Abstract In this study we investigate the timing of word-initial clusters and its relation to dis... more Abstract In this study we investigate the timing of word-initial clusters and its relation to distinct phonological syllable parses in Tashlhiyt Berber and Polish. To this end, we use experimental, articulographic data (steps 1 and 2) combined with computer-based simulation (step 3). In step 1, we test how temporal properties of consonantal clusters such as overlap can vary within a single language. In step 2, we relate articulatory coordination patterns to distinct phonological syllable parses, involving simple and complex onsets, in order to calculate stability indices for each language. In step 3, we test the robustness of these stability patterns by adding anchor variability to the system. The analysis reveals that variability plays a different role in the two languages. Tashlhiyt shows a tight cluster timing with low variability in overlap across clusters. The phonetic heuristics for Tashlhiyt reveal a simple onset parse with a phonetic outcome that is strikingly robust against temporally induced variability. In contrast, Polish shows a considerably high variability in overlap between the different cluster types. The phonetic heuristics for Polish reveal a general trend towards a complex onset parse, but this time the picture is less clear. Furthermore, the Polish timing patterns are more sensitive to anchor variability than Tashlhiyt. This difference in the degree of sensitivity to variability is interpreted to be the result of different language-specific regulatory mechanisms mediating between different levels of description, such as segmental context and prosodic marking of different pragmatic functions. Natural human communication requires both stability and variability regulated by different needs and constraints within a given language, leading to differing degrees of flexibility in the hierarchical network of local weights and clocks attached to the different constituents of the prosodic hierarchy.
BackgroundSpeech impairment is already present on the acoustic level in speakers with isolated ra... more BackgroundSpeech impairment is already present on the acoustic level in speakers with isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD). The aim of this study was to determine whether speech changes are already present on the articulatory level and if how these differ from healthy control speakers and speakers with Parkinson’s disease (PD).MethodsKinematic data were collected from 68 age and sex-matched subjects: healthy control speakers (n=23), patients with iRBD (n=22), and patients with PD (n=23). All participants were recorded with electromagnetic articulography (AG 501) to capture articulatory movements of the lower lip, the tongue tip and the tongue body. Movement amplitudes, durations and average speeds were calculated per articulator. In addition, naïve listeners rated the intelligibility of the speech sampled produced by the participants.ResultsThe results of the production experiment indicate changes between the control and the iRBD group as well as between the iR...
Tashlhiyt Berber is a language in which every consonant can take up the nucleus position in a syl... more Tashlhiyt Berber is a language in which every consonant can take up the nucleus position in a syllable. The present study investigates how gestural properties are modified when the consonants occur in different syllable positions (onset, nucleus, coda). Furthermore, the effect of higher structural components such as morphology on the respective gestural organization patterns are examined. Therefore, we collected articulographic data for different consonantal roots, such as /bdg/ and /gzm/ with varying affixes, entailing different syllabification patterns in Tashlhiyt. Consonantal properties in different syllable positions are investigated with respect to their intragestural properties and intergestural properties, i.e. bonding strength. Furthermore, gestural coherence with respect to prefixation were examined. Results reveal that consonantal gestures were not modified on the intragestural level in terms of duration, velocity, stiffness or displacement, when the morphological structure was kept constant. However, on the intergestural level syllable relation was encoded, revealing a tighter bonding for onset-nucleus relations than for heterosyllabic sequences. Furthermore, when changing the morphological marker, modifications of intragestural parameters occur, inducing temporal changes of consonantal gestures. We conclude that higher structural components should be taken into account when investigating syllable internal timing patterns.
In the present study, we investigate intragestural parameters during the production of CV syllabl... more In the present study, we investigate intragestural parameters during the production of CV syllables in natural sentence production of Essential Tremor (ET) patients treated with Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). Within the task dynamic approach, we analyzed temporal and spatial parameters of consonantal and vocalic movements of the respective target syllables. Our analysis revealed that intragestural coordination patterns are affected in the patients' group: While patients with inactivated stimulation (DBS-OFF) already showed signs of dysarthria in terms of longer and less stiff movements, there was an additional slowing down of the speech motor system under activated stimulation (DBS-ON). When comparing CV production in natural sentence to fast syllable repetition tasks (DDK), we find similarities in that there is a slowing down of the system, but also differences in that coordination problems increase in DDK leading to an overmodulation of peak velocities and displacements.
Acoustic studies have revealed that patients with Essential Tremor treated with thalamic Deep Bra... more Acoustic studies have revealed that patients with Essential Tremor treated with thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) may suffer from speech deterioration in terms of imprecise oral articulation and reduced voicing control. Based on the acoustic signal one cannot infer, however, whether this deterioration is due to a general slowing down of the speech motor system (e.g., a target undershoot of a desired articulatory goal resulting from being too slow) or disturbed coordination (e.g., a target undershoot caused by problems with the relative phasing of articulatory movements). To elucidate this issue further, we here investigated both acoustics and articulatory patterns of the labial and lingual system using Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) in twelve Essential Tremor patients treated with thalamic DBS and twelve age- and sex-matched controls. By comparing patients with activated (DBS-ON) and inactivated stimulation (DBS-OFF) with control speakers, we show that critical changes in ...
In this production study, we investigate the effects of phrasal position and segmental makeup on ... more In this production study, we investigate the effects of phrasal position and segmental makeup on the alignment of tonal events corresponding to rising nuclear pitch accents. Conditions included target words in initial, noninitial and final position, monosyllabic and disyllabic target words, and open and closed target syllables. Although cross linguistically the beginning of the rise (corresponding to the L tone) is relatively stable in its alignment with acoustic and articulatory landmarks, the endpoint, or target, of the rise (H) is notoriously variable. This highly variant peak alignment pattern on the acoustic surface corresponds to a stable coordination between the tone and the articulatory vowel gesture.
Articulatory data are used to address the question of whether Dutch schwa insertion is a phonolog... more Articulatory data are used to address the question of whether Dutch schwa insertion is a phonological or a phonetic process. By investigating tongue tip raising and dorsal lowering, we show that /l/ when it appears before inserted schwa is a light /l/, just as /l/ before an underlying schwa is, and unlike the dark /l/ before a consonant in non-insertion productions of the same words. The fact that inserted schwa can condition the light/dark /l/ alternation shows that schwa insertion involves the phonological insertion of a segment rather than phonetic adjustments to articulations.
Abstract In this study we investigate the timing of word-initial clusters and its relation to dis... more Abstract In this study we investigate the timing of word-initial clusters and its relation to distinct phonological syllable parses in Tashlhiyt Berber and Polish. To this end, we use experimental, articulographic data (steps 1 and 2) combined with computer-based simulation (step 3). In step 1, we test how temporal properties of consonantal clusters such as overlap can vary within a single language. In step 2, we relate articulatory coordination patterns to distinct phonological syllable parses, involving simple and complex onsets, in order to calculate stability indices for each language. In step 3, we test the robustness of these stability patterns by adding anchor variability to the system. The analysis reveals that variability plays a different role in the two languages. Tashlhiyt shows a tight cluster timing with low variability in overlap across clusters. The phonetic heuristics for Tashlhiyt reveal a simple onset parse with a phonetic outcome that is strikingly robust against temporally induced variability. In contrast, Polish shows a considerably high variability in overlap between the different cluster types. The phonetic heuristics for Polish reveal a general trend towards a complex onset parse, but this time the picture is less clear. Furthermore, the Polish timing patterns are more sensitive to anchor variability than Tashlhiyt. This difference in the degree of sensitivity to variability is interpreted to be the result of different language-specific regulatory mechanisms mediating between different levels of description, such as segmental context and prosodic marking of different pragmatic functions. Natural human communication requires both stability and variability regulated by different needs and constraints within a given language, leading to differing degrees of flexibility in the hierarchical network of local weights and clocks attached to the different constituents of the prosodic hierarchy.
BackgroundSpeech impairment is already present on the acoustic level in speakers with isolated ra... more BackgroundSpeech impairment is already present on the acoustic level in speakers with isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD). The aim of this study was to determine whether speech changes are already present on the articulatory level and if how these differ from healthy control speakers and speakers with Parkinson’s disease (PD).MethodsKinematic data were collected from 68 age and sex-matched subjects: healthy control speakers (n=23), patients with iRBD (n=22), and patients with PD (n=23). All participants were recorded with electromagnetic articulography (AG 501) to capture articulatory movements of the lower lip, the tongue tip and the tongue body. Movement amplitudes, durations and average speeds were calculated per articulator. In addition, naïve listeners rated the intelligibility of the speech sampled produced by the participants.ResultsThe results of the production experiment indicate changes between the control and the iRBD group as well as between the iR...
Tashlhiyt Berber is a language in which every consonant can take up the nucleus position in a syl... more Tashlhiyt Berber is a language in which every consonant can take up the nucleus position in a syllable. The present study investigates how gestural properties are modified when the consonants occur in different syllable positions (onset, nucleus, coda). Furthermore, the effect of higher structural components such as morphology on the respective gestural organization patterns are examined. Therefore, we collected articulographic data for different consonantal roots, such as /bdg/ and /gzm/ with varying affixes, entailing different syllabification patterns in Tashlhiyt. Consonantal properties in different syllable positions are investigated with respect to their intragestural properties and intergestural properties, i.e. bonding strength. Furthermore, gestural coherence with respect to prefixation were examined. Results reveal that consonantal gestures were not modified on the intragestural level in terms of duration, velocity, stiffness or displacement, when the morphological structure was kept constant. However, on the intergestural level syllable relation was encoded, revealing a tighter bonding for onset-nucleus relations than for heterosyllabic sequences. Furthermore, when changing the morphological marker, modifications of intragestural parameters occur, inducing temporal changes of consonantal gestures. We conclude that higher structural components should be taken into account when investigating syllable internal timing patterns.
In the present study, we investigate intragestural parameters during the production of CV syllabl... more In the present study, we investigate intragestural parameters during the production of CV syllables in natural sentence production of Essential Tremor (ET) patients treated with Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). Within the task dynamic approach, we analyzed temporal and spatial parameters of consonantal and vocalic movements of the respective target syllables. Our analysis revealed that intragestural coordination patterns are affected in the patients' group: While patients with inactivated stimulation (DBS-OFF) already showed signs of dysarthria in terms of longer and less stiff movements, there was an additional slowing down of the speech motor system under activated stimulation (DBS-ON). When comparing CV production in natural sentence to fast syllable repetition tasks (DDK), we find similarities in that there is a slowing down of the system, but also differences in that coordination problems increase in DDK leading to an overmodulation of peak velocities and displacements.
Acoustic studies have revealed that patients with Essential Tremor treated with thalamic Deep Bra... more Acoustic studies have revealed that patients with Essential Tremor treated with thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) may suffer from speech deterioration in terms of imprecise oral articulation and reduced voicing control. Based on the acoustic signal one cannot infer, however, whether this deterioration is due to a general slowing down of the speech motor system (e.g., a target undershoot of a desired articulatory goal resulting from being too slow) or disturbed coordination (e.g., a target undershoot caused by problems with the relative phasing of articulatory movements). To elucidate this issue further, we here investigated both acoustics and articulatory patterns of the labial and lingual system using Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) in twelve Essential Tremor patients treated with thalamic DBS and twelve age- and sex-matched controls. By comparing patients with activated (DBS-ON) and inactivated stimulation (DBS-OFF) with control speakers, we show that critical changes in ...
In this production study, we investigate the effects of phrasal position and segmental makeup on ... more In this production study, we investigate the effects of phrasal position and segmental makeup on the alignment of tonal events corresponding to rising nuclear pitch accents. Conditions included target words in initial, noninitial and final position, monosyllabic and disyllabic target words, and open and closed target syllables. Although cross linguistically the beginning of the rise (corresponding to the L tone) is relatively stable in its alignment with acoustic and articulatory landmarks, the endpoint, or target, of the rise (H) is notoriously variable. This highly variant peak alignment pattern on the acoustic surface corresponds to a stable coordination between the tone and the articulatory vowel gesture.
Articulatory data are used to address the question of whether Dutch schwa insertion is a phonolog... more Articulatory data are used to address the question of whether Dutch schwa insertion is a phonological or a phonetic process. By investigating tongue tip raising and dorsal lowering, we show that /l/ when it appears before inserted schwa is a light /l/, just as /l/ before an underlying schwa is, and unlike the dark /l/ before a consonant in non-insertion productions of the same words. The fact that inserted schwa can condition the light/dark /l/ alternation shows that schwa insertion involves the phonological insertion of a segment rather than phonetic adjustments to articulations.
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Papers by Doris Mücke