Assimilation of Voicing in Czech Speakers of English: The Effect of the Degree of Accentedness

Skarnitzl, Radek; Šturm, Pavel

doi:10.2478/rela-2014-0007

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…While we did find that the more open glottal aperture is associated with the production of /ř/, Experiment 2 did not show significant spectral tilt for //. Skarnitzl (2011) does report an increase in the H1-H2 of fricatives in Czech; it seems that the airflow requirements necessary to produce fricatives in general correspond with a somewhat more open glottis.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 70%

Czech trills revisited: An ultrasound EGG and acoustic study

Howson¹,

Komova²,

Gick³

2014

Journal of the International Phonetic Association

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The Czech language has two trills produced with the anterior tongue, represented in the Czech orthography as /r/ and /ř/. The phonetic characterization of the latter trill, currently transcribed in the IPA as [r̝ ], has been especially controversial. The present study uses ultrasound, electroglottography (EGG) and acoustic evidence to examine these trills, with the particular aim of achieving a more phonetically grounded representation of /ř/. In the first part of the paper, ultrasound imaging is used to compare tongue positions between /r/ and /ř/, ruling out tongue height as the key factor distinguishing the two sounds. The second part uses EGG and acoustic evidence to examine phonatory aspects of production. Results implicate vocal fold abduction as the more robust factor distinguishing /r/ from /ř/. Consequently, we posit [r̤ ] as a more appropriate phonetic characterization of /ř/.

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 70%

Czech trills revisited: An ultrasound EGG and acoustic study

Howson¹,

Komova²,

Gick³

2014

Journal of the International Phonetic Association

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“…Preliminary studies suggest that Czech learners of English with a relatively strong foreign accent do not sufficiently exploit duration to cue the identity of the English word-final obstruents (Fejlová 2013). As for the degree of voicing, they tend to produce both the fortis and lenis obstruents without any phonetic voicing (with the exception of assimilatory contexts; see Skarnitzl and Šturm 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-fortis shortening in Czech English: A production and reaction-time study

Skarnitzl

Šturm

2016

RiL

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This study focuses on the production and perception of English words with a fortis vs. lenis obstruent in the syllable coda. The contrast is mostly cued by the duration of the preceding vowel, which is shorter before fortis than before lenis sounds in native speech. In the first experiment we analyzed the production of 10 Czech speakers of English and compared them to two native controls. The results showed that the Czech speakers did not sufficiently exploit duration to cue the identity of the word-final obstruent. In the second experiment we manipulated C and V durations in target words to transplant the native ratios onto the Czech-accented speech, enhancing the fortis–lenis contrast, and vice versa. 108 listeners took part in a word-monitoring task in which reaction times were measured. The hypothesized advantage to items in which the target word (with a fortis or lenis obstruent) was semantically congruent with the following context was not confirmed, and subsequent analyses showed that the words’ frequency of use and the collocations they enter into strongly affect speech processing and correlate to a large degree with the reaction times.

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“…In a preliminary study, Skarnitzl and Poesová (2008) investigated 5 speakers with a salient Czech accent and confirmed that the voicing of word-final obstruents was assimilated quite consistently and predictably. Skarnitzl and Šturm (2014) included three groups of speakers differing in the strength of their Czech accent and found a similar tendency for the transfer of Czech assimilation rules into English that correlated with the speakers’ degree of foreign accent. In this study, we will compare Czech and Slovak L2 speakers of English.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Voicing Assimilation in Czech and Slovak Speakers of English: Interactions of Segmental Context, Language and Strength of Foreign Accent

Skarnitzl

Šturm

2016

Lang Speech

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This study focuses on voicing assimilation across word boundaries in the speech of second language (L2) users. We compare native speakers of British English to speakers of two West Slavic languages, Czech and Slovak, which, despite their many similarities, differ with respect to voicing assimilation rules. Word-final voicing was analysed in 30 speakers, using the static value of voicing percentage and the voicing profile method. The results of linear mixed-effects modelling suggest an effect of first language (L1) transfer in all L2 English speaker groups, with the tendency to assimilate being correlated with the strength of foreign accent. Importantly, the two language groups differed in assimilation strategies before sonorant consonants, as a clear effect of L1-based phonetic influence.

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Assimilation of Voicing in Czech Speakers of English: The Effect of the Degree of Accentedness

Cited by 5 publications

References 11 publications

Czech trills revisited: An ultrasound EGG and acoustic study

Czech trills revisited: An ultrasound EGG and acoustic study

Pre-fortis shortening in Czech English: A production and reaction-time study

Voicing Assimilation in Czech and Slovak Speakers of English: Interactions of Segmental Context, Language and Strength of Foreign Accent

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