Articles tagged with Phonetics
A new study using Victorian recordings from Lancaster University's archive found strong links between industrial growth and accent evolution in northern England. The Barrow-in-Furness accent developed due to intense population change and mixing, leading to distinct social histories and settlement patterns.
A team of researchers analyzed Taylor Swift's recorded interviews to study her dialect changes across different eras of her career. They found that she adopted features of the Southern accent when living in Nashville and lowered her voice pitch when moving to New York City, which may have been a strategic move to project authority.
Researchers analyzed massive audio recordings to create a dictionary of short melodies in English-language prosody, assigning functions and meanings. They discovered hundreds of basic patterns with linguistic functions, including conveying attitudes such as curiosity or surprise, and identified syntactic rules governing their order.
Researchers used advanced technology to analyze over 100 hours of brain activity during real-life discussions. The study found that the brain processes language in a sequence, from thinking about words to forming sounds and vice versa.
A recent study published in Frontiers in Communication reveals that people with non-standard accents are more likely to be associated with criminal behaviour, but perceptions vary between accents. The researchers found a significant link between class or status, negative traits, and expected behavior, particularly when it comes to crime.
A new study found that speech sounds have texture and shape to them, with R sounds associated with roughness and L sounds with smoothness. The research showed strong tendencies for matching trilled R sounds with jagged lines and L sounds with straight lines across cultures.
A Cambridge study suggests that people from Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Ireland are better at detecting fake accents than those from London and the Southeast. The study found that participants were able to detect fake accents with an accuracy of around 60%, varying by region and cultural homogeneity.
A recent study from the University of Surrey found that remote medical interpreting (RMI) can compromise the quality of communication in healthcare settings. Interpreters reported mixed experiences with technology during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need for careful consideration of interpreting methods based on the nature o...
A new study found that consonant lengthening is a universal trait in many languages, helping listeners identify word boundaries. The researchers analyzed data from the DoReCo corpus and found evidence of lengthening in 43 out of 51 languages.
Research by Lancaster University found that people in higher social grades, including corporate world and education sectors, are adopting each other's speech patterns to be more inclusive. This 'resonance' has increased over the past 20 years, particularly among those with high social status.
Newborns of bilingual mothers exhibit greater sensitivity to a range of sound pitches compared to those from monolingual mothers. The study suggests that prenatal exposure to multiple languages may shape the fetus's auditory system, influencing its ability to process speech sounds at birth.
Researchers found that American athletes borrow Canadian English accent features for hockey-specific terms and jargon, but not underlying pronunciation rules. Adopting these dialects is a way players portray their identity through speech.
Researchers at Lancaster University find that the 'r' sound is becoming weaker in England, with most young speakers softening it to an elongation of the vowel. This decline is predicted to continue, potentially erasing traditional dialects and linguistic homogenization.
Girls tend to excel in reading skills compared to boys, mainly due to differences in vocabulary development and parental engagement. Boys face greater challenges in reading comprehension, particularly if they lack exposure to books and interactive conversations.
Researchers analyzed a large database of languages to verify the relationship between climate and language sound. They found that languages around the equator tend to have higher sonority indexes, but some exceptions exist, such as Mesoamerica and Mainland Southeast Asia.
Researchers found that phonetic encoding in babies emerged gradually over the first year of life, beginning with labial sounds and nasal sounds. Parents should speak to their babies using sing-song speech as soon as possible to help them learn language.
Researchers found that white English speakers' accents have shifted away from traditional Southern pronunciation since Generation X. The study, published in Language Variation and Change, used archived and new recordings to analyze vowel patterns, finding distinct changes between baby boomers and Gen X.
A new dictionary provides a comprehensive overview of Shakespeare's language, revealing words with reduced mental ability and plant hybrids. The Arden Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's Language offers insights into the linguistic thumbprints of plays and characters, as well as the networks of character interaction.
WVU linguists analyze speech recordings to determine how intensity and duration shape pronunciation in American English and Spanish. The two-year study aims to redefine sound patterns across languages.
A team of researchers from the University of Cologne has successfully decoded a previously unknown ancient script, known as the Kushan script. The breakthrough was made possible by analyzing inscriptions found in caves, bowls, and clay pots in Central Asia, which provided key clues to deciphering the writing system.
The study uses neural recordings and computer modeling to show that phonetic information is encoded differently when speech stands out versus being drowned out. This finding could help develop more accurate hearing aids.
Researchers studied systematic variation in AAE speech production, including final consonant reduction, to prevent misdiagnosis of speech disorders. The study highlights the importance of accepting variation in human language without penalizing users.
Researchers found that people produce louder and slower speech with less pitch variation when communicating with AI systems, while clearer speech improves comprehension. The study aims to improve AI's ability to understand human speech and investigate language changes as technology advances.
Researchers found that anatomical variations in a speaker's vocal tract affect speech production, with factors such as horizontal and vertical length, head inclination, and hard palate shape influencing vowel frequencies. The study suggests that understanding anatomy is crucial for producing speech.
A research team at Carnegie Mellon University is working to simplify data requirements for speech recognition models, aiming to reach 2,000 languages. By focusing on linguistic elements common across many languages and using a phylogenetic tree, the team hopes to eliminate the need for audio data.
Researchers used VR to teach language to participants, finding that those who learned in unique environments recalled more words (92%) compared to those who learned in the same environment (76%). Immersion in the VR world also played a key role in learning retention.
A new study by NYU researchers reveals that our brains use a 'time-stamp' mechanism to process the order of incoming sounds, allowing us to correctly recognize words being said. The brain achieves this feat by correlating different neural populations with specific speech sounds and time-stamping each sound with its relative order.
Researchers from McGill University and MIT developed an AI system that can learn the rules and patterns of human languages on its own. The model automatically generates higher-level language patterns that can be applied to different languages, achieving better results.
A study published in the Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research found that children with dyslexia often perform well on simple phonological tests, but struggle with more complex tasks. The researchers suggest that these more complex tests better predict a child's risk of dyslexia.
Researchers found a functional abnormality in the brain's sound processing region in adults with dyslexia, contributing to difficulties in early speech and language learning. This deficit affects the ability to process rapidly successive sounds, leading to weaknesses in reading skills.
A study using fMRI technology reveals impaired brain function in individuals with dyslexia when performing phonetic reading tasks. Dyslexic readers showed reduced activity in the angular gyrus and superior temporal gyrus brain regions.
Infants as young as 20 weeks old can produce three common vowel sounds by analyzing parentese, a unique form of speech used to communicate with babies. This study shows that parentese is characterized by over-articulation, making vowel sounds more distinct and expanding their range.
Researchers find that the unique island brogue is losing traditional features such as distinct vowel sounds and words like 'pizer' for 'porch.' The dialect's survival largely depends on the island's former isolation from the mainland. Despite its decline, linguists emphasize the importance of preserving languages and cultures.