Language Research

Speech Rhythm Measures: Acoustic Cues for Speaker Identification

Homa Asadi; Batool alinezhad

Volume 12, Issue 2 , December 2022, , Pages 29-49

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2021.304539.666624

Abstract

Rhythmic characteristics of speech based on consonantal and vocalic intervals as well as syllabic intervals vary between speakers of the same language. Nonetheless, the rhythmicity ... Read More Rhythmic characteristics of speech based on consonantal and vocalic intervals as well as syllabic intervals vary between speakers of the same language. Nonetheless, the rhythmicity of a speech signal is not solely dependent on the durational variability of phonetic intervals but it is also associated with the variability of the intensity patterns as well. Acoustic parameter of intensity is largely determined by the articulatory behaviors of the speech organs such as lip movement or mouth aperture. Therefore, it is plausible that speaker idiosyncrasy in movement of speech articulators and anatomical differences in individual’s vocal tracts may influence the energy distribution across a speech signal which subsequently leads to the variability in the values of the intensity measures. Using experimental phonetics tools and from an explicitly speaker-specific perspective, the present research attempts to explore potential speaker-specific acoustic parameters of speech rhythm which are extracted from the intensity contours across Persian speakers. This research aims to discover whether intensity-based measures of speech rhythm are able to discriminate between speakers in Persian. Two types of acoustic rhythmic measures based on the mean syllable intensity (stdevM, varcoM, rPVIm, nPVIm) and peak syllable intensity (stdevP, varcoP, rPVIp, nPVIp)) were selected for this study. Speech data from 12 Persian male speakers were recorded non-contemporaneously in laboratory environment on two different occasions separated by one to two weeks. Speech tokens were acoustically measured with PRAAT version 5.2.34 and statistical analyses were carried out with SPSS version 21 and R version 3.3.3. Results of the study indicated that speech rhythm measures based on intensity fluctuations play an important role in between-speaker rhythmic variability. In addition, discriminatory power of intensity-based measures is not affected by the language-dependent characteristics of Persian. The results also showed that the peak syllable intensity measures carry more speaker-specific information compared to the mean syllable intensity measures

Derivational Prefixes Ordering

Maryam Hemasian; Adel Rafiei; Batool alinezhad

Volume 12, Issue 1 , July 2021, , Pages 71-96

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2020.268569.666420

Abstract

Affix ordering is a theoretical discussion in morphology. There has been some debate over the existence of general principles or mechanisms governing affix ordering. In this regard, ... Read More Affix ordering is a theoretical discussion in morphology. There has been some debate over the existence of general principles or mechanisms governing affix ordering. In this regard, we can point to three principal approaches. The first approach named the stratum-oriented model (Siegel, 1974; Allen, 1978; Kiparsky, 1982; Mohanan, 1986), believes that lexicon has a layered structure and can determine the affixes' combinations. The second approach relies on Selectional Restrictions' affix oriented (Fabb, 1988; Plag, 1999). These restrictions include restrictions of the group of affixes and phonological, morphological, semantic, and syntax restrictions. This approach claims that the description of possible and impossible combinations of affixes is related to describing the functions of restrictions. The third approach formed the theoretical framework of the present study by providing a psycho-linguistic model based on this idea that the affix ordering is a function of the degree of parsability of affixes from their bases (Hay 2000; 2002). According to this approach, affixes parsed easily in language processing cannot stay near the base relative to the affixes with a lower degree of parsability. Plag (2003) called the approach as Complexity-Based Ordering (CBO). The question is that how can we describe the Persian derivational prefixes ordering based on the CBO framework. For this reason, by selecting 17 prefixes 2200 derivational words extracted from database. By considering prefixes co-occurrences the rank of each prefix was obtained by using directed-graph and upper triangle square matrixes. According to this theoretical framework, by using frequency of derivational words and bases we could draw the scatter plot and determined the rank of type and token frequency ratio. Finally, according to data and by using the rank of parsability, type and token frequency ratio, we assessed the continuum of Persian prefixes ordering. Similar to Hay and Plag (2004) findings, this approach can describe Persian prefixes ordering as well as English affixes ordering

The Ranking and Interaction of Mollin’s Constraints in Persian Irreversible Binomials

Ali Arabani Dana; Adel Rafiei; Batool alinezhad

Volume 11, Issue 1 , October 2020, , Pages 119-140

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2020.263717.666398

Abstract

The term “binomials” in the literature refers to the sequence of two words pertaining to the same form-class, and ordinarily connected by some kind of lexical link. In this ... Read More The term “binomials” in the literature refers to the sequence of two words pertaining to the same form-class, and ordinarily connected by some kind of lexical link. In this term, “nomi” (which means “name”) doesn’t refer to names only, but it is a cover term and can refer to names, adjectives, verbs, adverbs and conjunctions. One important point in binomials relates to the order of constituents. In this regard, there is a model called Constraints’ Model which was proposed by Mollin (2014). The Constraints’ Model has some constraints which determine the order of constituents in binomials. The constraints of this model are: semantic-pragmatic constraints, nonmetrical-phonological constraints, metrical-phonological constraints, and frequency and alphabetic order constraints. The constraints in the model compete with each other to determine the order of constituents in the binomials. In this model, there is the possibility that one constraint can determine the order of constituents in some binomials, but it is possible that it can’t determine the order of constituents in all binomials. The reason for separating these four constituents from each other is that they have differences from each other. In this model, the constituents interact with each other and they have often significant correlations with each other. The paper aims to analyze Persian binomials based on Constraints’ Model and to determine their interactions with each other and finally to rank the constraints. To do the research, the data, including 534 Persian binomials, were analyzed based on Constraints’ Model. Then the model’ constraints were ranked according to Persian binomials, finally the competition and interaction of the constraints were determined in the Persian language. The results showed that non-metrical-phonological constraints can explain the most of Persian binomials, so they rank first, but semantic-pragmatic constraints can explain the least of Persian binomials, so they rank last.

Manipulation of the Acoustic Variables of Yes/No Questions for the Purpose of Turning them into Statements Based on Tilt Model

Marziyeh Badiee; Batool alinezhad; Vali Rezai

Volume 10, Issue 1 , June 2019, , Pages 1-19

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2019.71998

Abstract

This paper investigates intonational characteristics of yes/no questions in contrast to statements in Persian. Based on Tilt model, acoustic variables including duration, pitch amplitude ... Read More

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Author = Batool alinezhad

Speech Rhythm Measures: Acoustic Cues for Speaker Identification

Abstract

Derivational Prefixes Ordering

Abstract

The Ranking and Interaction of Mollin’s Constraints in Persian Irreversible Binomials

Abstract

Manipulation of the Acoustic Variables of Yes/No Questions for the Purpose of Turning them into Statements Based on Tilt Model

Abstract