Role of articulation in speech perception: Clues from production studies

AbstractThe role of the cerebellum in speech perception remains a mystery. Given its uniform architecture, we tested the hypothesis that it implements a domain-general predictive mechanism whose role in speech processing is determined by connectivity. We used standard and coactivation neuroimaging meta-analyses of speech perception studies without motor responses, with (n = 72) or without (n = 92) cerebellum activity. We compared these to speech production studies (n = 175). Results show multiple, distinct regions of perception- and production-related activity throughout the cerebellum with some overlap. Each task had distinct patterns of cortico-cerebellar connectivity. Perception regions/connections were associated with task-related terms mined from thousands of neuroimaging studies that were neither speech nor domain-specific but were prediction related. Finally, when the cerebellum was active, there was less cortical activity compared to when it was inactive, a marker of predictive processing. Results suggest that the cerebellum implements a domain-general mechanism related to prediction during passive speech perception.

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Questioning the role of lexical contrastiveness in phonological development: Converging evidence from perception and production studies

The Canadian Journal of Linguistics / La revue canadienne de linguistique ◽

10.1017/cnj.2018.12 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 63 (4) ◽

pp. 580-608

Author(s):

Yvan Rose ◽

Sarah Blackmore

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Phonological Development ◽

Lexical Development ◽

Production Studies ◽

Phonological Contrast ◽

Relative Independence ◽

Infant Speech Perception ◽

Perceptual Abilities ◽

Phonological Contrasts

AbstractIn this article, we address relations between lexical and phonological development, with an emphasis on the notion of phonological contrast. We begin with an overview of the literature on word learning and on infant speech perception. Among other results, we report on studies showing that toddlers’ perceptual abilities do not correlate with the development of phonological contrasts within their lexicons. We then engage in a systematic comparison between the lexical development of two child learners of English and their acquisition of consonants in syllable onsets. We establish a developmental timeline for each child's onset consonant system, which we compare to the types of phonological contrasts that are present in their expressive vocabularies at each relevant milestone. Like the earlier studies, ours also fails to return tangible parallels between the two areas of development. The data instead suggest that patterns of phonological development are best described in terms of the segmental categories they involve, in relative independence from measures of contrastiveness within the learners’ lexicons.

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The Role of Speech Perception in Persistent Speech Sound Disorder

Perspectives on School-Based Issues ◽

10.1044/sbi16.2.18 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 18-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kathryn L. Cabbage

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Speech Sound ◽

Speech Sound Disorder

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Affect and iconicity in phonological variation

Language in Society ◽

10.1017/s0047404520000871 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-23

Author(s):

Annette D'Onofrio ◽

Penelope Eckert

Keyword(s):

Experimental Evidence ◽

Empirical Evidence ◽

Essential Role ◽

Sound Symbolism ◽

Linguistic Variation ◽

Phonological Variation ◽

Sociolinguistic Variation ◽

Production Studies ◽

Basic Level

Abstract The study of iconic properties of language has been marginalized in linguistics, with the assumption that iconicity, linked with expressivity, is external to the grammar. Yet iconicity plays an essential role in sociolinguistic variation. At a basic level, repetition and phonetic intensification can intensify the indexicality of variables. Iconicity plays a further role in variation in the form of sound symbolism, linking properties of sounds with attributes or objects. Production studies have shown some phonological variables exhibiting sound symbolism, particularly in the expression of affect. In some cases, the observation of sound symbolism has been largely interpretive. But in others, stylistic variability as a function of speaker affect has provided empirical evidence of iconicity. This article examines the role of iconicity and performativity in transcending the limits of reference, reviews iconicity in production studies, and provides experimental evidence that sound symbolism influences how listeners attribute affect to linguistic variation. (Variation, iconicity, affect)

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