• 음성과학
• /
• 제11권4호
• /
• pp.199-206
• /
• 2004

This paper attempts to provide a substantial explanation of different prosodic implementations on segments in English and Spanish, arguing that the phonetic modification invoked by prosody may effectively reflect phonological structure. In English, a high front vowel in accented syllables is acoustically realized as higher F1 and F2 frequencies than in unaccented syllables, due to its more peripheral and sonorous articulation (Harrington et al. 1999). In this paper, an acoustic experiment was conducted to see if such a manner of segmental modification invoked by prosody in English extends to other languages such as Spanish. Results show that relatively more prominent syllables entail higher F1 values as a result of their more sonorous articulation in Spanish, but either front or back vowel does not show a higher F2 or a lower F2 frequency. This is interpreted as an indication that a prosodically prominent syllable entails its vocalic enhancement in both horizontal and vertical dimensions of articulation in English. In Spanish, however, only the vertical dimensional articulation is maximized, resulting in a higher F1. I suggest that this difference may be attributed to the different phonological structures of vowels in English and Spanish, and that sonority expansion alone would be sufficient in the articulation of prosodic prominence as long as the phonological distinction of vowels is well retained.

• 말소리와 음성과학
• /
• 제1권2호
• /
• pp.95-103
• /
• 2009

We investigated the perceptual structure of Korean consonants by analyzing the confusion among consonants in various vowel contexts. The 36 CV syllable types combined by 18 consonants and 2 vowels (/i/ and /u/) were presented with masking noises or in degraded intensity. The confusion data were analyzed by the INDSCAL (Individual Difference Scaling), ADCLUS (Additive Clustering) and the probability of the transmitted information. The results were compared with those of a previous study with /a/ vowel context (Bae and Kim, 2002). The overall results showed that the laryngeal features-aspiration, lax and tense-are the most salient features in the perception of Korean consonant regardless of vowel contexts, but the perceptual saliency of place features varies across vowel conditions. In high vowel (front and back vowel) contexts, sibilant consonants were perceptually salient compared to in low vowel contexts. In back vowel contexts, grave (labial and velar) consonants were perceptually salient. These findings imply that place features and vowel features strongly interact in speech perception as well as in speech production. All statistical measures from our confusion data ensured that the perceptual structure of Korean consonants correspond to the hierarchical structure suggested in the feature geometry (Clements, 1991). We discuss the link between speech perception and production as the basis of phonology.

• 대한후두음성언어의학회지
• /
• 제19권2호
• /
• pp.133-135
• /
• 2008

Background and Objectives: The voice changes can occur in peritonsillar abscess and the labeling of this changes as a "muffled voice". The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in acoustic feature of voice before and after treatment in patients with peritonsillar abscess. Materials and Method: 12 patients with peritonsillar abscess were enrolled in the study. Acoustic analysis on sustained Korean vowels /a/, /i/ and /u/ were performed before and after treatment. Results: In patients with peritonsillar abscess, the first formant frequency (F1) and second formant frequency (F2) of /a/ were decreased. There was tendency of articulation of back-low vowel /a/ as back-high vowel /u/. F1 of /i/ and /u/ were increased, while F2 were decreased. There was tendency of articulation of front-high vowel /i/ as back-low vowel /a/. The third, forth, fifth formant frequency (F3, F4, F5) of /a/, /i/ and /u/ were decreased although statistically not significant. Conclusion: The anatomical and functional changes of oropharynx by peritonsillar abscess can cause changes in resonance and speech quality. We suggest that these changes could be the cause of 'muffled voice' in patients of peritonsillar abscess.

• 음성과학
• /
• 제10권4호
• /
• pp.81-91
• /
• 2003

The aim of this study was to estimate the target F2 values of the coronal plain stop in Korean and the degree of deviation from the target in the context of various vowels, and to compare the results of Korean regarding the coronal stop with those of English and French. An acoustic analysis showed that the mean F2 value of the Korean coronal stop produced by 10 male speakers was 1,855 Hz and the deviation from the target was 94 Hz in the context of [i], 204 Hz in the context of [u], and 407 Hz in the context of [o]. The target F2s of the coronal stop were the highest in English (1,929 Hz) and the lowest in French (1,662 Hz), and the deviation from the targets in the context of the high back vowel was the largest in French (257 Hz) and the smallest in English (73 Hz).

• 말소리와 음성과학
• /
• 제9권1호
• /
• pp.49-53
• /
• 2017

Formant frequencies depend on the position of tongue, the shape of lips, and larynx. In the auditory system, the external ear canal is an open-end resonator, which can modify the voice characteristics. This study investigates the effect of the real ear on formant frequencies. Fifteen subjects ranging from 22 to 30 years of age participated in the study. This study employed three corner vowels: the low central vowel /a/, the high front vowel /i/, and the high back vowel /u/. For this study, the voice of a well-educated undergraduate who majored in speech-language pathology, was recorded with a high performance condenser microphone placed in the upper pinna and in the ear canal. Paired t-test showed that there were significant difference in the formant frequencies of F1, F2, F3, and F4 between the free field and the real ear. For /a/, all formant frequencies decreased significantly in the real ear. For /i/, F2 increased and F3 and F4 decreased. For /u/, F1 and F2 increased, but F3 and F4 decreased. It seems that these voice modifications in the real ear contribute to interpreting voice quality and understanding speech, timbre, and individual characteristics, which are influenced by the shape of the outer ear and external ear canal in such a way that formant frequencies become centralized in the vowel space.

• 대한후두음성언어의학회지
• /
• 제10권2호
• /
• pp.119-123
• /
• 1999

Background and Objectives : Conditions such as muscle atrophy, stretching of strap muscles, and continued craniofacial growth factors have been cited as contributing to the changes observed in the vocal tract structure and function in elderly speakers. The purpose of the present study is to compare F$_1$ and F$_2$ frequency levels in elderly and young adult male and female speakers producing a series of vowels ranging from high-front to low-back placement. Material and Methods : The subjects were two groups of young adults(10 males, 10 females, mean age 21 years old range 19-24 years) and two groups of elderly speakers(10 males, 10 females, mean age 67 years : range 60-84 years). Each subject participated in speech pathologist to be a speaker of unimpared standard Korean. The headphone was positioned 2 cm from the speakers lips. Each speaker sustained the five vowels for 5 s. Formant frequency measures were obtained from an analysis of linear predictive coding in CSL model 4300B(Kay co). Results : Repeated measure AVOVA procedures were completed on the $F_1$ and $F_2$ data for the male and female speakers. $F_2$ formant frequency levels were proven to be significantly lower fir elderly speakers. Conclusions : We presume $F_2$ vocal cavity(from the point of tongue constriction to lip) lengthening in elderly speakers. The research designed to observe dynamic speech production more directly will be needed.

• 비교문화연구
• /
• 제39권
• /
• pp.381-406
• /
• 2015

Russian nasal consonants / m /, / n / have a feature value not only [+consonant] in common with obstruents, but also [+sonorant] in common with vowels. Nasal / m /(bi-labial) and / n /(dental) have the same place of articulation but different manner of articulation. The feature value of / m / is [+cons, +son, +nas, +ant, -cor, -high, -low, -back, -cont, -del, rel, -strid, +voic], and that of / n / is [+cons, +son, +nas, +ant, +cor, -high, -low, -back, -cont, -del, rel, -strid, + voic]. There is a difference in feature [cor] value of / m / and / n /. In this study it is confirmed that it is a fact that the Russian nasal consonants behave differently from the other consonants in each phonological phenomenon due to their phonological characteristics. The preceding voiced obstruent is changed to an unvoiced one in a process where the last voiceless obstruent in the consonant cluster ' voiced obstruent + nasal /m/ + voiceless obstruent' skips the nasal consonant and spreads its feature value to the preceding voiced obstruent transparently because of the feature [+sonorant] of the nasal consonant. The coronal nasal /n/ participates in a palatalization with the following palatal actively and palatalize preceding plain consonants passively because of markedness hierarchy such as 'Velar > Labial > Coronal'. But the labial nasal /m/ is palatalized with the following velar palatal actively and participates in a palatalization with the following coronal palatal passively. This result helps us confirm the phonological difference of /m/ and /n/ in a palatalization. When the a final consonant is nasal, the unvoicing phenomenon of a final consonant doesn't occur. In such a case as cluster 'obstruent + nasal' the feature value [voiced] of the preceding obstruent doesn't change, but the following nasal can assimilate into the preceding obstruent. When continuing the same nasals / -nn- / in a consonant cluster, the feature value [+cont] of a weak position leads the preceding nasal / n / to be changed into [-cont] / l /. Through the analysis of the frequency of occurrences of consonants in syllabic onsets and codas that should observe the 'Sonority Sequence Principle', the sonority hierarchy of nasal consonants has been confirmed. In a diachronic perspective following nasal / m /, / n / there is a loss of the preceding labial stop and dental stop. But in clusters with the velar stop+nasal, the two-component cluster has been kept phonetically intact.

• 대한후두음성언어의학회지
• /
• 제16권1호
• /
• pp.10-14
• /
• 2005

Background and Objectives : Vowels are characterized on the basis of formant patterns. The first formant(F1) is determined by high-low placement of the tongue, and the second formant (F2) by front-back placement of the tongue. The fundamental frequency(F0) of a soprano often exceed the normal frequency of the first formant. And the vocal intensity is boosted when F0 is high and a harmonic coincides with a formant. This is called a formant tuning. Experienced singers thus learned how to tune their formants over a resonable range by lowering the tongue to maximize their vocal intensity. So, the current study aimed to identify the formant tuning in one experienced soprano by comparing the first formants of vowel [i] in three different voice production : speech, ascending scale, and vocalize. Materials and Method : All voices recordings of vowel [i] in speech, ascending scale (from F4 note to A4 note), and vocalize(:Ridente la calam") were made with digital audio tape-corder in a sound treated room. And the captured data were analyzed by the long term average(LTA) power spectrum using the FFT algorithm of the Computerized Speech Lab(CSL, Kay elementrics, Model, 4300B). Results : Although the first formant of vowel [i] in speech was 238Hz, those of ascending scale [i] were 377Hz, 405Hz, 453Hz respectively in F4(349z), G4(392Hz), A4(440Hz) note, and 722Hz, 820Hz, 918Hz respectively in F5 (698Hz), G5(784Hz), A5(880Hz) note. In vocalize, first formants of [i] were 380Hz, 398Hz, 453Hz respectively in F4, G4, A4 note, and 720Hz, 821Hz, 890Hz respectively in F5, G5, A5 note. Conclusion : These results showed that the first formant of ascending scale and vocalize sustained higher frequency than fundamental frequency in high pitch. This finding implicates that the formant tuning of vowel [i] in ascending scale was also noted in vocalize.