Rate representation and discriminability of second formant frequencies for /ε/‐like steady‐state vowels in cat auditory nerve

1995 ◽  
Vol 98 (6) ◽  
pp. 3223-3234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth A. Conley ◽  
Suzanne E. Keilson
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Auditory Nerve ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Second Formant ◽  
Rate Representation

Auditory nerve representation of vowels in background noise

1983 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. Sachs ◽  
H. F. Voigt ◽  
E. D. Young
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Auditory Nerve ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Stimulus Component ◽  
Signal Noise ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Second Formant

Responses of auditory nerve fibers to steady-state vowels presented alone and in the presence of background noise were obtained from anesthetized cats. Representation of vowels based on average discharge rate and representation based primarily on phase-locked properties of responses are considered. Profiles of average discharge rate versus characteristic frequency (CF) ("rate-place" representation) can show peaks of discharge rate in the vicinity of formant frequencies when vowels are presented alone. These profiles change drastically in the presence of background noise, however. At moderate vowel and noise levels and signal/noise ratios of +9 dB, there are not peaks of rate near the second and third formant frequencies. In fact, because of two-tone suppression, rate to vowels plus noise is less than rate to noise alone for fibers with CFs above the first formant. Rate profiles measured over 5-ms intervals near stimulus onset show clear formant-related peaks at higher sound levels than do profiles measured over intervals later in the stimulus (i.e., in the steady state). However, in background noise, rate profiles at onset are similar to those in the steady state. Specifically, for fibers with CFs above the first formant, response rates to the noise are suppressed by the addition of the vowel at both vowel onset and steady state. When rate profiles are plotted for low spontaneous rate fibers, formant-related peaks appear at stimulus levels higher than those at which peaks disappear for high spontaneous fibers. In the presence of background noise, however, the low spontaneous fibers do not preserve formant peaks better than do the high spontaneous fibers. In fact, the suppression of noise-evoked rate mentioned above is greater for the low spontaneous fibers than for high. Representations that reflect phase-locked properties as well as discharge rate ("temporal-place" representations) are much less affected by background noise. We have used synchronized discharge rate averaged over fibers with CFs near (+/- 0.25 octave) a stimulus component as a measure of the population temporal response to that component. Plots of this average localized synchronized rate (ALSR) versus frequency show clear first and second formant peaks at all vowel and noise levels used. Except at the highest level (vowel at 85 dB sound pressure level (SPL), signal/noise = +9 dB), there is also a clear third formant peak. At signal-to-noise ratios where there are no second formant peaks in rate profiles, human observers are able to discriminate second formant shifts of less than 112 Hz. ALSR plots show clear second formant peaks at these signal/noise ratios.

scholarly journals ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENT ON VOWEL PRODUCTION OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE BY INDONESIAN EFL LEARNERS

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Rudha Widagsa ◽  
Ahmad Agung Yuwono Putro
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
British English ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
English Vowels ◽  
Second Formant

Indonesian is the most widely spoken language in Indonesia. More than 200 million people speak the language as a first language. However, acoustic study on Indonesian learners of English (ILE) production remains untouched. The purpose of this measurement is to examine the influence of first language (L1) on English vowels production as a second language (L2). Based on perceptual magnet hypothesis (PMH), ILE were predicted to produce close sounds to L1 English where the vowels are similar to Indonesian vowels. Acoustic analysis was conducted to measure the formant frequencies. This study involved five males of Indonesian speakers aged between 20-25 years old. The data of British English native speakers were taken from previous study by Hawkins & Midgley (2005). The result illustrates that the first formant frequencies (F1) which correlates to the vowel hight of Indonesian Learners of English were significantly different from the corresponding frequencies of British English vowels. Surprisingly, the significant differences in second formant (F2) of ILE were only in the production of /ɑ, ɒ, ɔ/ in which /ɑ/=p 0.002, /ɒ/ =p 0,001, /ɔ/ =p 0,03. The vowel space area of ILE was slightly less spacious than the native speakers. This study is expected to shed light in English language teaching particularly as a foreign language.Keywords: VSA, EFL, Indonesian learners, formant frequencies, acoustic

Cross-Linguistic Perceptual Categorization of the Three Corner Vowels: Effects of Listener Language and Talker Age

2020 ◽  
pp. 002383092094324
Author(s):  
Hyunju Chung ◽  
Benjamin Munson ◽  
Jan Edwards
Keyword(s):  
American English ◽  
Perceptual Categorization ◽  
Perceptual Space ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Goodness Rating ◽  
First Languages ◽  
Second Formant ◽  
Vowel Categories

The present study examined the center and size of naïve adult listeners’ vowel perceptual space (VPS) in relation to listener language (LL) and talker age (TA). Adult listeners of three different first languages, American English, Greek, and Korean, categorized and rated the goodness of different vowels produced by 2-year-olds and 5-year-olds and adult speakers of those languages, and speakers of Cantonese and Japanese. The center (i.e., mean first and second formant frequencies (F1 and F2)) and size (i.e., area in the F1/F2 space) of VPSs that were categorized either into /a/, /i/, or /u/ were calculated for each LL and TA group. All center and size calculations were weighted by the goodness rating of each stimulus. The F1 and F2 values of the vowel category (VC) centers differed significantly by LL and TA. These effects were qualitatively different for the three vowel categories: English listeners had different /a/ and /u/ centers than Greek and Korean listeners. The size of VPSs did not differ significantly by LL, but did differ by TA and VCs: Greek and Korean listeners had larger vowel spaces when perceiving vowels produced by 2-year-olds than by 5-year-olds or adults, and English listeners had larger vowel spaces for /a/ than /i/ or /u/. Findings indicate that vowel perceptual categories of listeners varied by the nature of their native vowel system, and were sensitive to TA.

scholarly journals A New Approach to the Formant Measuring Problem

Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marnix Van Soom ◽  
Bart de Boer
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Spectrum Analysis ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Measurement Problem ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Frequency Components ◽  
Error Bars

Formants are characteristic frequency components in human speech that are caused by resonances in the vocal tract during speech production. They are of primary concern in acoustic phonetics and speech recognition. Despite this, making accurate measurements of the formants, which we dub “the formant measurement problem” for convenience, is as yet not considered to be fully resolved. One particular shortcoming is the lack of error bars on the formant frequencies’ estimates. As a first step towards remedying this, we propose a new approach for the formant measuring problem in the particular case of steady-state vowels—a case which occurs quite abundantly in natural speech. The approach is to look at the formant measuring problem from the viewpoint of Bayesian spectrum analysis. We develop a pitch-synchronous linear model for steady-state vowels and apply it to the open-mid front unrounded vowel [ɛ] observed in a real speech utterance.

Perception and Production of Misarticulated /r/

1983 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R. Hoffman ◽  
Sheila Stager ◽  
Raymond G. Daniloff
Keyword(s):  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Pointing Task ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Second Formant

Twelve children who consistently misarticulated consonant [r] and five children who correctly articulated [r] were recorded while repeating sentences which differed only in a single /r/–/w/ contrast. All /r/ and /w/ productions were spectrographically analyzed. Error productions were judged for their similarity to [w]. Each child identified all of the recorded sentences via a picture-pointing task. Misarticulated [r] was identified as /w/ at above chance levels only by the children who did not misarticulated [r]. The subject groups did not differ in their perception of correctly articulated /r/ and /w/ phones. Children whose misarticulated [r] phones were judged to be /w/?like were most likely to misperceive their own productions of /r/. Children whose misarticulated [r] productions were characterized by higher second formant frequencies were better able to identify their productions of /r/. Results suggest that a subpopulation of children who misarticulate [r] may mark it acoustically in a nonstandard manner.

“Steady‐State” Auditory Nerve Potentials for Different Stimulus Repetition Rates

1959 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-123
Author(s):  
W. T. Peake ◽  
M. H. Goldstein ◽  
N. Y‐S. Kiang
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Auditory Nerve ◽  
Stimulus Repetition
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