Lecture 10 Speech Perception A

Unit: Sound & Sign - The Building Blocks of Language

Linguistics 111 - Speech Perception A + Class 11

Announcements

  • Housekeeping:

    • RQ8 was due before class.

    • D07 worksheet due on Friday by 11:59pm ET.

    • Peer Feedback/Reflection and Outline Resubmission due on Friday by 11:59pm ET.

    • No Class on Monday - Fall Study Break.

    • No RQ for next Wednesday.

    • Practice Exam due next Wednesday.

iClicker Check: Interaction of Sounds

  • Sounds adjacent to each other influence each other to ease pronunciation and perception.

    • **Key Concepts: **

    • Assimilation: A sound becomes more like a neighboring sound.

    • Dissimilation: Sounds become less similar to each other.

    • Epenthesis: Insertion of a sound within a word.

    • Metathesis: Reordering of sounds.

    • Strengthening: Reinforcement of a sound.

    • Deletion: Omission of a sound.

    • Weakening: Reduction in sound intensity or clarity.

iClicker Check: Vowel Systems

  • Consideration of which three vowels might exist in a limited vowel inventory and the importance of central sounds in a vowel triangle system.

    • Triangle System: Central vowels are distinct in articulation, promoting diversity in sound.

  • Languages with only three vowels are likely to incorporate these core sounds.

Recap: Importance of Studying Language

  • Mind Creates Language:

    • Language exists in the mind where sounds translate to meaning.

    • Linguistics employs scientific methods to analyze the mental structures of language.

  • Language Shapes Society:

    • Language helps establish social connections and individual identity.

  • Diversity in Language:

    • All varieties of language are valid, promoting justice against linguistic discrimination.

Recap: How We Study Language

  • Hierarchy of Language Structure:

    • SOUNDS/SIGNS → SENTENCES → MORPHEMES/WORDS → MEANING.

Sound and Sign: Key Areas of Study

  1. Phonetics:

    • Study of the physical properties of speech sounds and how they are produced and perceived.

    • Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to represent sounds.

    • Understanding articulatory phonetic properties of consonants and vowels.

    • Analysis of both pulmonic (air from lungs) and non-pulmonic (other sources) consonants.

    • Discussion of five parameters in sign languages.

  2. Phonology:

    • Focus on the distribution of sounds within languages and their interactions.

    • Distinction between phonemes (distinct sound units) and allophones (contextual variations of phonemes).

    • Formulation of phonological rules and generalizations.

    • Examination of common cross-linguistic phonological processes.

    • Recognition of phonotactic constraints affecting syllable structure.

  3. Speech Perception:

    • Examination of how sounds are heard, interpreted, and understood.

    • Primary focus on:

      • Lack of Invariance Problem: Variations in acoustic properties challenge perception accuracy.

      • Categorical Perception: The process where continuous sound inputs are perceived in discrete categories.

      • Perceptual Narrowing: The process of becoming attuned to specific phonetic contrasts based on linguistic exposure.

Lack of Invariance Problem

  • Definition: The inconsistency in sound manifestation, where identical phonemes appear acoustically or articulatory different yet are perceived as the same.

    • Example with nonce-words 3[ada], [idi], [udu]: Even with different contexts, speakers perceive /d/ consistently.

    • Articulatory Overlap: Overlaps between phonetic realizations of surrounding vowels and consonants that can confuse perception.

    • Coarticulation demonstrates this phenomenon, showing how surrounding phonemes influence articulation and perception.

Categorical Perception

  • Definition: The cognitive process by which continuous variations in sound are categorized by the listener.

    • Example: Different sounds presented sequentially lead to a categorical perception boundary.

    • Illustrates the brain's ability to impose structured categories over a continuum of sound, leading to perception of distinct phonetic sounds (e.g., [pa] vs. [ba]).

    • Voice Onset Time (VOT): Measures time between release of stop consonant and onset of vocal cord vibration; critical in differentiating voiced and voiceless stops.

    • Consonants with lower VOT:** perceived as more voiced (/b/).

    • Consonants with higher VOT:** perceived as more voiceless (/p/).

Categorical Perception in Practice

  • Experiments demonstrate categorical perception using VOT. Listeners identify whether they perceive [pa] or [ba] based on slight manipulations of VOT.

  • Graphical representation of shifts in perception as VOT changes emphasizes categorical perception versus continuous input.

    • Distinction in Perception: Listeners demonstrate a clear boundary in their perceptions, indicating that linguistic categories influence interpretation of sounds.

Categorical Perception and Its Boundaries Across Languages

  • Each language enacts its unique phonological system, leading to different perception boundaries.

    • Example: English and Hindi exhibit different responses to aspiration in stops.

  • Categorical boundaries exist uniquely patterned by language, indicating that language shapes cognitive processing of sounds.

Categorical Perception in Sign Language

  • Similar mechanisms in sign perception. Research shows that ASL signers demonstrate categorical perceptions in perceiving hand shapes, mirroring spoken language mechanisms.

  • Studies conducted by Baker et al. (2005) highlight the significance of gesture parameters and participant familiarity with sign language affecting categorization.

  • Results indicate ASL signers outperform non-signers in tasks straddling the categorical boundary, confirming categorical perception within the realm of sign language.

Conclusions on Perception

  • As infants, we are capable of distinguishing between language sounds from birth but narrow this ability based on exposure.

  • Perceptual Narrowing: Developmental change observed where infants become proficient in their language contrasts while failing to recognize non-native sounds.

    • Age milestones (0mo, 6-8mo, 10-12mo) indicate decreasing differentiation of non-native contrasts.

Overall Implications of the Studies

  • Cognitive processing of language emerges as a complex interplay of acoustics and mental categorization, encompassing speech and sign languages.

  • Recognition of inherent linguistic structures validates all forms of communication, challenging discrimination based on variation in language use.