Investigating dialectal differences using articulography

The present study uses electromagnetic articulography, by which the position of tongue and lips during speech is measured, for the study of dialect variation. By using generalized additive modeling to analyze the articulatory trajectories, we are able to reliably detect aggregate group differences, while simultaneously taking into account the individual variation of dozens of speakers. Our results show that two Dutch dialects show clear differences in their articulatory settings, with generally a more anterior tongue position in the dialect from Ubbergen in the southern half of the Netherlands than in the dialect of Ter Apel in the northern half of the Netherlands. A comparison with formant-based acoustic measurements further reveals that articulography is able to reveal interesting structural articulatory differences between dialects which are not visible when only focusing on the acoustic signal

Multidimensional signals and analytic flexibility: Estimating degrees of freedom in human speech analyses

Recent empirical studies have highlighted the large degree of analytic flexibility in data analysis which can lead to substantially different conclusions based on the same data set. Thus, researchers have expressed their concerns that these researcher degrees of freedom might facilitate bias and can lead to claims that do not stand the test of time. Even greater flexibility is to be expected in fields in which the primary data lend themselves to a variety of possible operationalizations. The multidimensional, temporally extended nature of speech constitutes an ideal testing ground for assessing the variability in analytic approaches, which derives not only from aspects of statistical modeling, but also from decisions regarding the quantification of the measured behavior. In the present study, we gave the same speech production data set to 46 teams of researchers and asked them to answer the same research question, resulting insubstantial variability in reported effect sizes and their interpretation. Using Bayesian meta-analytic tools, we further find little to no evidence that the observed variability can be explained by analysts’ prior beliefs, expertise or the perceived quality of their analyses. In light of this idiosyncratic variability, we recommend that researchers more transparently share details of their analysis, strengthen the link between theoretical construct and quantitative system and calibrate their (un)certainty in their conclusions

Permian detachment faulting and syntectonic magmatism constrained by U-Pb LA-ICP-MS on zircon in the Orobic Anticline, Italy

The Grassi Detachment Fault is an Early Permian, low-angle extensional structure located in the Orobic Anticline. It separates the Variscan Basement in its footwall from the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Early Permian Collio Formation in its hanging wall. Its textures indicate a top-to-the-southeast displacement. The footwall basement consist of the Variscan Morbegno Gneiss and two granitoid intrusions, the Val Biandino Quarz Diorite (VBQD) and the Valle Biagio Granite (VBG). The former is syntectonic with respect to the detachment, whereas for the latter, the relation to the detachment is unknown. Volcanic rocks of the Collio Formation in the hanging wall may represent the extrusive part of the magmatic system. In the study area in the western part of the Orobic anticline, several faults and shear zones are exposed: (1) The top-SE Grassi Detachment Fault. It is truncated by the unconformably overlying, post-rift, Late Permian Verrucano Lombardo towards the NW. This reflects the eroded culmination of a Permian metamorphic core complex. (2) The Sasso Rosso Fault, a steeply NW-dipping, brittle normal in the footwall between VBQD and VBG. It is also sealed by the basal unconformity of the Verrucano Lombardo. (3) Several minor south-directed Alpine thrusts, duplicating the lithostratigraphy, including the detachment. (4) The Biandino Fault, a steeply SE-dipping Alpine backthrust, overprinting the detachment as well as the Alpine forethrusts. U-Pb zircon geochronology using LA-ICP-MS yielded concordant ages of 293.2 ± 4.9 Ma for the VBQD and 286.0 ± 4.8 Ma for the VBG. These ages coincide with the beginning of the Collio volcanism and with the emplacement of mafic melts in the lower crust of the Ivrea Zone, indicating that the volcanics, granitoids and mafic intrusions belonged to a crustal-scale magmatic system. Since structural relations indicate contemporaneity of VBQD intrusion and extensional detachment faulting, it results that the Early Permian magmatism occurred in a framework of core-complex style extension