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LINGUISTICS 401 LECTURE #8 Topics in Phonetics

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LINGUISTICS 401 LECTURE #8 Topics in Phonetics LINGUISTICS 401 LECTURE #8 Topics in Phonetics SUMMARY: CUES FOR MANNER, PLACE AND VOICING 1. The perception of manner of articulation a. First, listeners determine whether the signal is harmonically structured with no noise (vowels, glides, liquids and nasals) or whether the signal contains a non-periodic component (obstruents); Harmonically structured signals present acoustic cues in low frequency energy regions; Aperiodic, noisy classes present acoustic cues in high frequency energy regions. b. How do listeners identify the separate classes of sounds in harmonically structured signals? Main manner cues: i. relative intensity of formants; ii. formant frequency changes. NASALS: the formants contrast greatly in intensity with those of neighbouring vowels. Also, there is a low frequency resonance (=murmur) present in the signal. GLIDES: the formants move from one frequency to another compared to the relatively steady state formants of the vowels and nasals. (There are formant changes for some diphthongs, but these changes are not as rapid as those for the glides). LATERALS: vowel-like formants with little variations in frequency; more rapid transitions than for the glides. RHOTIC LIQUID: F3 formant movement. 1 c. How do listeners identify the separate classes of sounds in signals having an aperiodic component? OBSTRUENTS: duration of the noise is an important cue! STOPS: transient AFFRICATES: longer FRICATIVES: longest MANNER CONTRASTS ARE CUED BY RELATIVE FREQUENCY, INTENSITY, AND TIMING Study the Handout! 2. The perception of place of articulation The acoustic cues for place of articulation depend on a single parameter: Frequency. VOWELS AND APPROXIMANTS: The formant relationship indicates tongue placement, mouth opening and vocal tract length. Vowels: the place of articulation is reflected in the F1 and F2 space. F1 : indicates tongue height and mouth opening; F2: indicates place of maximum approximation of the tongue with the walls of the vocal tract. APPROXIMANTS: Frequency changes in F2 are important cues! [j] highest F2 [l] [®] middle frequencies for F2 [w] low frequencies for F2 F3: the acoustic results of tongue tip placement for [®] and [l] – important for perceiving the differences! 2 OBSTRUENTS: there are two relevant acoustic cues to place of articulation: a. F2 transition into neighbouring sounds (locus cues!) b. frequency of the noise component (see above!) 3. The perception of voicing The acoustic cues for consonant voicing depend on more on the duration of the timing events than on frequency or intensity differences. Exception: cue of the presence or absence of glottal pulsing. However, even though the periodicity of voicing is important, timing cues appear to override the acoustic consequences of glottal pulsing; the fact that listeners can distinguish between The tie is blue and The dye is blue in whisper indicates the importance of timing! Additional cues: VOT duration differences (see above). F1 in a stop + vowel syllable, when F1 is rising, the stop will be perceived as voiced (see above: F1 cut back!) Fricatives and affricates are perceived as voiceless when the frication is of relatively long duration. A vowel can cue the voicing of the following consonant: a voiced obstruents will be perceived after a vowel of relatively long duration. Study: Articulatory Features -- Acoustic Cues Summary Table (Pickett, p. 152) 3 .
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