A brief history of articulatory-acoustic vowel representation

International audienceThis paper aims at following the concept of vowel space across history. It shows that even with very poor experimental means, researchers from the 17 th century started to organize the vowel systems along perceptual dimensions, either articulatory, by means of proprioceptive introspection, or auditory. With the development of experimental devices, and the increasing knowledge in acoustic and articulatory theories in the 19 th century, it is shown how the relationship between the two dimensions tended to tighten. At the mid 20 th century, the link between articulatory parameters such as jaw opening, position of the constriction of the tongue, or lip rounding, and the acoustical values of formants was clear. At this period, with the increasing amount of phonological descriptions of the languages of the world, and the power of the computer database analysis allowing extracting universal tendencies, the question of how the vowel systems are organized arose. The paper discusses this important question, focusing on two points: (1) how the auditory constraints shape the positioning of a specific set of vowel within the acoustic space, and (2) how the articulatory constraints shape the maximal extension of the vowel systems, the so-called maximal vowel space (MVS)

Caractéristiques acoustiques des voyelles fermées tendues, relâchées et allongées en français québécois

Tableau d’honneur de la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales, 2013-2014.L’objectif de cette contribution est de décrire acoustiquement les variantes tendues, relâchées et allongées des voyelles fermées /i y u/ en français québécois, qui, sous l’accent, se retrouvent respectivement en syllabe ouverte, en syllabe fermée et en syllabe fermée par une consonne allongeante. 1350 occurrences extraites de la parole de 30 locuteurs de Rouyn-Noranda, de Saguenay et de Québec ont été analysées. Leur durée a été relevée, puis la fréquence fondamentale et la fréquence centrale des trois premiers formants (F1, F2, F3) ont été estimées à 25, 50 et 75 % de cette durée. Les variantes tendues présentent le F1 le plus bas et les relâchées, le F1 le plus élevé ; les allongées se situant entre les deux. En cours d’émission, les tendues et les allongées se tendent, mais les relâchées se centralisent. Les allongées sont celles qui présentent les trajectoires les plus importantes dans un diagramme F1 / F2.This study aims to acoustically describe tense, lax and lengthened variants of close vowels /i y u/ in Quebec French which, under stress, are found in open syllable, closed syllable and syllable closed by a lengthening consonant, respectively. To do so, we analysed the speech of 30 speakers from Rouyn-Noranda, Saguenay and Quebec who produced 1350 tokens of the variants under study. Their duration have been measured then the fundamental frequency and the central frequency of the first three formants (F1, F2, F3) have been estimated at 25, 50 and 75% of this duration. Tense variants exhibit the lowest F1 values while lax variants present the highest ones; the lengthened variants taking place in between. During the emission, lengthened variants show the most important trajectories in an F1 / F2 plane

Germanic Latin Lyric Diction: Regional Variations in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria

In this dissertation, I discuss the various regional Latin lyric diction practices in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria and the extent to which Germanic Latin diction (also termed German Latin diction), Italianate Latin diction, and Roman Latin diction are performed beginning circa 1950 until 2022. I argue that Germanic Latin lyric diction is not standardized throughout Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. First, I explore Roman and Italianate lyric diction practices compared across various sources in order to distinguish between Latin pronunciation choices, then I discuss trends in Germanic Latin lyric diction “rules.” Extensive tables in appendices A (Roman Latin) and B (Germanic Latin) provide in-depth comparisons of rules for each vowel and consonant sound, as well as combinations of sounds, with example words using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). In order to compare these rules for Germanic Latin lyric diction with performance practices, I examine samples from numerous recordings and individual native-German-speaking subjects. Using spectrum analysis for locating vowel formants in selected samples from these recordings, I assess the actual pronunciations as they occur. Although I identify some general trends, I do not find that there is a standard practice for Germanic Latin lyric diction