Rhythm and Speech

Cummins, Fred

doi:10.1002/9781118584156.ch8

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Speech rhythm is a language-dependent phenomenon that encompasses both the temporal and spectral patterns of recurrence of strong and weak prosodic elements, as indicated by pitch, stress, loudness, and duration (e.g., Cummins, 2015; Fletcher, 2010; Kohler, 2009; Turk & Shattuck-Hufnagel, 2013). As a first step in the exploration of the acoustic effects of clear speech produced by L2 speakers, this study examines the effect of speaking clearly on temporal metrics of speech rhythm; specifically, metrics that assess the relative durations of consonantal and vocalic segments (see Section 1.2 for details of the specific metrics).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Clear Speech on Temporal Metrics of Rhythm in Spanish-Accented Speakers of English

et al. 2017

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This paper presents a comparative analysis of temporal rhythm in native American English talkers and Spanish-accented English talkers producing clear (hyperarticulated) speech and typical, conversational-style speech. Five acoustic measures of comparative vocalic and consonantal interval duration ("temporal metrics") were obtained from speech samples of 40 adult men and women (half native and half Spanish-accented talkers). In conversational-style speech, vocalic-based metrics differed significantly between native and Spanish-accented talkers, consistent with phonotactic differences between the two native languages. In clear speech, however, all metric values from the Spanish-accented talkers became more English-like and no longer differed significantly from those observed in the native English talkers. Post-hoc analysis revealed that native English talkers increased the duration of both weak and strong vowels in clear speech, whereas the Spanish-accented talkers increased the duration of strong vowels without changing the duration of weak vowels. Listener ease of understanding, as perceived by monolingual English speakers, was significantly improved in clear- compared with conversational-style speech for all talkers. The acoustic data help to explain the changes that result from use of clear speech in nonnative speakers. Together with the improved listener ease of understanding, these data strongly support the further exploration of clear speech as a clinical tool to improve prosody and hence, interpersonal communication, in nonnative speakers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Clear Speech on Temporal Metrics of Rhythm in Spanish-Accented Speakers of English

et al. 2017

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“…It is suggested that the vocal expressions associated with these gesture-calls reflected the sonic aspects (rhythmic and timbral) of these environments, the motor-patterns of production, as well as the gestural and social rhythms (e.g., turn taking, social entrainment) that developed within the cultural ecology. In line with this, studies show connections between rhythmic capacities and the development of vocal forms of communication, including language (Cummins and Port, 1996 ; Cummins, 2015 ; Bekius et al, 2016 ; Ravignani et al, 2016b ). As an aside, it is also posited that the process of knapping may have resulted in specific forms of listening (Morley, 2013 , p. 120), and that the resonant and sometimes tonal qualities of stones and flakes may have afforded music-like play with sound (Zubrow et al, 2001 ; Killin, 2016a , b ) 3 .…”

Section: The Biocultural Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 71%

Evolutionary Musicology Meets Embodied Cognition: Biocultural Coevolution and the Enactive Origins of Human Musicality

Schyff

Schiavio

2017

Front. Neurosci.

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Despite evolutionary musicology's interdisciplinary nature, and the diverse methods it employs, the field has nevertheless tended to divide into two main positions. Some argue that music should be understood as a naturally selected adaptation, while others claim that music is a product of culture with little or no relevance for the survival of the species. We review these arguments, suggesting that while interesting and well-reasoned positions have been offered on both sides of the debate, the nature-or-culture (or adaptation vs. non-adaptation) assumptions that have traditionally driven the discussion have resulted in a problematic either/or dichotomy. We then consider an alternative “biocultural” proposal that appears to offer a way forward. As we discuss, this approach draws on a range of research in theoretical biology, archeology, neuroscience, embodied and ecological cognition, and dynamical systems theory (DST), positing a more integrated model that sees biological and cultural dimensions as aspects of the same evolving system. Following this, we outline the enactive approach to cognition, discussing the ways it aligns with the biocultural perspective. Put simply, the enactive approach posits a deep continuity between mind and life, where cognitive processes are explored in terms of how self-organizing living systems enact relationships with the environment that are relevant to their survival and well-being. It highlights the embodied and ecologically situated nature of living agents, as well as the active role they play in their own developmental processes. Importantly, the enactive approach sees cognitive and evolutionary processes as driven by a range of interacting factors, including the socio-cultural forms of activity that characterize the lives of more complex creatures such as ourselves. We offer some suggestions for how this approach might enhance and extend the biocultural model. To conclude we briefly consider the implications of this approach for practical areas such as music education.

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“…This result goes against the hypothesis that isochronous speech, by virtue of a supposedly ideally regular timing of its units, would be easier to track, by alleviating the need for constant phase-resetting. For traditional linguistic accounts too, these results further debunk the isochrony hypothesis, assuming that produced speech would be based on an underlying ideally isochronous form 12 , see review in 13,20 . In fact, our results suggest that the natural timing statistics are actively used by listeners in decoding words, even though they are encountered in a single instance by listeners.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…We tested temporally modified sentences at the accent and the syllable levels, two hierarchically nested linguistic levels in English and French. These two languages are traditionally described as being representative of two distinct rhythmic classes, based on a hypothetical underlying isochrony of accent versus syllable units respectively in natural speech production 12,13,20 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two main classes emerged, stress-timed languages (e.g., English) based on isochronous feet and syllable-timed languages (e.g., French) which assume equal-duration syllables. Still, the isochrony hypothesis and the related rhythmic class hypothesis, in spite (or by virtue) of their simple formulation and intuitive account, have been the source of a continuous debate (see review in 13 ).…”

Section: The Role Of Isochrony In Speech Perception In Noise Vincent mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of isochrony in speech perception in noise

Aubanel

Schwartz

2020

Sci Rep

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The role of isochrony in speech—the hypothetical division of speech units into equal duration intervals—has been the subject of a long-standing debate. Current approaches in neurosciences have brought new perspectives in that debate through the theoretical framework of predictive coding and cortical oscillations. Here we assess the comparative roles of naturalness and isochrony in the intelligibility of speech in noise for French and English, two languages representative of two well-established contrastive rhythm classes. We show that both top-down predictions associated with the natural timing of speech and to a lesser extent bottom-up predictions associated with isochrony at a syllabic timescale improve intelligibility. We found a similar pattern of results for both languages, suggesting that temporal characterisation of speech from different rhythm classes could be unified around a single core speech unit, with neurophysiologically defined duration and linguistically anchored temporal location. Taken together, our results suggest that isochrony does not seem to be a main dimension of speech processing, but may be a consequence of neurobiological processing constraints, manifesting in behavioural performance and ultimately explaining why isochronous stimuli occupy a particular status in speech and human perception in general.

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Rhythm and Speech

Cited by 12 publications

References 68 publications

The Effect of Clear Speech on Temporal Metrics of Rhythm in Spanish-Accented Speakers of English

The Effect of Clear Speech on Temporal Metrics of Rhythm in Spanish-Accented Speakers of English

Evolutionary Musicology Meets Embodied Cognition: Biocultural Coevolution and the Enactive Origins of Human Musicality

The role of isochrony in speech perception in noise

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