Effects of Phonological Contrast on Within-Category Phonetic Variation

This dissertation investigates an often assumed hypothesis in phonetics and phonology: that there should be relatively less within-category phonetic variation in production in languages which have relatively more phonological contrasts (Lindblom, 1986, on vowels). Although this hypothesis is intuitive, there is little existing evidence to support the claim and it is difficult to generalize outside of vowels. In this dissertation, I argue that this hypothesis is not trivially true and needs additional specification. I propose an extension of this hypothesis, Contrast-Dependent Variation, which predicts relative differences in extent of within-category variation between languages and individual speakers. Contrast-Dependent Variation can make predictions across multiple phonetic spaces as it considers individual phonetic dimensions to be the relevant units of comparison, rather than phonological inventory subsets (stops, vowels, etc.). Relative differences in extent of within-category variation are predicted by differences in cue weight, rather than differences in number of phonemes. The dissertation tests this hypothesis by examining two between-language case studies: stops in Hindi and English and sibilants in French and Polish. I also consider a within-language case study: individual differences in extent of within-category variation in Mandarin sibilants. The results here show that differences in extent of phonetic variability between languages and speakers are systematic; they are structured according to the system of phonological contrasts

Coarticulation with alveopalatal sibilants in Mandarin and Polish: Phonetics or phonology?

Previous work has shown that vowels following alveopalatal sibilants typically exhibit raised second formant (F2) values, typically attributed to coarticulatory vowel fronting (e.g. Stevens, 2004 in Mandarin; Bukmaier & Harrington, 2016 in Polish). This paper re-examines the palatalizing coarticulatory effects of the alveopalatal sibilant in Mandarin and Polish. While previous studies have focused on differences in F2 transitions or values at vowel onset, I find that the raised F2 values following alveopalatal sibilants frequently persist through the entire duration of following vowels in Mandarin. This raises the question of whether this is a phonetic coarticulation effect or a phonological assimilation effect. I review diagnostics for such a distinction and provide evidence from speech rate which suggests that the raised F2 effect should be analyzed as phonological assimilation in Mandarin, but phonetic coarticulation in Polish. These results have implications for phonological representations and perception in both languages

De-centering English with “language of the day” in undergraduate linguistics

Undergraduate linguistics courses often prioritize data from prestige varieties of English. This limits student learning to test cases of English and centers prestige varieties in the linguistics educational experience. We developed a method for de-centering English by exposing students to many languages in “language of the day” (LotD) activities. These activities broadened student knowledge of the world’s languages and improved student achievement on core analytical skills. This paper covers our implementation of LotD across two undergraduate phonetics and phonology courses, student and instructor reception, and suggestions for adaptation across subfields and course types

Competing Targets in English Sibilant Imitation

This study investigates imitation of English /s/ to determine whether speakers converge toward normalized or raw acoustic targets. Participants exposed to increased spectral mean (SM) raised SM, converging toward both the raw acoustics of the model talker (who had high baseline SM) and the pattern of increased SM. However, after exposure to decreased SM, direction of shift depended on participant baseline. All participants converged to the raw acoustic values of the model talker, increasing or decreasing their own SM accordingly. These results suggest imitation is not necessarily mediated by perceptual normalization to different talkers, and raw acoustics can be the target of phonetic imitation. This has theoretical implications for the perception-production link and methodological implications for analysis of convergence studies

Faith-UO: Counterfeeding in Harmonic Serialism

[Abstract not available

Multidimensional signals and analytic flexibility: Estimating degrees of freedom in human speech analyses

Recent empirical studies have highlighted the large degree of analytic flexibility in data analysis which can lead to substantially different conclusions based on the same data set. Thus, researchers have expressed their concerns that these researcher degrees of freedom might facilitate bias and can lead to claims that do not stand the test of time. Even greater flexibility is to be expected in fields in which the primary data lend themselves to a variety of possible operationalizations. The multidimensional, temporally extended nature of speech constitutes an ideal testing ground for assessing the variability in analytic approaches, which derives not only from aspects of statistical modeling, but also from decisions regarding the quantification of the measured behavior. In the present study, we gave the same speech production data set to 46 teams of researchers and asked them to answer the same research question, resulting insubstantial variability in reported effect sizes and their interpretation. Using Bayesian meta-analytic tools, we further find little to no evidence that the observed variability can be explained by analysts’ prior beliefs, expertise or the perceived quality of their analyses. In light of this idiosyncratic variability, we recommend that researchers more transparently share details of their analysis, strengthen the link between theoretical construct and quantitative system and calibrate their (un)certainty in their conclusions

Differential Cue Weighting in Mandarin Sibilant Production

Individual talkers vary in their relative use of different cues to signal phonological contrast. Previous work provides limited and conflicting data on whether such variation is modulated by cue trading or individual differences in speech style. This paper examines differential cue weighting patterns in Mandarin sibilants as a test case for these hypotheses. Standardized Mandarin exhibits a three-way place contrast between retroflex, alveopalatal, and alveolar sibilants with individual differences in relative weighting of spectral center of gravity (COG) and the second formant of the following vowel (F2). In results from a speech production task, cue weights of COG and F2 are inversely correlated across speakers, demonstrating a trade-off relationship in cue use. These findings are consistent with a cue trading account of individual differences in contrast signaling