Band 28, Heft 3-4

A mathematical model for digital computer simulation of human-like utterances is developed. The overall system consists of a period structure of 16 coupled masses for each of the vocal cords, an 18-section cylindrical tube approximation of the pharynx and mouth, and a similar 12-section nasal tract. Special care has been taken to model separately the functions of the vocal ligament, the vocalic muscle, and the mucosa. Simulated phonation in modal, mixed and falsetto registers is possible. The parameters which control the nature of the phonation are lung pressure, external tension applied to ligament, vocalis, and mucosa, and the internal muscular action of the vocalis. Applications are cited in areas which include vocal physiology, pathology, and pedagogy.

A formula for the measure of the asymmetry of binary trees is proposed and its components are derived. To minimize the effort of computing, a table of the necessary asymmetry (NA) is given. The application of the measure is illustrated by examples from phonology, morphology, semantics and taxonomy.

The paper reports the results of an experiment designed to explore the interaction between tone and quantity in Serbocroatian. The test materials consisted of 39 synthesized versions of the test word pusti . Depending on the type of accent, this word may have four meanings, short accents being associated with forms of the verb pustiti and long accents with forms of the adjective pust . In producing the test stimuli, the duration of the first vowel was varied in 10-msec steps from 120 to 240 msec. Three fundamental frequency patterns were superimposed on the test words: a monotone pattern, a falling pattern, and a rising pattern. Twelve listeners identified the stimuli as forms of the verb pustiti or of the adjective pust . The results indicate that the tonal patterns influence the boundary value at which listeners change from ‘short’ responses to ‘long’ responses. This boundary value was at 145 msec for monotone and falling fundamental frequency patterns, and at 170 msec for words with rising fundamental frequency patterns. The responses are interpreted with reference to the dialect background of the listeners: the higher crossover point between short and long rising accents appears to be a characteristic of listeners from Vojvodina.

This second study of the time variables of spoken French unravels the main values of these variables in a forced language activity (the description of cartoons) and compares them with those found in radio interviews. As regards the primary variables, the difference between these two tasks is highly significant. A comparison with English in respect to a similar description task shows a great similarity at the level of the complex variables and the rate of articulation, but a significant difference in the length of the runs and of unfilled pauses. The comparison of the syntactic distribution of unfilled pauses in interviews and in descriptions shows a similarity in the occurrence of pauses at different syntactic positions (in particular finally and medially in sentences), but an increase in the number of pauses and – by about 100% – of their median length. Finally, a very great stability in the classification by order of size of the secondary variables (other hesitation pauses) is noted, which does not prevent these pauses from being distributed differently and two to three times as frequent in the descriptions.

An electromyographic investigation of the internal intercostal muscles in connected utterance together with an analysis of pause placement has been carried out with native and non-native (Asian) speakers of English. A characteristic pattern of muscle activity was found in native speakers. Its essential features were an overall progressive increase in activity throughout the item, localized bursts of activity before commencement of speech phrases, and decrease or cessation of activity with long pauses. The non-native speakers tended to produce repetitive EMG patterns within the one item. Another feature of their utterance was the use of numerous pauses, many of which were inappropriate in placement and duration. The physiological implications of this pattern are discussed. This faulty organization and timing of rhythm units was attributed to the syllable-timed nature of the subjects’ first language, to their method of learning English, and to their lack of experience in speaking English. The internal intercostal muscle activity pattern appeared to be related mainly to the speaker’s degree of linguistic proficiency.