Individual differences in phonetic imitation and their role in sound change

This paper explores the possibility that the spread of sound change within a community correlates with individual differences in imitation capacities. The devoicing of labiodental fricatives in Dutch serves as a case study of an ongoing sound change showing regional and individual variation. The imitation capacities of Dutch speakers born and raised in five regions of the Dutch language area were investigated in a forced imitation task (Study 2) and a spontaneous imitation task (Study 3), and compared to baseline productions (Study 1) of the variable undergoing sound change. Results showed that the leaders of sound change in each region were significantly less accurate in imitating model talkers-when they were instructed to-than conservative speakers, but they were more inclined to spontaneously imitate talkers. These insights are discussed in view of the literature on different types and measures of imitation capacities, on the actors of sound change and the two apparently paradoxical features of the language system: Its stability and its potential for sound change

Non-Native Attitudes to /θ/ and /ð/: A European Case Study

This paper investigates the evaluation of the English sounds /θ/ and /ð/ as produced by European non-native speakers. Using the data from a larger web survey, we compared the error judgements by different native and non-native users of English. This was done to establish whether there is any normative convergence among European non-native speakers, or if this was counteracted by other patterns, such as the presence or absence of these sounds in their L1s. Our analysis shows that while European non-native judges do not differ consistently from native-speakers in their judgements, there are also subtle differences between different groups of non-native speakers, implying that we should be careful not to generalise across groups about non-native attitudes to these sounds

Effects of obstruent voicing on vowel fundamental frequency in Dutch

It has been known for a long time and for a wide variety of languages that vowel fundamental frequency (F0) can be affected by the intrinsic properties of the preceding consonants. In particular, F0 following voiceless obstruents tends to be significantly higher than F0 following voiced obstruents (e.g., House and Fairbanks, 1953; Hombert et al., 1979). There has been a long-standing debate about the cause of this phenomenon. Some evidence in previous work is more compatible with a physiological/aerodynamic account of this effect (e.g., Halle and Stevens, 1967; Kirby & Ladd, 2016), while other supports an auditory enhancement account (e.g., Kingston and Diehl 1994). This paper investigates these consonant-related F0 perturbations in Dutch after initial fricatives (/v f/) and stops (/b p/), as compared to after sonorant /m/, in recordings by Pinget (2015). Dutch is particularly interesting for the investigation of F0 perturbations for two reasons: 1) Dutch – unlike English – is a true voicing language and 2) Dutch initial fricatives are currently undergoing a process of devoicing (e.g., Kissine et al., 2003; Pinget, 2015). The F0 contours in isolated words were analyzed using GAMM (e.g., Wieling 2018) with /m/ as baseline condition. Results show that after unvoiced /p, f/, the F0 at vowel onset is significantly higher than this baseline. Moreover, voicing measures (degree of voicing, duration, and VOT) interact with the main effects of onset consonant on F0. Especially after /v/, F0 at vowel onset increased as the voicing measures of preceding /v/ decreased. Thus, we found no trace of an active gesture to explicitly lower F0 after highly devoiced fricatives, as would be predicted by an auditory enhancement account. In conclusion, these results regarding F0 contours, the time course of the effects and the covariation patterns are taken as evidence to support a physiological/aerodynamic cause of F0 perturbations

Individual differences in phonetic imitation and their role in sound change

This paper explores the possibility that the spread of sound change within a community correlates with individual differences in imitation capacities. The devoicing of labiodental fricatives in Dutch serves as a case study of an ongoing sound change showing regional and individual variation. The imitation capacities of Dutch speakers born and raised in five regions of the Dutch language area were investigated in a forced imitation task (Study 2) and a spontaneous imitation task (Study 3), and compared to baseline productions (Study 1) of the variable undergoing sound change. Results showed that the leaders of sound change in each region were significantly less accurate in imitating model talkers-when they were instructed to-than conservative speakers, but they were more inclined to spontaneously imitate talkers. These insights are discussed in view of the literature on different types and measures of imitation capacities, on the actors of sound change and the two apparently paradoxical features of the language system: Its stability and its potential for sound change

Effects of obstruent voicing on vowel fundamental frequency in Dutch

It has been known for a long time and for a wide variety of languages that vowel fundamental frequency (F0) can be affected by the intrinsic properties of the preceding consonants. In particular, F0 following voiceless obstruents tends to be significantly higher than F0 following voiced obstruents (e.g., House and Fairbanks, 1953; Hombert et al., 1979). There has been a long-standing debate about the cause of this phenomenon. Some evidence in previous work is more compatible with a physiological/aerodynamic account of this effect (e.g., Halle and Stevens, 1967; Kirby & Ladd, 2016), while other supports an auditory enhancement account (e.g., Kingston and Diehl 1994). This paper investigates these consonant-related F0 perturbations in Dutch after initial fricatives (/v f/) and stops (/b p/), as compared to after sonorant /m/, in recordings by Pinget (2015). Dutch is particularly interesting for the investigation of F0 perturbations for two reasons: 1) Dutch – unlike English – is a true voicing language and 2) Dutch initial fricatives are currently undergoing a process of devoicing (e.g., Kissine et al., 2003; Pinget, 2015). The F0 contours in isolated words were analyzed using GAMM (e.g., Wieling 2018) with /m/ as baseline condition. Results show that after unvoiced /p, f/, the F0 at vowel onset is significantly higher than this baseline. Moreover, voicing measures (degree of voicing, duration, and VOT) interact with the main effects of onset consonant on F0. Especially after /v/, F0 at vowel onset increased as the voicing measures of preceding /v/ decreased. Thus, we found no trace of an active gesture to explicitly lower F0 after highly devoiced fricatives, as would be predicted by an auditory enhancement account. In conclusion, these results regarding F0 contours, the time course of the effects and the covariation patterns are taken as evidence to support a physiological/aerodynamic cause of F0 perturbations

Laboratory Sociolinguistics: A Novel Approach to Language Variation

This paper presents laboratory sociolinguistics, a novel approach to variationist sociolinguistics in which laboratory techniques and quantitative research methods are central. The aim is to take our understanding of the linguistic, social and cognitive mechanisms underlying language variation and its dynamics further than in previous sociolinguistic work, and to shed new light on the driving forces that turn language variation into language change. Laboratory sociolinguistics is anchored in new developments in sociolinguistics, in linguistics and in social sciences in general, and reaches out to other disciplines. This contribution is a first introduction of this novel approach. It sketches the rationale, defines its research focus, presents the type of research questions that can be tackled and invites other researchers to join this development

Laboratory Sociolinguistics: A Novel Approach to Language Variation

This paper presents laboratory sociolinguistics, a novel approach to variationist sociolinguistics in which laboratory techniques and quantitative research methods are central. The aim is to take our understanding of the linguistic, social and cognitive mechanisms underlying language variation and its dynamics further than in previous sociolinguistic work, and to shed new light on the driving forces that turn language variation into language change. Laboratory sociolinguistics is anchored in new developments in sociolinguistics, in linguistics and in social sciences in general, and reaches out to other disciplines. This contribution is a first introduction of this novel approach. It sketches the rationale, defines its research focus, presents the type of research questions that can be tackled and invites other researchers to join this development

The Expanding Universe of the Study of Sound Change

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