216 research outputs found
Sociophonetics
No full textSociophonetics research is located at the interface of sociolinguistics and experimental phonetics. Its primary focus is to shed new light on the social-indexical phonetic properties of speech, revealing a wide range of phonetic parameters that map systematically to social factors relevant to speakers and listeners, and the fact that many of these involve particularly fine-grained control of both spatial and temporal dimensions of speech production. Recent methodological developments in acoustic and articulatory methods have yielded new insights into the nature of sociophonetic variation at the scale of entire speech communities as well as in respect of the detailed speech production patterns of individual speakers. The key theoretical dimension of sociophonetic research is to consider how models of speech production, processing, and acquisition should be informed by rapidly increasing knowledge of the ubiquity of social-indexical phonetic variation carried by the speech signal. In particular, this work is focused on inferring from the performance of speakers and listeners how social-indexical phonetic properties are interwoven into phonological representation alongside those properties associated with the transmission and interpretation of lexical-propositional information.</p
Experimental Research Methods in SociolinguisticsKatieDrager Bloomsbury Academic “Research Methods in Linguistics” series. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic. 2018. 216 pp. PB 35.95 USD list price 23.39 GBP; HB 100 USD list price 67.50 GBP; EPUB/MOBI/PDF Ebook 32.35 USD list price 22.45 GBP.
No full textFor many of its research community, the study of sociolinguistics is quintessentially about understanding the use and variability of language in its natural social context, a context which is about as far removed as possible from what goes on in a laboratory setting. However, with the social‐indexical properties of speech and language now prominent in a great deal of theoretical debate around speech production, processing, and acquisition, many sociolinguists are now equally at home carrying out research in the laboratory as well as in the field, thereby opening up a rich seam of empirical sociolinguistic research and discovery.No Full Tex
Sociophonetics and vowels
No full textThe study of vowel variation has featured prominently in advancing sociophonetic theory and methods, driving technological innovation and motivating the formulation of novel research questions. From the very early days of the discipline, quantitative analysis of vowels has been an enduring presence, with acoustic analysis playing a central role. New approaches to the investigation of vowel variation have led to the development of sophisticated analysis techniques and statistical modeling processes. In this chapter we discuss the antecedents to sociophonetic analysis of vowels, the new insights and methods that ignite our curiosity and advance understanding of socio-indexical vowel variation, and we consider future prospects for the field. We also discuss select methodological and theoretical issues that are the subject of robust debate within the sociophonetic community. Finally, we present a case study illustrating the impact that different analytical approaches can have on the acoustic examination vowels.No Full Tex
The English question, or academic freedoms
No full textTo be or not to be free, that is the question, the English question, the question of what is academic English at the beginning of the 21st century. So argues Thomas Docherty in this new and important new study, a study that begins with the claim that the fundamental idea governing the institution of the University is a will to freedom. Tracing a history of the modern European University from Vico onwards and including Hume, Rousseau, Schiller, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Newman, Alain, Benda and Jaspers, the author argues the academy's will to freedom is grounded in study of the 'eloquence' that has shaped literate and humane values. He goes on to explore the current condition of English as a literary discipline, arguing that literary studies is (or should be) a search for the unknown; and that in only that search can the academy establish the real meaning - or meanings - of social, political and ethical freedom
Aesthetic democracy
No full textAesthetic Democracy argues that art and the aesthetic in general are the founding condition of the possibility of establishing social and political democracy. The book examines contemporary criticism and finds that it is historically shaped by colonialism, and that it sets up an opposition of east and west that shapes all contemporary cultural politics. The author argues for a way of outwitting this potentially dangerous struggle of east and west grounded in an aestheticism and a validation of sensory experience. Docherty proposes a new model of cultural critique, based on a revitalized and positively valorized notion of "hypocrisy," whose roots lie in Machiavelli, but whose contemporary strength lies in its potential for an ethical encounter with alterity as such
Cross-language differences in pitch range
No full textBritish speakers are thought to vary their pitch range more (their voice goes more up and down) than German speakers do, but this has never been systematically compared.
The main aim of this project is to develop the methodology that would allow us to investigate the nature of variability in pitch range across speakers of different languages.
In this project the use of pitch range in the read speech of a group of 30 female German speakers will be compared to that of 30 female British speakers.
Two measurement techniques will be used, one which is based on long-term raw statistical methods involving mean and median values, another which is based on specific target points in speech that are linguistic in nature. These measures will be statistically analysed and followed by a perception study in which listeners are asked to rate German and English speech (which is low-pass filtered to filter out verbal content and some voice quality but preserve f0) on how German/English it sounds.
The strength of correlations between speakers' judgements and the various measures of cross-language difference will then be examined. This will determine which measures of pitch range are perceptually relevant in cross-language comparisons
Estimating the prevalence of creaky voice: a fundamental frequency-based approach
No full textAnecdotal claims of increasing prevalence of creaky voice in varieties of English, particularly among younger female speakers, have piqued the interest of sociophonetic researchers, speech pathologists, and public commentators alike. However, studies quantifying creaky voice prevalence are few in number and modest in scale, possibly because manual annotation of creaky voice – the method most often used for its detection – is time-intensive. Since low F0 characterizes most manifestations of creaky voice, it is conceivable that it can be detected, with a high degree of approximation, using an automated F0-based method. This paper describes such an approach, drawing on previous work by Dorreen [7], and explores its application and validity across male and female speakers of Australian English and across speaking tasks. Our findings suggest that our approach is an effective means of estimating creaky voice prevalence, with potential for generating new insights in an area where a reliable evidence base is much-needed.Full Tex
The quantitative prevalence of creaky voice (vocal fry) in varieties of English: A systematic review of the literature
No full textBackground/aimIt is widely believed that ‘creaky voice’ (‘creak’, ‘vocal fry’, ‘glottal fry’) is increasingly prevalent among some English speakers, particularly among young American women. Motivated by the widespread and cross-disciplinary interest in the phenomenon, this paper offers a systematic review of peer-reviewed research (up to January 2019) on the prevalence of creaky voice in varieties of English. The review aimed to understand whose and what speech has been studied, how creaky voice prevalence has been measured, and what the findings collectively reveal.MethodLiterature was located by searching four electronic databases (ProQuest, PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science) and the proceedings of two recurrent conferences (‘ICPhS’ and ‘SST’). Studies were included if they reported the prevalence of creaky voice in naturalistic samples of English spoken by vocally-healthy speakers. Reference lists of included studies were cross-checked.ResultsOnly ten studies meeting inclusion criteria were identified. All studies sampled a small number of speakers and/or short durations of speech. Nine were recent studies of American-English speakers, and many of these sampled young, female, college students. Across the ten studies, creaky voice was detected using three types of methods, and prevalence was calculated using five different formulae. The findings show that prevalence varies across groups, individuals, and contexts. However, the precise nature of this variability remains unclear due to the scarcity and methodological heterogeneity of the research.ConclusionsThis paper illustrated the application of systematic literature review methods in sociophonetic research—a field in which such methods are not common. The review found that creaky voice prevalence in English is not well understood, and that widespread claims of its recent increase among young American women have not been empirically confirmed. A number of specific limitations in the existing research are highlighted, which may serve as a guide for future research design.</div
Phonetic and phonological variation in England
No full textThe chapter deals with segmental and suprasegmental features of English spoken by residents of England without a recent migration history – though two major new varieties, British Asian English and Multicultural London English, are briefly discussed. While the emphasis is on the period since the turn of the twenty-first century, the chapter also deals with changes since the 1960s. The chapter begins with a presentation of recent technological advances, such as magnetic resonance imaging and innovative quantitative cartographic techniques. This is followed by a discussion of consonants, vowels, rhythm, stress, intonation and voice quality. The chapter goes on to show how some features are involved in levelling at the national or regional level, while other local and regional features are maintained. Using older dialectological sources as well as contemporary sociolinguistic methods, four regions are discussed, those centred on London, Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester. The evidence shows similarities (a general reduction in variation) and differences (maintenance of differences between neighbouring cities). Levelling in the South East involves a shift of vowels towards Received Pronunciation-like variants, while consonants do not take part in this change; the exception is the rapid loss of traditional h-dropping. Finally, the influence of standardisation is discussed.No Full Tex
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