• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.57-61
• /
• 2020

Previous research has indicated that the patterns of phonetic modulations induced by prominence are not consistent across languages but are conditioned by sound systems specific to a given language. Most studies examining the prominence effects in Korean have been restricted to segments in word-initial and phrase-initial positions. The present study, thus, set out to explore the prominence effects for Korean stop consonants in word-medial intervocalic positions. A total of 16 speakers of Seoul Korean (8 males, 8 females) produced word-medial intervocalic lenis and aspirated stops with and without prominence. The prominence was induced by contrast focus on the phonation-type contrast, that is, lenis vs. aspirated stops. Our results showed that F0 of vowels following both lenis and aspirated stops became higher when the target stops received focus than when they did not, whereas voice onset time (VOT) and voicing during stop closure for both lenis and aspirated stops did not differ between the focus and no-focus conditions. The findings add to our understanding of diverse patterns of prominence-induced strengthening on the acoustic realizations of segments.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
• /
• v.44 no.4
• /
• pp.184-194
• /
• 2014

Objective: To evaluate the relative importance of bilabial prominence in relation to other facial profile parameters in a normal population. Methods: Profile stimulus images of 38 individuals (28 female and 10 male; ages 19-25 years) were shown to an unrelated group of first-year students (n = 42; ages 18-24 years). The images were individually viewed on a 17-inch monitor. The observers received standardized instructions before viewing. A six-question questionnaire was completed using a Likert-type scale. The responses were analyzed by ordered logistic regression to identify associations between profile characteristics and observer preferences. The Bayesian Information Criterion was used to select variables that explained observer preferences most accurately. Results: Nasal, bilabial, and chin prominences; the nasofrontal angle; and lip curls had the greatest effect on overall profile attractiveness perceptions. The lip-chin-throat angle and upper lip curl had the greatest effect on forehead prominence perceptions. The bilabial prominence, nasolabial angle (particularly the lower component), and mentolabial angle had the greatest effect on nasal prominence perceptions. The bilabial prominence, nasolabial angle, chin prominence, and submental length had the greatest effect on lip prominence perceptions. The bilabial prominence, nasolabial angle, mentolabial angle, and submental length had the greatest effect on chin prominence perceptions. Conclusions: More prominent lips, within normal limits, may be considered more attractive in the profile view. Profile parameters have a greater influence on their neighboring aesthetic units but indirectly influence related profile parameters, endorsing the importance of achieving an aesthetic balance between relative prominences of all aesthetic units of the facial profile.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.15-22
• /
• 2009

Prominence of speech, which is often called 'accent,' affects the fluency of speaking American English greatly. In this paper, we present an accurate prominence detection method that can be utilized in computer-aided language learning (CALL) systems. We employed pitch movement, overall syllable energy, 300-2200 Hz band energy, syllable duration, and spectral and temporal correlation as features to model the prominence of speech. After the features for vowel syllables of speech were extracted, prominent syllables were classified by SVM (Support Vector Machine). To further improve accuracy, the differences in characteristics of neighboring syllables were added as additional features. We also applied a speech recognizer to extract more precise syllable boundaries. The performance of our prominence detector was measured based on the Intonational Variation in English (IViE) speech corpus. We obtained 84.9% accuracy which is about 10% higher than previous research.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.99-108
• /
• 2013

Previous laboratory studies have shown that prosodic structures are encoded in the modulations of phonetic patterns of speech including suprasegmental as well as segmental features. In particular, effects of prosodic context on duration and intensity of syllables and words have been widely reported. Drawing on prosodically annotated large-scale speech data from the Buckeye corpus of conversational speech of American English, the current study attempted to examine whether and how prosodic prominence and phrase boundary of everyday conversational speech, as determined by a large group of ordinary listeners, are related to the phonetic realization of duration and intensity. The results showed that the patterns of word durations and intensities are influenced by prosodic structure. Closer examinations revealed, however, that the effects of prosodic prominence are not the same as those of prosodic phrase boundary. With regard to intensity measures, the results revealed the systematic changes in the patterns of overall RMS intensity near prosodic phrase boundary but the prominence effects are restricted to the nucleus. In terms of duration measures, both prosodic prominence and phrase boundary are the most closely related to the lengthening of the nucleus. Yet, prosodic prominence is more closely related to the lengthening of the onset while phrase boundary lengthens the coda duration more. The findings from the current study suggest that the phonetic realizations of prosodic prominence are different from those of prosodic phrase boundary, and speakers signal different prosodic structures through deliberate modulations of the internal phonetic structure of words and listeners attend to such phonetic variations.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2023

This study investigates how the phonological and phonetic information of vowels influences prosodic prominence among linguistically untrained listeners using public speech in American English. We first examined the speech material's phonetic realization of vowels (i.e., maximum F0, F0 range, phone rate [as a measure of duration considering the speech rate of the utterance], and mean intensity). Results showed that the high vowels /i/ and /u/ likely had the highest max F0, while the low vowels /æ/ and /ɑ/ tended to have the highest mean intensity. Both high and low vowels had similarly high phone rates. Next, we examined the effects of the vowels' phonological and phonetic information on listeners' perceptions of prosodic prominence. The results showed that vowels significantly affected the likelihood of perceived prominence independent of acoustic cues. The high and low vowels affected probability of perceived prominence less than the mid vowels /ɛ/ and /ʌ/, although the former two were more likely to be phonetically enhanced in the speech than the latter. Overall, these results suggest that perceptions of prosodic prominence in English are not directly influenced by signal-driven factors (i.e., vowels' acoustic information) but are mediated by expectation-driven factors (e.g., vowels' phonological information).

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.13 no.1 s.14
• /
• pp.1-16
• /
• 1998

A quantitative analysis has been made to estimate the horizontal variation of physical parameters in a loop type active prominence by analyzing Call H&K and $H_{\varepsilon}{\ldots}$ spectra taken from such an active prominence (appeared on May 23, 1981 with position angle 251 degree) with Littrow type spectrograph attached to 25cm coronagraph at Norikura Coronal Station of National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. The spectral resolution is 1.12A/mm and the spatial resolution is 25'/mm for Call H&K lines. The present study shows that the turbulent velocity ranges from 10km/s to 20 km/s in the loop prominence, which are in good agreement with those of Hirayama (1989). It is also found that the temperature of the loop prominence is higher than that of quiescent prominences$(\~8,000 K)$ by about 4,000 K, whose temperature deviation seems very high.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
• /
• 2007.11a
• /
• pp.511-516
• /
• 2007

Rubber wheeled AGT(Automated Guide-way Transit) system is a prominence transportation system for urban area, because of its low construction cost and management, low noise and vibration and fine exterior view. AGT system uses concrete tracks. Concrete can be easily damaged by the impact, change of temperature and external loads. The fault of concrete track is harmful not only to riding quality but also to bridge. Therefore, in this study, the effects of railway prominence to the bridge are surveyed by experimental method. The experiment was executed for PSC bridge at AGT test line in Kyungsan. And the test results for 5mm, 10mm prominence and without prominence are compared and investigated, according to the vehicle speed.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.16 no.7
• /
• pp.625-631
• /
• 2010

This paper proposes lane recognition algorithm using lane prominence technique to extract lane candidate. The lane prominence technique is combined with embossing effect, lane thickness check, and lane extraction using mask. The proposed lane recognition algorithm consists of preprocessing, lane candidate extraction and lane recognition. First, preprocessing is executed, which includes gray image acquisition, inverse perspective transform and gaussian blur. Second, lane candidate is extracted by using lane prominence technique. Finally, lane is recognized by using hough transform and least square method. To evaluate the proposed lane recognition algorithm, this algorithm was applied to the detection of lanes in the rainy and night day. The experiment results showed that the proposed algorithm can recognize lane in various environment. It means that the algorithm can be applied to lane recognition to drive unmanned vehicles.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.31-42
• /
• 1990

Fine structures of a quiescent prominence are studied by analyzing high resolution H alpha filtergrams and H alpha line spectra observed at the Hida Observatory of Kyoto University. We have found two kinds of downward motions in the prominence. One of them is a movement with a constant acceleration below the solar gravity(${\simeq}1/4g_s$) and the other with an uniform velocity(${\simeq}16Km/s$). The average life time and the size of prominence knots are estimated to be about 7 minutes and 4000Km, respectively. Spatial and brightness distribution of knots are also presented in this paper. With the analytical solutions derived from magnetostatic equilibrium in the prominence, we have examined the filamentary structure based on the Kippenhahn-Schluter model. Sag angles of the magnetic fields supporting the prominence matter are predicted from the observed density profile.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.7-11
• /
• 2001

In this paper, trapezoid sections and prominence sections were examined to improve the performance of floating breakwater in long waves. The linear potential theory is used and the boundary element method with a matching boundary is employed for numerical computation. The effects of the side slope of the trapezoid section and the geometry ratio of the prominence section on the floating breakwater were examined. It was found that trapezoid sections show lower transmission coefficients than the rectangular sections in the long wave range. In prominence sections the size of the sides are more important than the size of the top. Proper choices of the pontoon type geometry may move the local minimum point of the wave transmission coefficient toward the longer wave ranges and improve the performance of the floating breakwater in the long wave range for a given wave period.