Data-driven Extraction of Intonation Contour Classes

In this paper we introduce the first steps towards a new datadriven method for extraction of intonation events that does not require any prerequisite prosodic labelling. Provided with data segmented on the syllable constituent level it derives local and global contour classes by stylisation and subsequent clustering of the stylisation parameter vectors. Local contour classes correspond to pitch movements connected to one or several syllables and determine the local f0 shape. Global classes are connected to intonation phrases and determine the f0 register. Local classes initially are derived for syllabic segments, which are then concatenated incrementally by means of statistical language modelling of co-occurrence patterns. Due to its generality the method is in principal language independent and potentially capable to deal also with other aspects of prosody than intonation. 1

The influence of prosodic, syntactic and lexical aspects on referent tracking in German

This thesis investigates the influence of syntactic, semantic, prosodic and information structural factors on the referential bias in a highly controlled story continuation task in spoken German

Erwerb der lexikalischen Töne im Standardchinesischen durch deutsche Lerner

Diese Dissertation befasst sich mit dem Problem deutscher Lerner beim Erwerb der lexikalischen Töne im Standardchinesischen. Der Fokus der Arbeit liegt auf der Gewinnung empirischer Erkenntnisse in der L2-Phonologie und ihrer Anwendung in der Aussprachedidaktik. Es wird die Hypothese aufgestellt, dass die grundlegenden Mechanismen zur phonetischen Realisierung von Tonsequenzen durch deutsche Lerner aufgrund eines ungenügenden expliziten Trainings auf verschiedenen tontragenden Domänen entscheidend von denen chinesischer Muttersprachler abweichen. In zwei empirischen Studien werden Sprachdaten zweisilbiger Wörter mit zwei vollen Tönen und einem Neutralton von 16 deutschen CHaF-Lerner (Chinesisch als Fremdsprache Lerner) erhoben und mit denen von 16 chinesischen Muttersprachlern verglichen. Die Daten werden experimentalphonetisch ausgewertet und analysiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass deutsche ChaF-Lerner aufgrund fehlender Übung von Tonsequenzen in dem Übergangsbereich zwischen zwei Tönen vorwiegend regressive dissimmilatorische tonale Koartikulation zeigen, während Muttersprachler erwartungsgemäß vorwiegend progressive assimmilatorische tonale Koartikulation zeigen. Außerdem gehen bei der Produktion der Tonsequenzen mit einem Neutralton tonale Kontraste bei den Lernern zum Teil verloren und die produzierten Konturen bei bestimmten Tonpaaren verschmelzen. Wenn beispielsweise Zielwörter in Zitierform realisiert werden, verschmelzen die Konturen der Tonpaare T2-T0 und T3-T0 miteinander. Diese Ergebnisse sind ebenfalls auf die Art des bisher praktizierten ChaF-Unterrichts zurückzuführen, was die Hypothese der Arbeit bestätigt. Die vorliegende Arbeit zeigt, dass ein explizites Training der Tonsequenzen in verschieden großen Domänen weitaus effektiver wäre als ein Training, das sich nur auf die Produktion der lexikalischen Töne in Zitierform beschränkt

Looking at feet. A neurolinguistic and constraint-based analysis of German word stress

In this dissertation, I examine the role of the foot in the assignment of word stress in German in light of results from recent neurolinguistic studies on word stress processing. This relatively new method is used to detect processing effects and support generalizations concerning prosodic structure. In particular, the use of sensitive, (temporally) high-resolution techniques reveals some details that cannot be shown by typological corpus studies alone. A central theme of this dissertation is the utility and even necessity of empirical data, especially from neuro- and psycholinguistic methods, for the development of a sound linguistic theory of phonological structure and processing

A percepção de funções comunicativas do alemão por parte de brasileiros aprendizes de alemão : uma investigação sobre o papel de pistas entoacionais, sintáticas e visuais

Orientador : Denise Cristina KlugeDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Humanas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras. Defesa: Curitiba, 14/08/2015Inclui referências : f. 135-147Resumo: Com base nos padrões entoacionais do alemão catalogados em Silva, Gabriel e Martens (2013a), a saber Pergunta, Pedido de Confirmação, Sentença Suspensa e Sentença Concluída, esta pesquisa tem por objetivo investigar, sob uma abordagem funcionalista, como as pistas prosódicas, sintáticas e visuais influenciam o modo como brasileiros aprendizes de alemão identificam as funções comunicativas dos estímulos, observando-se se os sujeitos atribuem o estímulo à mesma categoria na qual foi catalogado. Alguns estudos sobre a comparação entre línguas sugerem que o contorno entoacional final dos enunciados deve ser visto como um marca entoacional universal para que as intenções do falante sejam diferenciadas. Em línguas como o alemão, contudo, onde perguntas, por exemplo, são marcadas pela sintaxe, o movimento final provavelmente não tenha função tão primordial. A sintaxe pode, então, ser de grande importância para a distinção das categorias entoacionais. A pista visual também tem sido investigada, concebendo-se que componentes acústicos e visuais operam juntos no processo de transmissão da informação. Para investigar o papel dessas pistas para os aprendizes, replicou-se a metodologia adotada por Silva, Gabriel e Martens (2013b). Trata-se de um experimento perceptual contendo três momentos: no primeiro, fornece-se aos sujeitos apenas a informação prosódica dos enunciados em alemão. Na segunda etapa, acresce-se aos estímulos a informação sintática dos mesmos enunciados anteriores. Às informações prosódicas e sintáticas, acrescenta-se, no terceiro momento, a informação visual dos estímulos.Participaram da presente pesquisa 17 falantes nativos de Português Brasileiro aprendizes de alemão. Com os resultados pode-se verificar quais são as pistas que os informantes tomam como primordial para a tarefa de identificação das categorias entoacionais do alemão e, observar, por exemplo, se os aprendizes de alemão seguem as mesmas pistas que os alemães na mesma tarefa de identificação. Os resultados apontam para a preponderância da pista sintática na tarefa de identificação das funções comunicativas do alemão usados nesta pesquisa. Para os falantes nativos de alemão essa pista influencia mais na identificação dos enunciados a que são expostos do que para os aprendizes brasileiros de alemão. A relevância da informação sintática pode sugerir, para o ensino de alemão como língua estrangeira, que a sistematização do nível entoacional precisa imprescindivelmente focalizar na estrutura sintática da língua, embora não isoladamente, e não apenas nas variações de F0 ao longo do enunciado. Palavras-chave: percepção; pista prosódica; pista visual; pista sintática; alemão como Língua Estrangeira.Abstract: Based on intonation patters catalogued by Silva, Gabriel and Martens (2013), this research aims to investigate how prosodic, syntactic and visual clues influence the way Brazilian learners of German perceive these intonation categories. The research developed by the Grupo de Estudos Fônicos da UFPR (UFPR Group of Phonic Studies), aside from production, observed prosodic, syntactic and visual cues in the perception of intonation patters of German by native speakers of German. To investigate the role of those cues in Brazilian learners of German, the methodology used by Silva, Gabriel and Martens (2013b) has been replicated. It is an experiment of perception containing three moments: at the first one, the participants get prosodic information from the utterance. In the second moment, some syntactic information is added to the given utterances. In the third moment, visual information is added to the prosodic and syntactic information. 17 native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese learning German as Foreign Language took part in the presente study. It was possible to verify which cues are considered as prime importance for the task of identifying the intonation categories of the German. The results point to preponderance of the syntactic cue in the identification of German communicative function. The relevance of syntactic information may suggest, for German language teaching, that the intonation level systematizing needs focusing indispensably in the structure of the language, however not isolated, and not only on F0 variations over the utterance. Key-words:perception; prosodic cue; visual cue; syntactic cue; German as Foreign Language

Datenbasierte und linguistisch interpretierbare Intonationsmodellierung

In this thesis a data-driven and linguistically interpretable intonation model for the automatic analysis and synthesis of fundamental frequency (F0) contours was developed. The model can be characterised as parametric, contour-based, and superpositional. Its intonation representation consists of a superposition of global and local contour classes and can be derived in a purely data-driven manner, which guarantees consistency and easy adaptability to new data. The model's linguistic interpretability was examined by automatic linguistic corpus analyses resulting in hypotheses about possible relations between contours and linguistic concepts. These hypotheses were subsequently tested by perception experiments. By these means a systematic linguistic anchoring of the model was achieved in form of a decision tree to predict the linguistically appropriate contour class. The adequacy of its predictions was assured by a further perception test. Due to its simultaneous signal proximity and linguistic anchoring, the model covers the entire chain from text to signal and therefore can be used for intonation analysis and generation on a linguistic as well as on a phonetic-acoustic level. It is qualified for employment in speech technology applications as well as in phonetic fundamental research to automatically analyse raw speech data