlišné od monolingvního standardu u obou skupin, avšak pro každou skupinu odlišné jiným způsobem. Studenti se ve svých českých plozívách oddálili realizacím typickým pro angličtinu, zatímco emigranti se jim přiblížili. Závěry replikují výsledky jiných dále zmíněných studií a naznačují, že pobyt v prostředí užívajícím primárně druhý jazyk mluvčího určují, jaký typ změny v rodilé řeči dojde, ale nejsou pro atrici, definované jako oddálení od monolingvního standardu, podmínkou. Práce také bere ohled na to, zda li více časté a variabilní užívání prvního jazyka i v emigračním kontextu snižuje úroveň atrice. Experimentální výsledky naznačují že ano, avšak jen částečně a jen co se týče znělých plozív a nikoliv co se týče těch neznělých.Department of the English Language and ELT MethodologyÚstav anglického jazyka a didaktikyFilozofická fakultaFaculty of Art

Porovnání vlivu segmentálních a prozodických manipulací na sílu cizineckého přízvuku a pocit srozumitelnosti

a klíčová slova Cílem této bakalářské práce je porovnat a prozkoumat vliv segmentálních a prozodických manipulací na sílu cizineckého přízvuku a pocit srozumitelnosti, a to prostřednictvím experimentálního výzkumu. Zvukové manipulace spočívají v odstranění chyb typických pro české mluvčí angličtiny, a tedy v teoretickém vylepšení jejich projevu. teoretické části jsou nejprve představeny dimenze, pomocí nichž lze popsat charakterizovat cizineckého přízvuku. Následující sekce se věnuje sociálním aspektům komunikace v řeči cizineckým přízvukem a diskriminaci, jíž nerodilí mluvčí mohou čelit. Další sekce teoretické části se zabývá popisem segmentálních a suprasegmentálních rysů, které jsou typické pro angličtinu, a jejich rolí v ání cizího jazyka. Mimoto jsou popsány také základní rysy tzv. české angličtiny, tedy rysy anglického projevu českého mluvčího. V empirické části této bakalářské práce se představuje metodologické pozadí celého výzkumu, tedy výběr materiálu, jeho segmentální a prozodické manipulace, příprava percepčního testu, jeho zadání a popis statistické analýzy dat. Výsledky jsou poté představeny v následující diskuzní části. Data získaná z odpovědí šedesáti osmi respondentů ukazují, že manipulace percepci řečového jevu nerodilých mluvčích ovlivňují, ale v různé míře. Síla cizineckého...and key words This thesis aims at comparing and investigating the effect of segmental and prosodic manipulations on speaker's accentedness and comprehensibility; experimental research is the chosen mode of investigation. The manipulations consist of the deletion of mistakes typically found in the speech of Czech speakers of English and of the theoretical improvement of their utterance. The theoretical part of this thesis introduces the three dimensions which are used for describing foreign-accented speech. The following section focuses on the social aspects of communicating in a non-native language with a foreign accent and on the discriminatory behavior that foreign speakers often face. The next section of the theoretical part presents a description of the most salient segmental and suprasegmental features of English, along with the role these features play in the acquisition of a foreign language. Characterization of Czech English is also introduced in this section. The empirical part of this thesis describes the methodology employed in this research; explanation of selection of material, its segmental and prosodic manipulations, the preparation of the perception test and the testing itself, and the description of the statistical analysis of the responses are all included in this section. The...Department of the English Language and ELT MethodologyÚstav anglického jazyka a didaktikyFaculty of ArtsFilozofická fakult

Models and analysis of vocal emissions for biomedical applications

This book of Proceedings collects the papers presented at the 3rd International Workshop on Models and Analysis of Vocal Emissions for Biomedical Applications, MAVEBA 2003, held 10-12 December 2003, Firenze, Italy. The workshop is organised every two years, and aims to stimulate contacts between specialists active in research and industrial developments, in the area of voice analysis for biomedical applications. The scope of the Workshop includes all aspects of voice modelling and analysis, ranging from fundamental research to all kinds of biomedical applications and related established and advanced technologies

The Power of the Interpreter in the Business Domain: A CDA Approach to the Professional Interpreter’s Mediating Role

This study explores current practices in business interpreting in China with the aim of identifying the power of the interpreter from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Given the dramatic increase in trade and economic exchanges between China and Western countries, business dialogue interpreting is the most frequently adopte d type of interpreting in China. Cross cultural business negotiation, with its intricate nature and fluctuating dynamics, is highly relevant to its social and situational context. Universally recognized professional norms and interpreter codes of conduct a re not always applicable. This study proposes the following hypothesis: when practicing in a business scenario, the interpreter has power (defined as “control”) derived from linguistic, social, and cultural resources that are unavailable to others in the discourse. Conceptualizing the interpreted business encounter as a discursive practice, the study examines data selected from authentic, naturally occurring business interpreting events in China. The research draws on CDA theory to explore the power of the interpreter, looking at how the actual role of the interpreter deconstructs a shared fiction of interpreters as invisible, detached, and totally neutral in such discourse through the use of scarce bilingual and bicultural resources. Fairclough’s (1989) three dimensional CDA model consists of description, interpretation and explanation. The model makes empirical examination of the interpreter’s power in specific discourse possible by allowing for transcript analysis across different dimensions and levels. This research makes an innovative contribution to the field by integrating CDA theory with theories of social and Interpreting studies, such as Goffman’s (1981) participation framework and Wadensjö’s (1998) typologies. It adapts relevant methodology to examine how the interpreter’s power was established and enacted. The power of interpreter is represented in the capacity to exhibit ownership and accountability when taking individual decisions and actions to influence the development of the dialogue. This capacity is explored primarily in terms of following three categories: the variation of renditions, personal pronoun shifts, and the management of turn taking within the discursive practice of business interpreting. The results show that when performing in the context of business negotiation interpreting, the interpreter assumes a substantial role. This role disrupts a prescribed, idealized image of the interpreter as invisible and totally neutral within the activity of interpreting. Interviews with interpreters then explore their awareness of power as well as how their intervening behaviors and shifts in subject position are influenced by the situational and social context of business negotiations. The role of the interpreter within the setting of business negotiations is uncharted territory in Interpreting Studies. This study aims to improve interpreter awareness of their actual role and subject position in the domain of business. It also carries the potential to enhance the quality of pedagogical practice and the effectiveness of interpreter mediated business meetings