Soft d in Danish: Acoustic characteristics and issues in transcription

Danish, like closely related Swedish and Norwegian, has descended from Old Norse (Haugen 1976). While the three contemporary languages are variably mutually intelligible, Danish has phonologically diverged from the other Scandinavian languages (Gooskens 2006). This is caused by extensive consonant lenition and vowel reduction within Danish (Basbøll 2005). The lenition of and in syllable coda positions into a sound that Danish linguists have called soft-d is seemingly unique to the Danish. In most phonological descriptions, it is transcribed using the phonetic symbol /ð/, a voiced interdental fricative. We assert that this is not accurate; not all phonologists agree that the soft-d is a fricative. Some describe it as an alveolar semi-vowel (Haberland 1994), while others transcribe it as a velarized, retracted, and lowered alveolar approximant (Basbøll 2005). Many observe that the sound resembles lateral /l/, a distinct phoneme of Danish (Wells, 2010). Through acoustic analysis of tokens taken from the DanPASS corpus (Grønnum 2016) we show that the acoustic properties (HNR) of soft-d are indeed not the same as a fricative, but rather that of an approximant or vowel. Therefore, the use of /ð/ to transcribe this symbol is inaccurate and does not align with the goals of the International Phonetic Association

Syllable Contact and Emergent Lenition in Bashkir

This study examines the syllable contact phonology of Bashkir (Kipchak, southern Urals, Russia), a language which exhibits a unique variation on general Turkic syllable contact phenomena, and proposes an Optimality Theoretic analysis, drawing on previous approaches to syllable contact in Turkic (Baertsch & Davis 2001, 2004, Gouskova 2001, 2004, Washington 2010). Bashkir desonorizes affix-initial coronal sonorants (/qullar/ --> [qul.dar]) to mandate compliance with the Syllable Contact Law (Davis, 1998). This occurs even at boundaries which would otherwise exhibit falling sonority, thereby maximizing sonority fall. Bashkir also exhibits a unique continuancy alternation pattern in desonorized affixes (taw-ðar, uram-dar, gaz-dar). This study adopts the Syllable Contact Hierarchy analysis proposed in Gouskova (2004), with ranking of relevant faithfulness constraints below all *DIST constraints mandating maximal sonority fall. It is proposed that continuancy alternations derived from a synchronically active lenition process, otherwise dominated by relevant faithfulness constraints, which emerges when unfaithfulness is forced to satisfy constraints on syllable contact

Intervocalic lenition, contrastiveness and neutralization in Catalan

Copyright (c) 2022 Jose Ignacio Hualde, Jennifer ZhangIn this study we examine the effects of word boundaries on the lenition of intervocalic voiceless plosives in Catalan in order to test the role of phonological contrastiveness in phonetic processes. Here we test the hypothesis that word-final intervocalic voiceless plosives (VC#V) will show greater lenition than word-internal and word-initial intervocalic tokens (VCV, V#CV), since in word-final position the contrast between /ptk/ and /bdg/ is neutralized. Lenition should be manifested acoustically as greater intensity, shorter duration and greater voicing. We find weaker support for the hypothesis than in a parallel study on Basque, suggesting the existence of phonological differences between the two languages. On the other hand, we find a strong effect of style on intervocalic lenition, with conversational speech promoting more lenited consonants. Intervocalic stop lenition in Catalan does not appear to be driven by temporal reduction

Language Variation Suite: A theoretical and methodological contribution for linguistic data analysis

In recent years there has been growing interest in quantitative methods for analyzing linguistic data. Advanced multifactorial statistical analyses, such as inferential trees and mixed-effects logistic regression models, have become more accessible for linguistic research as a result of the availability of an open source programming environment provided by the statistical software R. In the present paper, we introduce a novel toolkit, Language Variation Suite, a software program that offers a friendly environment for conducting quantitative analyses. We demonstrate how theory built on traditional monofactorial analysis can be extended to macro and micro multifactorial approaches allowing for a deeper understanding of language variation. The focus of the analysis is based on intervocalic /d/ deletion in Spanish from the Diachronic Study of the Speech of Caracas 1987 and 2004-2010. In contrast to traditional methodological approaches we have treated intervocalic /d/ as a continuous dependent variable according to the intensity ratio measurements obtained. Furthermore, we have integrated various syntactic, phonetic and sociolinguistic factors. Non-parametric and fixed-effects regression models revealed that overall age (younger speakers), sex (male speakers), phonetic context (low vowels), token frequency and morphosyntactic category (past participles) have a significant effect on the lenition of intervocalic /d/. In contrast, the mixed-effects model selected only phonetic context, frequency and category, showing that individual speaker variation is higher than group variation

Percepción del Contraste Bilabial-Labiodental en Las Consonantes Aproximantes del Castellano de Chile [Perception of the bilabial-labiodental contrast in the approximant consonants of the Chilean Spanish]

Perception of the bilabial-labiodental contrast in the approximant consonants of the Chilean Spanish.– Until recently, the consensus was that labiodental realizations of Spanish /b/ did not exist, and that consequently this variation in place of articulation could be safely disregarded. However, new evidence emerged showing that labiodental variants of /b/ do exist in relatively high numbers, at least in some dialects such as in Chilean Spanish. This study set out to determine whether Chilean Spanish listeners are able to perceive the differ-ences between bilabial and labiodental approximant variants of Spanish /b/ (i.e., [β̞] versus [ʋ]). In order to test this, natural and synthetic stimuli were presented to 31 native listeners in identification and discrimination tasks. Results showed that, while the identification task with natural stimuli provided mixed evidence of sensitivity to the con-trast, the identification and discrimination tasks with synthetic stimuli provided no evidence of listeners perceiving the phonetic contrast categorically. In sum, listeners do no seem able to perceive the acoustic differences between the two segments, and thus it is unlikely that this phonetic contrast could be employed to encode sociolinguistic information

Percepción del contraste bilabial-labiodental en las consonantes aproximantes del castellano de Chile

Until recently, the consensus was that labiodental realizations of Spanish /b/ did not exist, and that consequently this variation in place of articulation could be safely disregarded. However, new evidence emerged showing that labiodental variants of /b/ do exist in relatively high numbers, at least in some dialects such as in Chilean Spanish. This study set out to determine whether Chilean Spanish listeners are able to perceive the differences between bilabial and labiodental approximant variants of Spanish /b/ (i.e., [β̞] versus [ʋ]). In order to test this, natural and synthetic stimuli were presented to 31 native listeners in identification and discrimination tasks. Results showed that, while the identification task with natural stimuli provided mixed evidence of sensitivity to the contrast, the identification and discrimination tasks with synthetic stimuli provided no evidence of listeners perceiving the phonetic contrast categorically. In sum, listeners do no seem able to perceive the acoustic differences between the two segments, and thus it is unlikely that this phonetic contrast could be employed to encode sociolinguistic information.Hasta hace poco, el consenso en los precedentes investigativos era que las realizaciones labiodentales de /b/ no existían en el español, y que la variación de su punto de articulación podía ignorarse sin problemas. Sin embargo, evidencia reciente ha demostrado que variantes labiodentales existen y que son frecuentes, al menos en algunas variantes del castellano, como en el caso del castellano chileno. Este estudio se propone determinar si los oyentes del castellano chileno son capaces de percibir las diferencias entre realizaciones aproximantes bilabiales y labiodentales de /b/ (i.e., [β̞] versus [ʋ]). Para evaluar lo anterior, estímulos naturales y sintéticos de [β̞] y [ʋ] fueron preparados y presentados a 31 oyentes nativos en tareas de identificación y discriminación. Los resultados muestran que, mientras en la tarea de identificación con estímulos naturales la evidencia no es concluyente respecto de la existencia de sensibilidad ante el contraste, en las tareas de identificación y discriminación con estímulos sintéticos no existe evidencia que sugiera que los oyentes estén percibiendo el contraste auditivo categóricamente. En suma, los oyentes no parecen ser capaces de percibir las diferencias acústicas entre estos segmentos, y por lo tanto es improbable que el contraste esté siendo utilizado para codificar información sociolingüística

Resyllabification Reconsidered: On the Durational Properties of Word-Final /s/ in Spanish

Word-final consonants in Spanish are commonly assumed to undergo resyllabification across a word boundary before a following vowel, e.g., /los#otros/ 'the others' is realised as [lo.so.tros]. However, in many dialects of Spanish, word-final pre-vocalic consonants ('derived onsets') pattern phonologically with canonical codas and distinctly from canonical onsets. This property of derived onsets has been the subject of much interest in the phonological literature, and has led some linguists to question whether resyllabification indeed applies in all Spanish dialects. In this paper, we evaluate evidence for resyllabification based on acoustic data from 11 speakers of Peninsular Spanish. The results show that word-final pre-vocalic /s/ has increased duration compared to coda /s/, but at the same time, it is shorter compared to word-initial or word-medial pre-vocalic /s/. This result challenges an analysis where derived onsets become phonologically indistinguishable from canonical onsets. We consider an alternative in the form of partial resyllabification, and we further discuss the role of the syllable as a relevant unit in explaining /s/-sandhi in Spanish.casl7pub4322pub

Akustische Analyse stimulationsinduzierter Dysarthrie bei Patienten mit essentiellem Tremor und Tiefer Hirnstimulation

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, inwieweit die Tiefe Hirnstimulation bei Patienten mit Essentiellem Tremor (ET) zu einer Verschlechterung der Sprechmotorik führt. Dabei werden vor allem zwei Konditionen berücksichtigt: (1) Zum einen werden Patienten sowohl prä- als auch postoperativ in die Analyse einbezogen. (2) Zum anderen wird der Einfluss der Stimulation an unterschiedlichen Stimulationsorten untersucht, d.h. die benachbarten Areale Nucleus Ventralis Intermedius (VIM) und Posteriore Subthalamische Area (PSA) werden in die Analyse mit einbezogen. Bei der tieferliegenden PSA verlaufen die Faserbahnen (des dento-thalamischen Traktes) stärker gebündelt als im VIM. Deshalb benötigt die PSA weniger Strom als der VIM, um den Tremor zu unterdrücken, was positiv zu werten ist. Es wurden 13 Patienten in dieser Arbeit eingeschlossen, ebenso eine Gruppe von gesunden, alters- und geschlechts-gematchten Kontrollsprechern. Die Arbeit nutzt einen interdisziplinären Ansatz und kombiniert die Methoden aus Neurologie, funktioneller Neurochirurgie und Phonetik. Die akustischen Aufnahmen werden über phonetische Parameter analysiert, ebenso wurden subjektive Einschätzungen der Sprache durch die Patienten sowie Verständlichkeitsanalysen durch verblindete Hörer durchgeführt. Es werden die Patienten (präoperativ) gegen die Kontrollgruppe, die Patienten prä- und post-operativ (separat für VIM und PSA) und die Sprechmotorik im Direktvergleich zwischen PSA und VIM verglichen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eine Verschlechterung der Sprechmotorik vor und nach stattgehabter THS, Unterschiede zwischen VIM und PSA sowie präoperativen ET Patienten und Kontrollsprechern finden sich nicht