Producing American English Vowels during Vocal Tract Growth: A Perceptual Categorization Study of Synthesized Vowels

Autor/inn/en	Menard, Lucie; Davis, Barbara L.; Boe, Louis-Jean; Roy, Johanna-Pascale
Titel	Producing American English Vowels during Vocal Tract Growth: A Perceptual Categorization Study of Synthesized Vowels
Quelle	In: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52 (2009) 5, S.1268-1285 (18 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1092-4388
DOI	10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0008)
Schlagwörter	North American English; Vowels; Individual Development; Age Differences; Perception; Classification; Articulation (Speech); Acoustics + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Amerikanisches Englisch; Individuelle Entwicklung; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Wahrnehmung; Classification system; Klassifikation; Klassifikationssystem; Akustik
Abstract	Purpose: To consider interactions of vocal tract change with growth and perceived output patterns across development, the influence of nonuniform vocal tract growth on the ability to reach acoustic-perceptual targets for English vowels was studied. Method: Thirty-seven American English speakers participated in a perceptual categorization experiment. For the experiment, an articulatory-to-acoustic model was used to synthesize 342 five-formant vowels, covering maximal vowel spaces for speakers at 5 growth stages (from 6 months old to adult). Results: Results indicate that the 3 vowels /i u [ash]/ can be correctly perceived by adult listeners when produced by speakers with a 6-month-old vocal tract. Articulatory-to-acoustic relationships for these 3 vowels differ across growth stages. For a given perceived vowel category, the infant's tongue position is more fronted than the adult's. Furthermore, nonuniform vocal tract growth influences degree of interarticulator coupling for a given perceived vowel, leading to a reduced correlation between jaw height and tongue body position in infantlike compared with adult vocal tracts. Conclusion: Findings suggest that nonuniform vocal tract growth does not prevent the speaker from producing acoustic-auditory targets related to American English vowels. However, the relationships between articulatory configurations and perceptual targets change from birth to adulthood. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10