Searching for an Explanation for Diphthong Perception: Dynamic Tones and Dynamic Spectral Profiles
-
M.E.H. Schouten
and W.J.M. Peeters
Abstract
The aim was to find a psychophysical explanation for the perception, by naive listeners, of diphthongs as single vowels, even though they are essentially formant movements. Subjects were asked to match sinusoidal tone and resonance glides around 1,000 Hz with two connected steady-state tones or resonances whose frequencies could be controlled independently. The expectation was that short glides (below 120 ms) would give rise to single perceptual events without any movement in a particular direction, so that the two matching steady-state patterns would not show any frequency direction either; long resonance glides (above 120 ms), on the other hand, were expected to be perceived as rising or falling and matched accordingly. The results showed an effect of duration, although it interacted with glide width. At durations shorter than about 120 ms, subjects placed the two steady profiles with which they had to match the dynamic profile closer together than with durations over 120 ms; however, this only occurred if a glide covered more than 500 Hz, and is therefore irrelevant to diphthong perception.
verified
References
1 Bernstein, L.R.; Green, D.M.: The profile-analysis bandwidth. J. acoust. Soc. Am. 81: 1888–1895 (1987).10.1121/1.394753Search in Google Scholar
2 Boone, M.M.: Loudness measurements on pure tone and broadband impulsive sounds. Acustica 29: 198–204 (1973).Search in Google Scholar
3 Brady, P.T.; House, A.S.; Stevens, K.N.: Perception of sounds characterized by a rapidly changing formant frequency. J. acoust. Soc. Am. 33: 1357–1362 (1961).10.1121/1.1908439Search in Google Scholar
4 Gardner, R.B.; Wilson, J.P.: Evidence for direction-specific channels in the processing of frequency modulation. J. acoust. Soc. Am. 66: 704–709 (1979).10.1121/1.383220Search in Google Scholar
5 Green, D.M.: Profile analysis (Oxford University Press, New York 1988).Search in Google Scholar
6 Green, D.M.; Birdsall, T.G.; Tanner, W.P.: Signal detection theory as a function of signal intensity and duration. J. acoust. Soc. Am. 29: 523–531 (1957).10.1121/1.1908951Search in Google Scholar
7 Hillier, D.A.: Auditory processing of sinusoidal spectral envelopes; doct. diss. Washington University, St. Louis (1991).Search in Google Scholar
8 Madden, J.P.; Fire, K.M.: Detection and discrimination of glides as a function of direction, duration, frequency span, and center frequency. J. acoust. Soc. Am. 102: 2920–2924 (1997).Search in Google Scholar
9 Merzenich, M.M.; Schreiner, C.; Jenkins, W.; Wang, X.: Neural mechanisms underlying temporal integration, segmentation, and input sequence representation: some implications for the origin of learning disabilities. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 682: 1–22 (1993).Search in Google Scholar
10 Moore, B.C.J.; Sek, A.: Discrimination of frequency glides with superimposed random glides in level. J. acoust. Soc. Am. 104: 411–421 (1998).10.1121/1.423297Search in Google Scholar
11 Nábelek, I.V.: Temporal summation of constant and gliding tones at masked auditory threshold. J. acoust. Soc. Am. 64: 751–763 (1978).10.1121/1.382040Search in Google Scholar
12 Nábelek, I.V.; Nábelek, A.K.; Hirsh, I.J.: Pitch of tone bursts of changing frequency. J. acoust. Soc. Am. 48: 536–553 (1970).10.1121/1.1912169Search in Google Scholar
13 Peeters, W.J.M.: Diphthong dynamics: a cross-linguistic perceptual analysis of temporal patterns in Dutch, English, and German; doct. diss. Utrecht University (1991).Search in Google Scholar
14 Peeters, W.; Schouten, B.: Die Diphthongierung der westgermanischen î- und û-Laute im Limburgischen. Z. Dialektol. Ling. 56: 309–318 (1989).Search in Google Scholar
15 Pisoni, D.B.: Some effects of discrimination training on the identification and discrimination of rapid spectral changes. Res. on Speech Percept. Progr. Rep. No. 3, pp. 121–141 (Indiana University, Bloomington 1976).Search in Google Scholar
16 Plomp, R.; Bouman, M.A.: Relation between hearing threshold and duration for tone pulses. J. acoust. Soc. Am. 31: 749–758 (1959).10.1121/1.1907781Search in Google Scholar
17 Pöppel, E.: Reconstruction of subjective time on the basis of hierarchically organized processing system; in Pastor and Artieda, Time, internal clocks and movement. Adv. Psychol., vol. 115, pp. 165–185 (North Holland-Elsevier, Amsterdam 1996).10.1016/S0166-4115(96)80058-6Search in Google Scholar
18 Schouten, M.E.H.: Identification and discrimination of sweep tones. Percept. Psychophys. 37: 369–376 (1985).10.3758/BF03211361Search in Google Scholar
19 Schouten, B.; Peeters, W.: The Middle High German vowel shift, measured acoustically in Dutch and Belgian Limburg: diphthongization of short vowels. Z. Dialektol. Ling. 63: 30–48 (1996).Search in Google Scholar
20 Schouten, M.E.H.; Pols, L.C.W.: Identification and discrimination of sweep formants. Percept. Psychophys. 46: 235–244 (1989).10.3758/BF03208084Search in Google Scholar
21 Schwartz, J.L.; Escudier, P.: Does the human auditory system include large scale spectral integration?; in Schouten, The psychophysics of speech perception, pp. 284–292 (Nijhoff, The Hague 1987).10.1007/978-94-009-3629-4_23Search in Google Scholar
22 Smoorenburg, G.F.; Coninx, F.: Masking of short probe sounds by tone bursts with a sweeping frequency. Hear. Res. 3: 301–316 (1980).10.1016/0378-5955(80)90025-8Search in Google Scholar
23 Van Wieringen, A.: Perceiving dynamic speechlike sounds; doct. diss. University of Amsterdam (1995).Search in Google Scholar
© 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel
Articles in the same Issue
- Special Section
- Editorial
- Original Paper
- Articulatory Vowel Lengthening and Coordination at Phrasal Junctures
- Searching for an Explanation for Diphthong Perception: Dynamic Tones and Dynamic Spectral Profiles
- The Question of ‘Stress’ in West Greenlandic1
- Further Section
- Obituary
- Libri
- Publications Received for Review
Articles in the same Issue
- Special Section
- Editorial
- Original Paper
- Articulatory Vowel Lengthening and Coordination at Phrasal Junctures
- Searching for an Explanation for Diphthong Perception: Dynamic Tones and Dynamic Spectral Profiles
- The Question of ‘Stress’ in West Greenlandic1
- Further Section
- Obituary
- Libri
- Publications Received for Review