Browsing by discipline "Fonetik"

Goals: The aim of this study was to examine the speech production of Finnish compound words. Finnish prosody and the effect of contrastive focus has been studied widely, but there is no research about the prosody of compound production. This study compared the differences in prosodic features of compound words and phrases and examined the effect of sentence stress to the production of compound words. Methods and materials: This quantitative research consisted of a speech production test and statistical analysis. In the speech production test, sentences with the compound words and phrases made of the same words (e.g. kissankello 'harebell' and kissan kello 'cat's bell') were repeated in three focus conditions. These were broad focus, narrow focus on the first word and narrow focus on the second word. 20 subjects (14 female, 6 male) read 1200 sentences in total, which were segmented and annotated. Fundamental frequency, intensity and syllable lengths were measured and compared between compound words and phrases. The relationships between the word types and acoustic features were studied using repeated measures analysis of variance. Results and conclusions: This research revealed new information about the production of compound words in different focus conditions. Results showed that in the broad focus condition compound words and phrases were produced differently from each other. Word type had a statistically significant effect (p < 0,001) on the acoustical measurements: speakers treated compound words as one word with one primary stress in the first syllable while phrases were treated as two words with individual primary stresses. Contrastive focus strongly affected to the acoustic parameters, and those changes masked the word type differences that were found in the broad focus condition. Context has a significant effect on how a listener interprets the message, but there are also acoustical ways to distinguish compound words from phrases in speech. These findings give a strong foundation to future research, however there are limitations. It is important to increase the amount of male speakers in this study and the research could be expanded to different dialects of Finnish and the speech of non-native speakers. The results can also be used in the development of speech synthesis, e.g. text-to-speech synthesis.

The aim of the study was to determine, which of the prosodic parameters (duration, pitch, intensity) influence whether a pair of words is perceived as a compound or a phrase. I also investigated how three different focus conditions (sentence stress) interact with the perception. The conditions were broad focus, narrow focus on the first noun and narrow focus of the second noun. Three speakers were recorded. They read sentences in which three different focus conditions were produced. The method used was two-alternative forced choise (2AFC), in which the participants answered, whether they had heard a compound or a phrase. A generalized linear mixed-effects model was used in which participants' answers were compared to correct answers. The acoustical measurements were also taken into account. The study revealed that the intensity changes between two words affected the decision. Also the changes in the pitch between two words had an effect on the decision. These findings were statistically significant. The narrow focus on the first noun was partly produced by changing the duration difference between the vowels. The statistical model also revealed that the pair of the words one of the speakers produced was perceived differently compared to the sentences of two other speakers; revealing that the individuals may have different strategies for producing prosodic phenomena.

Goals This study aims to map the effect of interrogative function on the intonation of spontaneous and read Finnish. Earlier research shows that the most prominent feature in Finnish question intonation is an appeal to the listener. Question word questions typically start with a high peak which is followed by falling intonation. In yes/no questions, F0 remains on a high level until the word carrying sentence stress and then falls. Final rises are mainly found in intonation clichés such as "Ai mitä?" ("What?") These earlier results are based on read speech and enacted dialogues. In this study, questions and statements found in spontaneous dialogues were compared. These utterances were also compared with read versions of the same utterances. Fundamental frequency values were compared using a mixed model. Contours were also grouped using auditory and visual inspection. Thus it was possible to compare frequencies of contour types according to utterance type and speech style. The position of questions in the F0 distribution of the whole material was also investigated in this study. Method he material consisted of four spontaneous dialogues and their read versions. The speakers were young adults from the Helsinki metropolitan area, four females and four males. The whole material was first divided into broad dialogue function categories arising from the material and F0 curves were calculated for each category. After this, 277 questions and 244 statements were selected for closer inspection. Values reflecting F0 distribution and contour shape were measured from the F0 contours of these utterances. A mixed model was used to analyse the differences. Utterance type, question type, speech style and speaker gender were used as fixed effects. The frequencies of F0 contour types were compared using a Chi square test. Additional material in this study came from eight young female speakers in central Finland. Results and conclusions In the mixed model analysis, significant differences were found both between questions and statements and between spontaneous and read speech. Generally, utterance type affected the variables reflecting contour type while speech style affected the variables reflecting F0 distribution. The effect of question type was not clearly visible. In read speech the contours resembled earlier results more closely. Speakers had different strategies in differentiating between questions and statements. In the whole material, F0 was slightly higher in questions than in statements. The effect of dialectal background could be seen in the contour types. The results show that interrogative function affects intonation in both spontaneous and read Finnish.

Speech is a sum of a complicated, multifunctional neurological and motor action. By changing the articulatory setting, the resonance properties of the vocal tract change and a new sound is created. Speech can be described as a continuum of articulatory manoeuvre; each manoeuvre has its own function and they're added together to gain the target articulation. Ventriloquism is speech without visible speech manoeuvres. Previously only few studies about ventriloquism have been published. Studies have focused on articulation, expiratory air pressure, fundamental frequency, laryngeal action, perceptual voice quality and simulation of compensating sounds of a ventriloquist. This study wanted to find out about the articulatory strategies of ventriloquists. Nasality, fundamental frequency, duration and the actual ventriloquism as a speech technique were examined – the writer learned the art of ventriloquism during research. Results show higher fundamental frequency, more nasality and longer duration compared to normal speech. However, differences between the participants were found. We can also rename ventriloquism as velar speech technique by the results obtained from the study. The results show, that velar speech technique may have a potential rule in helping those with structurally disturbed articulators. e.g. oral and throat cancer patients during post-operative speech therapy.