The aim of this study is to analyse the prosodic features of a corpus of audio descriptions in Sp... more The aim of this study is to analyse the prosodic features of a corpus of audio descriptions in Spanish in order to determine the neutrality and the pleasantness in the prosody used by the speakers. The analysis involves a revision of the recommendations found in guidelines and standards on the voices of the audio describers. According to the Spanish standard by Asociación Española de Normalización (UNE 153020), speech in audio description (AD) must be neutral, and emotional intonation should be avoided. The corpus is obtained from professional male and female speakers. The duration, pitch and amplitude of AD units have been analysed. Then, a perception test has been carried out to assess the neutrality of the voices of the describers, which were chosen by means of an acoustic analysis, and the relationship between neutrality and pleasantness. Perception tests results were analysed taking into account two separate groups: on the one hand, persons with sight loss and, on the other han...
As in other languages, stress in Spanish is signaled by three simultaneous acoustic cues: fundame... more As in other languages, stress in Spanish is signaled by three simultaneous acoustic cues: fundamental frequency (F0), duration and intensity. In this experiment, the role of these parameters in the perception of lexical stress in isolated words has been studied using natural resynthesized speech. Results show that the F0 contour alone is not enough to allow the identification of the stressed syllable of a word. However, in combination with duration, intensity or both duration and intensity, F0 is a relevant acoustic cue for the perception of lexical stress. On the other hand, intensity and duration, either combined or in isolation, are not sufficient for the identification of the stressed syllable within a word. It is generally acknowledged that, as in other languages, stress in Spanish is signaled by three simultaneous acoustic cues: fundamental frequency (F0), duration and intensity. An earlier perceptual study using synthetic stimuli [1] concluded that, in Spanish, F0 is the only...
In a companion paper (Carranza et al.) submitted to this conference we discuss the importance of ... more In a companion paper (Carranza et al.) submitted to this conference we discuss the importance of collecting specific L1-L2 speech corpora for the sake of developing effective Computer Assisted Pronunciation Training (CAPT) programs. In this paper we examine this point more deeply by reporting on a study that was aimed at compiling and analysing such a corpus to draw up an inventory of recurrent pronunciation errors to be addressed in a CAPT application that makes use of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR). In particular we discuss some of the results obtained in the analyses of this corpus and some of the methodological issues we had to deal with. The corpus features 8.9 hours of spontaneous, semi-spontaneous and read speech recorded from 20 Japanese students of Spanish L2. The speech data was segmented and transcribed at the orthographic, canonical-phonemic and narrow-phonetic level using Praat software [1]. We adopted the SAMPA phonemic inventory for the phonemic transcription adap...
The present study focus on the influence of intentionality of the speech act in the characterisat... more The present study focus on the influence of intentionality of the speech act in the characterisation of speaking styles. Two procedures to elicitate spontaneous speech in a laboratory environment are presented: the map task and a semidirected interview, both performed with the same speaker. Differences in elicitation procedures are interpreted in basis of the intentionality of the speech act. Related to this, phonetic behaviour of vocalic groups in Spanish for a given speaker is observed. Results show that speech obtained by means of the described procedures is spontaneous, even when intentionality in the speech act appears.
The aim of the VILE project is the acoustic phonetic analysis of inter and intra-speaker variatio... more The aim of the VILE project is the acoustic phonetic analysis of inter and intra-speaker variation in Spanish with particular emphasis in obtaining useful results for automatic speaker identification and for forensic phonetic practices. The first phase of the project –presented in this paper– has consisted in a review of the literature dealing with the acoustic parameters which are relevant for speaker identification, and in an analysis of existing spoken corpora in Spanish from which the data analysed in the project will be taken.
El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar las caracteristicas basicas de la entonacion de los esl... more El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar las caracteristicas basicas de la entonacion de los esloganes publicitarios tanto de radio como de television. Con este proposito se analizan los valores de la F0 de las vocales que aparecen en el fragmento que corresponde al eslogan. Para evitar en la medida de lo posible las diferencias que pueden venir determinadas por el soporte fisico en el que aparecen los esloganes publicitarios, se escogio el mismo producto, diferentes marcas de vehiculos, y se seleccionaron aquellos enunciados optimos para un posterior analisis de la senal. Para la segmentacion de los esloganes dentro de los enunciados publicitarios y el analisis de las curvas melodicas se utilizo el programa PRAAT. Para cada enunciado se han ido anotando los valores de la F0 de cada vocal, teniendo en cuenta las tres partes de cada unidad melodica: el anacrusis, el cuerpo y la inflexion final. Para minimizar las variaciones debidas al tono de voz caracteristico de cada locutor, se ...
The invention is a pop-up device adapted to allow for a number of triggering means and a number o... more The invention is a pop-up device adapted to allow for a number of triggering means and a number of special effects upon triggering of the device. The pop-up device may be placed in a hollow section of a cake, which is later iced over so that the candle holder is not visible. In the preferred embodiment, the base of the device supports the pop-up mechanism within a housing. The device is held in a compressed state by a release mechanism. Upon triggering of the release mechanism, the device is released and pushed through the cake or other confection, thereby providing surprise and entertainment. In alternative embodiments, the device is actuated by a drive mechanism or a fuse.
El objetivo de este articulo es determinar que puede aportar el conocimiento de los fonetistas al... more El objetivo de este articulo es determinar que puede aportar el conocimiento de los fonetistas al campo de la fonetica judicial y cuales son las diferentes fases que se deben seguir en el analisis de las senales de habla que se emplean en acustica forense. A modo de ejemplo, se aportan algunos datos obtenidos en el marco del proyecto VILE-I (Estudio acustico de la variacion inter e intralocutor en espanol, BFF2001-2551), en el que se han estudiado algunos de los parametros acusticos que individualizan a un hablante y lo diferencian de los demas. Palabras clave: fonetica judicial; fonetica forense; variacion intralocutor; variacion interlocutor; fonetica acustica.
LLISTERRI, J.- CARBO, C.- MACHUCA, M. J.- de la MOTA, C.- RIERA, M.- RIOS, A. (2003) "Elpape... more LLISTERRI, J.- CARBO, C.- MACHUCA, M. J.- de la MOTA, C.- RIERA, M.- RIOS, A. (2003) "Elpapel de la linguistica en el desarrollo de las tecnologias del habla", in CASAS GOMEZ, M. (Dir.) -VARO VARO, C. (Ed.) VII Jornadas de Linguistica. Cadiz: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidadde Cadiz. pp. 137-191.http://liceu.uab.es/publicacions/Linguistica_TH_Cadiz02.pdf
The aim of this study is to analyse the prosodic features of a corpus of audio descriptions in Sp... more The aim of this study is to analyse the prosodic features of a corpus of audio descriptions in Spanish to determine the user preferences, both sighted and persons with sight loss. The analysis is contextualised by a thorough review of the guidelines and recommendations on voicing audio description. The corpus analysis is based on 10 audio descriptions produced by Spanish professionals. The audio descriptions are 1. Acknowledgements: This research is part of the NEA project, funded by MINECO/ FEDER UE, reference code FFI2015-64038-P and RAD (Researching Audio Description: Translation, Delivery and New Scenarios), reference code PGC2018-096566-B-I00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE). The authors are members of TransMedia Catalonia, a research group funded by the Catalan Government under the SGR funding scheme (2017SGR113). We would like to thank Anna Jankowska for her translation of the Polish recommendations.
MonTI. Monografías de Traducción e Interpretación, 2020
The aim of this study is to analyse the prosodic features of a corpus of audio descriptions in Sp... more The aim of this study is to analyse the prosodic features of a corpus of audio descriptions in Spanish to determine the user preferences, both sighted and persons with sight loss. The analysis is contextualised by a thorough review of the guidelines and recommendations on voicing audio description. The corpus analysis is based on 10 audio descriptions produced by Spanish professionals. The audio descriptions are 1. Acknowledgements: This research is part of the NEA project, funded by MINECO/ FEDER UE, reference code FFI2015-64038-P and RAD (Researching Audio Description: Translation, Delivery and New Scenarios), reference code PGC2018-096566-B-I00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE). The authors are members of TransMedia Catalonia, a research group funded by the Catalan Government under the SGR funding scheme (2017SGR113). We would like to thank Anna Jankowska for her translation of the Polish recommendations.
Availability and usability of mobile smart devices and speech technologies ease the development o... more Availability and usability of mobile smart devices and speech technologies ease the development of language learning applications, although many of them do not include pronunciation practice and improvement. A key to success is to choose the correct methodology and provide a sound experimental validation assessment of their pedagogical effectiveness. In this work we present an empirical evaluation of Japañol, an application designed to improve pronunciation of Spanish as a foreign language targeted to Japanese people. A structured sequence of lessons and a quality assessment of pronunciations before and after completion of the activities provide experimental data about learning dynamics and level of improvement. Explanations have been included as corrective feedback, comprising textual and audiovisual material to explain and illustrate the correct articulation of the sounds. Pre-test and post-test utterances were evaluated and scored by native experts and automatic speech recognition, showing a correlation over 0.86 between both predictions. Sounds [s], [fl], [R] and [s], [fR], [T] explain the most frequent perception and production failures, respectively, which can be exploited to plan future versions of the tool, including gamified ones. Final automatic scores provided by the application highly correlate (r>0.91) to expert evaluation and a significant pronunciation improvement can be measured.
The goal of this study was to investigate the phonetic realisation of the voicing feature in two ... more The goal of this study was to investigate the phonetic realisation of the voicing feature in two tumour resection-related Spanish speakers with apraxia of speech. Temporal parameters related to the phonological contrast of voicing in Spanish have been analysed for intervocalic voiced and voiceless obstruents embedded in isolated words and nonwords, and compared with data collected from healthy speakers. Results indicate that in devoiced productions, where VOT values fitted the 'voiceless stops' category, vowel duration values matched those of voiced stops and suggested the preservation of contextual voicing cues. An attempt at preserving a consonant/vowel duration ratio consistent with aerodynamic predictions for voicing contrast has been observed in apraxic correct production as well as in devoicing errors, but not in the control group, which could be interpreted as a compensatory mechanism.
ELUA. Estudios de Lingüística Universidad de Alicante, 2003
The aim of this work is to analyse the teaching situation of Oral Standard Spanish. First, the in... more The aim of this work is to analyse the teaching situation of Oral Standard Spanish. First, the indications on pronunciation present in the official and unofficial normative documents, as well as in the descriptive publications are revised. Secondly, it is presented the utility of applying this knowledge to the teaching of phonetics and to the teaching and correction of pronunciation as a part of the oral expression. In third place, the contexts in which it is necessary a good command of pronunciation are presented, and the available materials to achieve this goal are also examined. The main conclusions are: the lack of official normative documents that collect the present uses of Spanish, the imprecision and incoherency of the curriculum objectives, the lack of exhaustive and systematic descriptions in the reference books for native speakers which, in many cases, even contain mistakes; the lack of proper material to learn Spanish pronunciation adopting a communicative approach.
The aim of this study is to analyse the prosodic features of a corpus of audio descriptions in Sp... more The aim of this study is to analyse the prosodic features of a corpus of audio descriptions in Spanish in order to determine the neutrality and the pleasantness in the prosody used by the speakers. The analysis involves a revision of the recommendations found in guidelines and standards on the voices of the audio describers. According to the Spanish standard by Asociación Española de Normalización (UNE 153020), speech in audio description (AD) must be neutral, and emotional intonation should be avoided. The corpus is obtained from professional male and female speakers. The duration, pitch and amplitude of AD units have been analysed. Then, a perception test has been carried out to assess the neutrality of the voices of the describers, which were chosen by means of an acoustic analysis, and the relationship between neutrality and pleasantness. Perception tests results were analysed taking into account two separate groups: on the one hand, persons with sight loss and, on the other han...
As in other languages, stress in Spanish is signaled by three simultaneous acoustic cues: fundame... more As in other languages, stress in Spanish is signaled by three simultaneous acoustic cues: fundamental frequency (F0), duration and intensity. In this experiment, the role of these parameters in the perception of lexical stress in isolated words has been studied using natural resynthesized speech. Results show that the F0 contour alone is not enough to allow the identification of the stressed syllable of a word. However, in combination with duration, intensity or both duration and intensity, F0 is a relevant acoustic cue for the perception of lexical stress. On the other hand, intensity and duration, either combined or in isolation, are not sufficient for the identification of the stressed syllable within a word. It is generally acknowledged that, as in other languages, stress in Spanish is signaled by three simultaneous acoustic cues: fundamental frequency (F0), duration and intensity. An earlier perceptual study using synthetic stimuli [1] concluded that, in Spanish, F0 is the only...
In a companion paper (Carranza et al.) submitted to this conference we discuss the importance of ... more In a companion paper (Carranza et al.) submitted to this conference we discuss the importance of collecting specific L1-L2 speech corpora for the sake of developing effective Computer Assisted Pronunciation Training (CAPT) programs. In this paper we examine this point more deeply by reporting on a study that was aimed at compiling and analysing such a corpus to draw up an inventory of recurrent pronunciation errors to be addressed in a CAPT application that makes use of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR). In particular we discuss some of the results obtained in the analyses of this corpus and some of the methodological issues we had to deal with. The corpus features 8.9 hours of spontaneous, semi-spontaneous and read speech recorded from 20 Japanese students of Spanish L2. The speech data was segmented and transcribed at the orthographic, canonical-phonemic and narrow-phonetic level using Praat software [1]. We adopted the SAMPA phonemic inventory for the phonemic transcription adap...
The present study focus on the influence of intentionality of the speech act in the characterisat... more The present study focus on the influence of intentionality of the speech act in the characterisation of speaking styles. Two procedures to elicitate spontaneous speech in a laboratory environment are presented: the map task and a semidirected interview, both performed with the same speaker. Differences in elicitation procedures are interpreted in basis of the intentionality of the speech act. Related to this, phonetic behaviour of vocalic groups in Spanish for a given speaker is observed. Results show that speech obtained by means of the described procedures is spontaneous, even when intentionality in the speech act appears.
The aim of the VILE project is the acoustic phonetic analysis of inter and intra-speaker variatio... more The aim of the VILE project is the acoustic phonetic analysis of inter and intra-speaker variation in Spanish with particular emphasis in obtaining useful results for automatic speaker identification and for forensic phonetic practices. The first phase of the project –presented in this paper– has consisted in a review of the literature dealing with the acoustic parameters which are relevant for speaker identification, and in an analysis of existing spoken corpora in Spanish from which the data analysed in the project will be taken.
El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar las caracteristicas basicas de la entonacion de los esl... more El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar las caracteristicas basicas de la entonacion de los esloganes publicitarios tanto de radio como de television. Con este proposito se analizan los valores de la F0 de las vocales que aparecen en el fragmento que corresponde al eslogan. Para evitar en la medida de lo posible las diferencias que pueden venir determinadas por el soporte fisico en el que aparecen los esloganes publicitarios, se escogio el mismo producto, diferentes marcas de vehiculos, y se seleccionaron aquellos enunciados optimos para un posterior analisis de la senal. Para la segmentacion de los esloganes dentro de los enunciados publicitarios y el analisis de las curvas melodicas se utilizo el programa PRAAT. Para cada enunciado se han ido anotando los valores de la F0 de cada vocal, teniendo en cuenta las tres partes de cada unidad melodica: el anacrusis, el cuerpo y la inflexion final. Para minimizar las variaciones debidas al tono de voz caracteristico de cada locutor, se ...
The invention is a pop-up device adapted to allow for a number of triggering means and a number o... more The invention is a pop-up device adapted to allow for a number of triggering means and a number of special effects upon triggering of the device. The pop-up device may be placed in a hollow section of a cake, which is later iced over so that the candle holder is not visible. In the preferred embodiment, the base of the device supports the pop-up mechanism within a housing. The device is held in a compressed state by a release mechanism. Upon triggering of the release mechanism, the device is released and pushed through the cake or other confection, thereby providing surprise and entertainment. In alternative embodiments, the device is actuated by a drive mechanism or a fuse.
El objetivo de este articulo es determinar que puede aportar el conocimiento de los fonetistas al... more El objetivo de este articulo es determinar que puede aportar el conocimiento de los fonetistas al campo de la fonetica judicial y cuales son las diferentes fases que se deben seguir en el analisis de las senales de habla que se emplean en acustica forense. A modo de ejemplo, se aportan algunos datos obtenidos en el marco del proyecto VILE-I (Estudio acustico de la variacion inter e intralocutor en espanol, BFF2001-2551), en el que se han estudiado algunos de los parametros acusticos que individualizan a un hablante y lo diferencian de los demas. Palabras clave: fonetica judicial; fonetica forense; variacion intralocutor; variacion interlocutor; fonetica acustica.
LLISTERRI, J.- CARBO, C.- MACHUCA, M. J.- de la MOTA, C.- RIERA, M.- RIOS, A. (2003) "Elpape... more LLISTERRI, J.- CARBO, C.- MACHUCA, M. J.- de la MOTA, C.- RIERA, M.- RIOS, A. (2003) "Elpapel de la linguistica en el desarrollo de las tecnologias del habla", in CASAS GOMEZ, M. (Dir.) -VARO VARO, C. (Ed.) VII Jornadas de Linguistica. Cadiz: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidadde Cadiz. pp. 137-191.http://liceu.uab.es/publicacions/Linguistica_TH_Cadiz02.pdf
The aim of this study is to analyse the prosodic features of a corpus of audio descriptions in Sp... more The aim of this study is to analyse the prosodic features of a corpus of audio descriptions in Spanish to determine the user preferences, both sighted and persons with sight loss. The analysis is contextualised by a thorough review of the guidelines and recommendations on voicing audio description. The corpus analysis is based on 10 audio descriptions produced by Spanish professionals. The audio descriptions are 1. Acknowledgements: This research is part of the NEA project, funded by MINECO/ FEDER UE, reference code FFI2015-64038-P and RAD (Researching Audio Description: Translation, Delivery and New Scenarios), reference code PGC2018-096566-B-I00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE). The authors are members of TransMedia Catalonia, a research group funded by the Catalan Government under the SGR funding scheme (2017SGR113). We would like to thank Anna Jankowska for her translation of the Polish recommendations.
MonTI. Monografías de Traducción e Interpretación, 2020
The aim of this study is to analyse the prosodic features of a corpus of audio descriptions in Sp... more The aim of this study is to analyse the prosodic features of a corpus of audio descriptions in Spanish to determine the user preferences, both sighted and persons with sight loss. The analysis is contextualised by a thorough review of the guidelines and recommendations on voicing audio description. The corpus analysis is based on 10 audio descriptions produced by Spanish professionals. The audio descriptions are 1. Acknowledgements: This research is part of the NEA project, funded by MINECO/ FEDER UE, reference code FFI2015-64038-P and RAD (Researching Audio Description: Translation, Delivery and New Scenarios), reference code PGC2018-096566-B-I00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE). The authors are members of TransMedia Catalonia, a research group funded by the Catalan Government under the SGR funding scheme (2017SGR113). We would like to thank Anna Jankowska for her translation of the Polish recommendations.
Availability and usability of mobile smart devices and speech technologies ease the development o... more Availability and usability of mobile smart devices and speech technologies ease the development of language learning applications, although many of them do not include pronunciation practice and improvement. A key to success is to choose the correct methodology and provide a sound experimental validation assessment of their pedagogical effectiveness. In this work we present an empirical evaluation of Japañol, an application designed to improve pronunciation of Spanish as a foreign language targeted to Japanese people. A structured sequence of lessons and a quality assessment of pronunciations before and after completion of the activities provide experimental data about learning dynamics and level of improvement. Explanations have been included as corrective feedback, comprising textual and audiovisual material to explain and illustrate the correct articulation of the sounds. Pre-test and post-test utterances were evaluated and scored by native experts and automatic speech recognition, showing a correlation over 0.86 between both predictions. Sounds [s], [fl], [R] and [s], [fR], [T] explain the most frequent perception and production failures, respectively, which can be exploited to plan future versions of the tool, including gamified ones. Final automatic scores provided by the application highly correlate (r>0.91) to expert evaluation and a significant pronunciation improvement can be measured.
The goal of this study was to investigate the phonetic realisation of the voicing feature in two ... more The goal of this study was to investigate the phonetic realisation of the voicing feature in two tumour resection-related Spanish speakers with apraxia of speech. Temporal parameters related to the phonological contrast of voicing in Spanish have been analysed for intervocalic voiced and voiceless obstruents embedded in isolated words and nonwords, and compared with data collected from healthy speakers. Results indicate that in devoiced productions, where VOT values fitted the 'voiceless stops' category, vowel duration values matched those of voiced stops and suggested the preservation of contextual voicing cues. An attempt at preserving a consonant/vowel duration ratio consistent with aerodynamic predictions for voicing contrast has been observed in apraxic correct production as well as in devoicing errors, but not in the control group, which could be interpreted as a compensatory mechanism.
ELUA. Estudios de Lingüística Universidad de Alicante, 2003
The aim of this work is to analyse the teaching situation of Oral Standard Spanish. First, the in... more The aim of this work is to analyse the teaching situation of Oral Standard Spanish. First, the indications on pronunciation present in the official and unofficial normative documents, as well as in the descriptive publications are revised. Secondly, it is presented the utility of applying this knowledge to the teaching of phonetics and to the teaching and correction of pronunciation as a part of the oral expression. In third place, the contexts in which it is necessary a good command of pronunciation are presented, and the available materials to achieve this goal are also examined. The main conclusions are: the lack of official normative documents that collect the present uses of Spanish, the imprecision and incoherency of the curriculum objectives, the lack of exhaustive and systematic descriptions in the reference books for native speakers which, in many cases, even contain mistakes; the lack of proper material to learn Spanish pronunciation adopting a communicative approach.
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