Regularity in speech rhythm as a social coalition signal

First published: 01 August 2019Regular rhythm facilitates audiomotor entrainment and synchronization in motor behavior and vocalizations between individuals. As rhythm entrainment between interacting agents is correlated with higher levels of cooperation and prosocial affiliative behavior, humans can potentiallymap regular speech rhythmonto higher cooperation and friendliness between interacting individuals.We tested this hypothesis at two rhythmic levels: pulse (recurrent acoustic events) and meter (hierarchical structuring of pulses based on their relative salience).We asked the listeners to make judgments of the hostile or collaborative attitude of two interacting agents who exhibit either regular or irregular pulse (Experiment 1) or meter (Experiment 2). The results confirmed a link between the perception of social affiliation and rhythmicity: evenly distributed pulses (vowel onsets) and consistent grouping of pulses into recurrent hierarchical patterns are more likely to be perceived as cooperation signals. People are more sensitive to regularity at the level of pulse than at the level of meter, and they are more confident when they associate cooperation with isochrony in pulse. The evolutionary origin of this faculty is possibly the need to transmit and perceive coalition information in social groups of human ancestors. We discuss the implications of these findings for the emergence of speech in humans.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), through the “Severo Ochoa” Programme for Centres/Units of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-0490) to the BCBL, from European Commission as Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowDLV- 792331 to L.P., fromMinisterio de Ciencia E Innovacion by grant PSI2017-82563-P to A.G.S., and grant RTI2018-098317-B-I00 to M.O

An exploration of the rhythm of Malay

In recent years there has been a surge of interest in speech rhythm. However we still lack a clear understanding of the nature of rhythm and rhythmic differences across languages. Various metrics have been proposed as means for measuring rhythm on the phonetic level and making typological comparisons between languages (Ramus et al, 1999; Grabe & Low, 2002; Dellwo, 2006) but the debate is ongoing on the extent to which these metrics capture the rhythmic basis of speech (Arvaniti, 2009; Fletcher, in press). Furthermore, cross linguistic studies of rhythm have covered a relatively small number of languages and research on previously unclassified languages is necessary to fully develop the typology of rhythm. This study examines the rhythmic features of Malay, for which, to date, relatively little work has been carried out on aspects rhythm and timing. The material for the analysis comprised 10 sentences produced by 20 speakers of standard Malay (10 males and 10 females). The recordings were first analysed using rhythm metrics proposed by Ramus et. al (1999) and Grabe & Low (2002). These metrics (∆C, %V, rPVI, nPVI) are based on durational measurements of vocalic and consonantal intervals. The results indicated that Malay clustered with other so-called syllable-timed languages like French and Spanish on the basis of all metrics. However, underlying the overall findings for these metrics there was a large degree of variability in values across speakers and sentences, with some speakers having values in the range typical of stressed-timed languages like English. Further analysis has been carried out in light of Fletcher’s (in press) argument that measurements based on duration do not wholly reflect speech rhythm as there are many other factors that can influence values of consonantal and vocalic intervals, and Arvaniti’s (2009) suggestion that other features of speech should also be considered in description of rhythm to discover what contributes to listeners’ perception of regularity. Spectrographic analysis of the Malay recordings brought to light two parameters that displayed consistency and regularity for all speakers and sentences: the duration of individual vowels and the duration of intervals between intensity minima. This poster presents the results of these investigations and points to connections between the features which seem to be consistently regulated in the timing of Malay connected speech and aspects of Malay phonology. The results are discussed in light of current debate on the descriptions of rhythm

A Multimodal Learning System for Individuals with Sensorial, Neuropsychological, and Relational Impairments

This paper presents a system for an interactive multimodal environment able (i) to train the listening comprehension in various populations of pupils, both Italian and immigrants, having different disabilities and (ii) to assess speech production and discrimination. The proposed system is the result of a research project focused on pupils with sensorial, neuropsychological, and relational impairments. The project involves innovative technological systems that the users (speech terabits psychologists and preprimary and primary schools teachers) could adopt for training and assessment of language and speech. Because the system is used in a real scenario (the Italian schools are often affected by poor funding for education and teachers without informatics skills), the guidelines adopted are low-cost technology; usability; customizable system; robustness

Gender, Politics, Market Segmentation, and Taste: Adult Contemporary Radio at the End of the Twentieth Century

This dissertation explores issues of gender politics, market segmentation, and taste through an examination of the contributions of several artists who have achieved Adult Contemporary (AC) chart success. The scope of the project is limited to a period when many artists who figured prominently in both the broader mainstream of American popular music and the more specific Adult Contemporary category were most commercially viable: from the mid-1980s through the 1990s. My contention is that, as gender politics and gendered social norms continued to change in the United States at this time, Adult Contemporary – the chart, the format, and the associated music – was an important, if overlooked or even trivialized, arena in which these shifting gender dynamics played out. This dissertation explores the significance of the Adult Contemporary format at the end of the twentieth century through analysis of chart performance, artist image, musical works, marketing, and contextual factors. By documenting these relevant social, political, economic, and musical factors, the notable role of a format and of artists neglected by scholars becomes clear. I explore these issues in the form of lengthy case studies. Examinations of how Adult Contemporary artists such as Michael Bolton, Wilson Phillips, Matchbox Twenty, David Gray, and Mariah Carey were produced and marketed, and how their music was disseminated, illustrate record and radio industry strategies for negotiating the musical, political, and social climate of this period. Significantly, musical and lyrical analyses of songs successful on AC stations, and many of their accompanying promotional videos highlight messages about musical genre, gender, race, and age. This dissertation ultimately demonstrates that Adult Contemporary-oriented music figured significantly in the culture wars, second and third wave feminism, expressions of masculinity, Generation-X struggles, postmodern identity, and market segmentation. This study also illustrates how the record and radio industries have managed audience composition and behavior to effectively and more predictably produce and market music in the United States. This dissertation argues that, amid broader social determinations for taste, the record industry, radio programmers, and Billboard chart compilers and writers have helped to make and reinforce certain assumptions about who listens to which music and why they do so. In addition, critics have weighed in on what different musical genres and artists have offered and for whom, often assigning higher value to music associated with certain genres, socio-political associations, and listeners while claiming over-commercialization, irrelevance, aesthetic insignificance, and bad taste for much other music