The phonetics of speech breathing : pauses, physiology, acoustics, and perception

Speech is made up of a continuous stream of speech sounds that is interrupted by pauses and breathing. As phoneticians are primarily interested in describing the segments of the speech stream, pauses and breathing are often neglected in phonetic studies, even though they are vital for speech. The present work adds to a more detailed view of both pausing and speech breathing with a special focus on the latter and the resulting breath noises, investigating their acoustic, physiological, and perceptual aspects. We present an overview of how a selection of corpora annotate pauses and pause-internal particles, as well as a recording setup that can be used for further studies on speech breathing. For pauses, this work emphasized their optionality and variability under different tempos, as well as the temporal composition of silence and breath noise in breath pauses. For breath noises, we first focused on acoustic and physiological characteristics: We explored alignment between the onsets and offsets of audible breath noises with the start and end of expansion of both rib cage and abdomen. Further, we found similarities between speech breath noises and aspiration phases of /k/, as well as that breath noises may be produced with a more open and slightly more front place of articulation than realizations of schwa. We found positive correlations between acoustic and physiological parameters, suggesting that when speakers inhale faster, the resulting breath noises were more intense and produced more anterior in the mouth. Inspecting the entire spectrum of speech breath noises, we showed relatively flat spectra and several weak peaks. These peaks largely overlapped with resonances reported for inhalations produced with a central vocal tract configuration. We used 3D-printed vocal tract models representing four vowels and four fricatives to simulate in- and exhalations by reversing airflow direction. We found the direction to not have a general effect for all models, but only for those with high-tongue configurations, as opposed to those that were more open. Then, we compared inhalations produced with the schwa-model to human inhalations in an attempt to approach the vocal tract configuration in speech breathing. There were some similarities, however, several complexities of human speech breathing not captured in the models complicated comparisons. In two perception studies, we investigated how much information listeners could auditorily extract from breath noises. First, we tested categorizing different breath noises into six different types, based on airflow direction and airway usage, e.g. oral inhalation. Around two thirds of all answers were correct. Second, we investigated how well breath noises could be used to discriminate between speakers and to extract coarse information on speaker characteristics, such as age (old/young) and sex (female/male). We found that listeners were able to distinguish between two breath noises coming from the same or different speakers in around two thirds of all cases. Hearing one breath noise, classification of sex was successful in around 64%, while for age it was 50%, suggesting that sex was more perceivable than age in breath noises.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) – Projektnummer 418659027: "Pause-internal phonetic particles in speech communication

Elusión tributaria y normas antielusivas: su tratamiento en el derecho comparado. Algunas conclusiones al respecto

Luego de ofrecer una visión particular del concepto de elusión tributaria, el artículo analiza el tratamiento que se ha dado en el Derecho Comparado a las medidas/normas antielusivas, agrupando a los ordenamientos estudiados en los dos sistemas jurídicos de mayor trascendencia en la actualidad: El Sistema Jurídico Romanista o Civil Law y el Sistema jurídico Anglosajón o Common Law. El propósito de este estudio y la forma de plantearlo así, además de proporcionar una visión esquemática de la manera en que ciertos Estados han combatido el fenómeno elusivo de impuestos, es obtener algunas conclusiones que permitan evaluar la situación existente en nuestro país y la conveniencia o no de su modificación

Interpretaciones que amenazan al derecho tributario. Tendencias actuales y análisis crítico

Tras introducir al lector en el inmenso y proceloso mundo de la hermenéutica jurídica, el artículo expone una descripción crítica y actual de ciertas formas de interpretación que se constituyen en verdaderas amenazas para el Derecho Tributario, pues, al dejar desprovisto de todo límite al proceso interpretativo, y por ende, al intérprete de la norma tributaria, vulneran e irrespetan principios y garantías fundamentales propias del Derecho fiscal. La finalidad del estudio presentado es doble: por una lado busca advertir, prevenir y corregir aquellas malas prácticas interpretativas de la norma jurídico tributaria. Y, por el otro, propone un sistema integral conforme al cual debe realizarse la interpretación e integración de la ley tributaria, o al menos tenerse presente para ello

Comparing Annotations of Non-verbal Vocalisations in Speech Corpora

In this study eleven corpora of spontaneous and scripted speech (in English and in German) are analysed regarding their annotation inventories of selected highly frequent nonverbal vocalisations (NVVs). It appears that only one corpus considers all NVVs and that laughter is the only NVV annotated in all corpora. The findings lead to a discussion of possible reasons for this situation. In conclusion it is argued that a wider distribution and more consistency is needed with respect to the annotation of NVVs

Comparing Annotations of Non-verbal Vocalisations in Speech Corpora

In this study eleven corpora of spontaneous and scripted speech (in English and in German) are analysed regarding their annotation inventories of selected highly frequent nonverbal vocalisations (NVVs). It appears that only one corpus considers all NVVs and that laughter is the only NVV annotated in all corpora. The findings lead to a discussion of possible reasons for this situation. In conclusion it is argued that a wider distribution and more consistency is needed with respect to the annotation of NVVs

Die Internet-Wirtschaft als Reformmotor der Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik

Die Internet-Wirtschaft stellt das Ordnungsmodell der Sozialen Marktwirtschaft vor fundamentale Herausforderungen. Welche aktuellen Reformprozesse laufen in der Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik ab? Welche Gestaltungsoptionen haben die politischen Entscheidungsträger? --

Venture-Capital Syndication: Improved Venture Selection vs. The Value-Added Hypothesis

Syndication arises when venture capitalists jointly invest in projects. We model and test two possible reasons for syndication: project selection, as an additional venture capitalist provides an informative second opinion; and complementary management skills of additional venture capitalists. The central question is whether venture capitalists are engaged primarily in selection or in managerial value added. These alternatives imply contrasting predictions about comparative returns to syndicated and standalone investments. Our empirical analysis, using Canadian data, finds that syndicated investments have higher returns, favoring the value‐added interpretation. We also discuss risk sharing and project scale as possible reasons for syndication

From the green bean to the cup of coffee : investigating coffee roasting by on-line monitoring of volatiles

Erworben im Rahmen der Schweizer Nationallizenzen (http://www.nationallizenzen.ch)Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), emitted from green coffee beans, during coffee roasting and from a cup of coffee, were all analysed by proton-transferreaction mass spectrometry. Firstly, the headspace (HS) of green beans was investigated. Alcohols dominate the HS, but aldehydes, hydrocarbons and organic acids were also abundant. Secondly, we roasted coffee under two different conditions and monitored on-line the VOCs emitted during the process. In a first roasting series, a batch of beans was roasted. After an initial drying phase, dominated by evaporation of water and methanol, the HS concentrations of VOCs such as acetic acid, acetaldehyde, pyridine and methylbutanal rapidly increased and went through a maximum at medium roast level. In a second series, just six beans were roasted. We observed sporadic bursts of some volatiles (furans, butanal, 2,3- pentanedione), coinciding with popping sounds. Other VOCs showed smooth time-intensity profiles (pyridine, pyrazine). These experiments gave a real-time insight into the complex processes taking place during roasting. Finally, the HS of coffee extracts, prepared from beans roasted to different roast levels, were analysed. Most VOCs showed a maximum concentration at medium roast level (e.g. pentanedione, furfural, 5-methyl furfural), while others showed a gradual increase (e.g. pyrrol) or decrease (e.g. methanol)