scholarly journals Adaptive and selective production of syllable duration and fundamental frequency as word segmentation cues by French-English bilinguals

2019 ◽  
Vol 146 (6) ◽  
pp. 4255-4272
Author(s):  
Annie C. Gilbert ◽  
Max Wolpert ◽  
Haruka Saito ◽  
Shanna Kousaie ◽  
Inbal Itzhak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Word Segmentation ◽  
Syllable Duration

Phonetics of Singing in Western Classical Style

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Sundberg
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Vocal Fold ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Vowel Identification ◽  
Fundamental Frequencies ◽  
Vocal Fold Vibration ◽  
Syllable Duration ◽  
Classical Singing ◽  
The Voice

The function of the voice organ is basically the same in classical singing as in speech. However, loud orchestral accompaniment has necessitated the use of the voice in an economical way. As a consequence, the vowel sounds tend to deviate considerably from those in speech. Male voices cluster formant three, four, and five, so that a marked peak is produced in spectrum envelope near 3,000 Hz. This helps them to get heard through a loud orchestral accompaniment. They seem to achieve this effect by widening the lower pharynx, which makes the vowels more centralized than in speech. Singers often sing at fundamental frequencies higher than the normal first formant frequency of the vowel in the lyrics. In such cases they raise the first formant frequency so that it gets somewhat higher than the fundamental frequency. This is achieved by reducing the degree of vocal tract constriction or by widening the lip and jaw openings, constricting the vocal tract in the pharyngeal end and widening it in the mouth. These deviations from speech cause difficulties in vowel identification, particularly at high fundamental frequencies. Actually, vowel identification is almost impossible above 700 Hz (pitch F5). Another great difference between vocal sound produced in speech and the classical singing tradition concerns female voices, which need to reduce the timbral differences between voice registers. Females normally speak in modal or chest register, and the transition to falsetto tends to happen somewhere above 350 Hz. The great timbral differences between these registers are avoided by establishing control over the register function, that is, over the vocal fold vibration characteristics, so that seamless transitions are achieved. In many other respects, there are more or less close similarities between speech and singing. Thus, marking phrase structure, emphasizing important events, and emotional coloring are common principles, which may make vocal artists deviate considerably from the score’s nominal description of fundamental frequency and syllable duration.

Word-level prominence in Persian: An Experimental Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahid Sadeghi
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Previous Literature ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Syllable Duration ◽  
Phonetic Cues ◽  
Pitch Movement ◽  
Spectral Tilt

Previous literature on the phonetics of stress in Persian has reported that fundamental frequency is the only reliable acoustic correlate of stress, and that stressed and unstressed syllables are not differentiated from each other in the absence of accentuation. In this study, the effects of lexical stress on duration, overall intensity and spectral tilt were examined in Persian both in the accented and unaccented conditions. Results showed that syllable duration is consistently affected by stress in Persian in both the accented and unaccented conditions across all vowel types. Unlike duration, the results for overall intensity and spectral tilt were significant only in the accented condition, suggesting that measures of intensity are not a correlate of stress in Persian but they are mainly caused by the presence of a pitch movement. The findings are phonologically interpreted as suggesting that word-level prominence in Persian is typologically similar to ‘stress accent’ languages, in which multiple phonetic cues are used to signal the prominence contrast in the accented condition, and stressed and unstressed syllables are different from each other even when the word is not pitch-accented.

Effects of Frequency-Shifted Auditory Feedback on Fundamental Frequency of Long Stressed and Unstressed Syllables

2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 577-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Natke ◽  
Karl Theodor Kalveram
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Negative Feedback ◽  
Auditory Feedback ◽  
Test Word ◽  
Feedback Mechanism ◽  
Negative Feedback Mechanism ◽  
Syllable Duration ◽  
Complete Test ◽  
Stress Patterns

Twenty-four normally speaking subjects had to utter the test word /tatatas/with different stress patterns repeatedly. Auditory feedback was provided by headphones and was shifted downwards in frequency during randomly selected trials while the subjects were speaking the complete test word. If the first syllable was long stressed, fundamental frequency of the vowel significantly increased by 2 Hz (corresponding to 25.5 cents) under frequency-shifted auditory feedback of .5 octave downwards, whereas under a shift of one semitone downwards a trend of an increase could be observed. If the first syllable was unstressed, fundamental frequency remained unaffected. Regarding the second syllable, significant increases or a trend for an increase of fundamental frequency was found in both shifting conditions. Results indicate a negative feedback mechanism that controls the fundamental frequency via auditory feedback in speech production. However, within a syllable a response could be found only if the syllable duration was long enough. Compensation for frequency-shifted auditory feedback still is quite imperfect. It is concluded that control of fundamental frequency is rather important on a suprasegmental level.

Maximum Performance Tests in Children With Developmental Spastic Dysarthria

1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 452-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wit ◽  
B. Maassen ◽  
F. J. M. Gabreëls ◽  
G. Thoonen
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Performance Tests ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Maximum Performance ◽  
Performance Tasks ◽  
Syllable Duration ◽  
Z Scores ◽  
Normal Speech

Three noninvasive Maximum Performance Tasks (MPT)—Maximum Sound Prolongation (MSP), Fundamental Frequency Range (FFR), and Maximum Repetition Rate (MRR)—were administered to 11 children with spastic dysarthria due to cerebral palsy and to 11 control children with normal speech in order to determine the value of the tasks for differentiating between these groups of children. From the acoustic measurements, nine parameters were calculated, and in seven of them highly significant group differences were found. By adding the unweighted z-scores of four parameters (maximum sound prolongation, syllable duration, fundamental frequency range, inter-utterance variability of syllable duration), a composite z-score was constructed with nonoverlapping distributions for both groups. The authors conclude that maximum performance tasks, despite the large intrasubject and intersubject variability in both normal and pathological speakers, are powerful tools for detecting spastic dysarthria.

scholarly journals Acoustic Analysis of Accurate Word Stress Patterning in Patients With Apraxia of Speech and Broca's Aphasia

1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 180-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Marquardt ◽  
Georgia Duffy ◽  
Michael P. Cannito
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Word Stress ◽  
Broca’S Aphasia ◽  
Syllable Duration ◽  
Disyllabic Words ◽  
Vocal Intensity ◽  
Normal Controls

Stress-marking strategies employed by subjects with apraxia of speech were compared to those of matched normal controls, for real disyllabic words produced in isolation and in sentences, across acoustic variables of fundamental frequency, syllable duration, and vocal intensity. Heterogeneity of stress marking in terms of acoustic trading relationships was observed in both the apraxic and normal subjects. Strategies varied depending on whether words were produced in isolation or in sentences, and whether the first or second syllable was stressed. Allowing for marked durational increases in apraxia, there were negligible differences in stress marking between groups. However, some idiosyncratic strategies and a tendency toward reduced durational contrast between stressed and unstressed syllables were observed.

A Tape Striation Counting Method for Determining Fundamental Frequency

1979 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 246-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B. Mueller ◽  
Marla Adams ◽  
Jean Baehr-Rouse ◽  
Debbie Boos
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Counting Method ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Fundamental Frequencies ◽  
Counting Procedure ◽  
Female Subjects

Mean fundamental frequencies of male and female subjects obtained with FLORIDA I and a tape striation counting procedure were compared. The fundamental frequencies obtained with these two methods were similar and it appears that the tape striation counting procedure is a viable, simple, and inexpensive alternative to more costly and complicated procedures and instrumentation.

The Application of Laboratory Formulas to Clinical Voice Management

1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Verdolini ◽  
Ingo R. Titze
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Voice Disorders ◽  
Clinical Interventions ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Interactive Nature ◽  
Mathematical Formulas

In this paper, we discuss the application of mathematical formulas to guide the development of clinical interventions in voice disorders. Discussion of case examples includes fundamental frequency and intensity deviations, pitch and loudness abnormalities, laryngeal hyperand hypoadduction, and phonatory effort. The paper illustrates the interactive nature of theoretical and applied work in vocology

Contributions of Voice and Nonverbal Communication to Perceived Masculinity–Femininity for Cisgender and Transgender Communicators

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 931-947
Author(s):  
Teresa L. D. Hardy ◽  
Carol A. Boliek ◽  
Daniel Aalto ◽  
Justin Lewicke ◽  
Kristopher Wells ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Sound Pressure Level ◽  
Sound Pressure ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Presentation Mode ◽  
Pressure Level ◽  
Presentation Modes ◽  
Audiovisual Stimuli ◽  
Vocal Tract Resonance ◽  
Point Light

Purpose The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to identify a set of communication-based predictors (including both acoustic and gestural variables) of masculinity–femininity ratings and (b) to explore differences in ratings between audio and audiovisual presentation modes for transgender and cisgender communicators. Method The voices and gestures of a group of cisgender men and women ( n = 10 of each) and transgender women ( n = 20) communicators were recorded while they recounted the story of a cartoon using acoustic and motion capture recording systems. A total of 17 acoustic and gestural variables were measured from these recordings. A group of observers ( n = 20) rated each communicator's masculinity–femininity based on 30- to 45-s samples of the cartoon description presented in three modes: audio, visual, and audio visual. Visual and audiovisual stimuli contained point light displays standardized for size. Ratings were made using a direct magnitude estimation scale without modulus. Communication-based predictors of masculinity–femininity ratings were identified using multiple regression, and analysis of variance was used to determine the effect of presentation mode on perceptual ratings. Results Fundamental frequency, average vowel formant, and sound pressure level were identified as significant predictors of masculinity–femininity ratings for these communicators. Communicators were rated significantly more feminine in the audio than the audiovisual mode and unreliably in the visual-only mode. Conclusions Both study purposes were met. Results support continued emphasis on fundamental frequency and vocal tract resonance in voice and communication modification training with transgender individuals and provide evidence for the potential benefit of modifying sound pressure level, especially when a masculine presentation is desired.

Effects of Fundamental Frequency Contours on Sentence Recognition in Mandarin-Speaking Children With Cochlear Implants

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 3855-3864
Author(s):  
Wanting Huang ◽  
Lena L. N. Wong ◽  
Fei Chen ◽  
Haihong Liu ◽  
Wei Liang
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Sentence Recognition ◽  
Test Conditions ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
F0 Contour ◽  
Appropriate Sentences

Purpose Fundamental frequency (F0) is the primary acoustic cue for lexical tone perception in tonal languages but is processed in a limited way in cochlear implant (CI) systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the importance of F0 contours in sentence recognition in Mandarin-speaking children with CIs and find out whether it is similar to/different from that in age-matched normal-hearing (NH) peers. Method Age-appropriate sentences, with F0 contours manipulated to be either natural or flattened, were randomly presented to preschool children with CIs and their age-matched peers with NH under three test conditions: in quiet, in white noise, and with competing sentences at 0 dB signal-to-noise ratio. Results The neutralization of F0 contours resulted in a significant reduction in sentence recognition. While this was seen only in noise conditions among NH children, it was observed throughout all test conditions among children with CIs. Moreover, the F0 contour-induced accuracy reduction ratios (i.e., the reduction in sentence recognition resulting from the neutralization of F0 contours compared to the normal F0 condition) were significantly greater in children with CIs than in NH children in all test conditions. Conclusions F0 contours play a major role in sentence recognition in both quiet and noise among pediatric implantees, and the contribution of the F0 contour is even more salient than that in age-matched NH children. These results also suggest that there may be differences between children with CIs and NH children in how F0 contours are processed.

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