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Based on specific linguistic landmarks in the speech signal, this study investigates pitch level and pitch span differences in English, German, Bulgarian and Polish. The analysis is based on 22 speakers per language (11 males and 11 females). Linear mixed models were computed that include various linguistic measures of pitch level and span, revealing characteristic differences across languages and between language groups. Pitch level appeared to have significantly higher values for the female speakers in the Slavic than the Germanic group. The male speakers showed slightly different results, with only the Polish speakers displaying significantly higher mean values for pitch level than the German males. Overall, the results show that the Slavic speakers tend to have a wider pitch span than the German speakers. But for the linguistic measure, namely for span between the initial peaks and the non-prominent valleys, we only find the difference between Polish and German speakers. We found a flatter intonation contour in German than in Polish, Bulgarian and English male and female speakers and differences in the frequency of the landmarks between languages. Concerning “speaker liveliness” we found that the speakers from the Slavic group are significantly livelier than the speakers from the Germanic group.
We investigated the effect of high-variability training (HVT) on the production and perception of French bilabial voiced and voiceless stops by German native speakers. Stop consonants in the two languages differ with respect to several articulatory and acoustic features. German learners of French (Experiment Group) trained the perception of word-initial bilabial stops spoken by six French native speakers using identification tests, whereas subjects of a Control Group did not perform a training. Additional perception and production tests of French words including bilabial, alveolar, and velar stops in all word positions were performed to capture the impact of HVT. Subjects were found to be quite good at distinguishing voiced and voiceless stops. However, voiceless stops received lower correctness scores than voiced ones and subjects of the Experiment group were able to further increase their scores after training. Results for production are mirror-inverted showing that subjects of the Experiment Group successfully produced longer negative VOT values but did not show an improvement for voiceless stops.
Evaluation of Phonatory Behavior of German and French Speakers in Native and Non-native Speech
(2016)
Phonatory behavior of German speakers (GS) and French speakers (FS) in native (L1) and non-native (L2) speech was instrumentally examined. Vowel productions of the two groups were analyzed using a parametrization of phonatory behaviour and phonatory quality properties in the acoustic signal. The behavior of GS is characterized by more strained adduction of the vocal folds whereas FS show more incomplete glottal closure. Furthermore, GS change their phonatory behavior in the foreign language (=French) by adapting phonatory strategies of FS, whereas FS do not show this tendency. In addition, German beginners (BEG) and partly German advanced learners (ADV) are already orientated on production characteristics of the L2. French BEG however retain their phonatory behavior in L2 (=German) by showing less vocal fold adduction in comparison to their L1. French ADV show the opposite behavior. Finally, ADV of the two speaker groups generally show more strained behavior in L2 productions than BEG. The results provide evidence that GS and FS apply different laryngeal phonatory settings and that they altered their settings in L2 differently. Perceptual evaluation of voice quality of the speech material and a correlation analysis between acoustic and perceptual results are suggested for future research.