Speaker Variability
Smaller
T/F: a slower speaking rate results in a longer vowel duration
True
T/F: Diphthongs are two vowels connected by a rapid change in vocal tract configuration.
False
As the vowel acoustic space gets smaller/larger, intelligibility of the speech increases.
larger
Where do we extract formants of a vowel? Why?
Vowel midpoint, minimizes the influence from the surrounding phonetic context
Which of these is NOT a factor that results in across-speaker variability? Gender, dialect, speaking style, language, age
Speaking style
Do stressed or nonstressed vowels have a longer duration?
stressed
Which of these has a steady formant trajectory: monophthongs/diphthongs?
monophthongs
T/F: the shared vowels (vowels transcribed with the same IPA symbol) across different languages all have very similar formant patterns.
False
What utterance position results in the longest vowel duration?
Sentence final position
What are some of the factors that result in within-speaker variability?
Speaking rate syllable stress, speaking style, phonetic context
Is the duration of a vowel longer when surrounded by voiced or voiceless consonants?
Voiced consonants
Where is the transitional segment of a diphthong mostly seen? (which formant)
F2
What are vowel formant trajectories?
Continuous motions of articulators for the vowel productions show up on the formants
Is a monophthong longer or shorter in duration than diphthongs? By how many ms?
Shorter, 30-70 ms
Is vowel duration always consistent across different speakers and contexts? Why?
No, there are many within and across speaker factors that contribute to different durations of the vowel
Do low or high vowels have a longer duration? Why?
Low vowels, requires you to move your jaw down and therefore your articulators have to move a further distance, taking more time
What does the transitional segment represent for a diphthong?
The rapid change in vocal tract shape between the initial and final parts of the diphthong.
What are the intrinsic properties of vowels?
Low/high vowels
Tense/lax vowels
Is there a relationship between vowel articulation and intelligibility? If so, what is it?
The more precise the vowel articulation, the larger the vowel acoustic area, the more intelligible the speech
If two speakers have the exact same vocal tract size, will their formants be the same?
Will word-initial voiced consonants or word-final voiced consonants lengthen the vowel more?
Word final
Would a patient with motor difficulties have a flatter or peakier formant trajectory when producing a diphthong? Why?
Flatter because they have more difficulty creating the sound and articulating it based on tongue movement
What are the extrinsic properties of vowels?
consonant voicing, stress, speaking rate, utterance position, speaking style
As you move from a vowel being produced in null context to a vowel being produced in connected speech, does the vowel acoustic space get larger or smaller? Why?
It gets smaller, the articulators do not reach their target sounds because of the speed of the speech