Speech rhythm in multiethnolectal Zurich German (original) (raw)
Related papers
Syllable rate and speech rhythm in multiethnolectal Zurich German: a comparison of speaking styles
SpeechProsody
Multiethnolectal ways of speaking have been emerging for 30 years in culturally and linguistically diverse neighborhoods of European cities, including Zurich (Switzerland). Among the prosodic features of Germanic multiethnolects, a so-called 'staccato' rhythm has been mentioned in several studies. For instance, a comparison between two groups of adolescents (12 speakers each) showed that speakers of multiethnolectal Zurich German displayed slower syllable rates and less vowel duration variability than speakers of a rather traditional dialect. This study compares syllable rate and speech rhythm metrics (nPVI-V, nPVI-C) in spontaneous and read speech of 48 Zurich German adolescents. In a regression analysis, rhythmic measures were compared with the perception of how multiethnolectal the speakers sounded (rating score). The results showed that syllable rate and nPVI-V were related to rating score independently of speaking style (read, spontaneous speech): Speakers who were perceived as more multiethnolectal had a slower syllable rate and less vowel duration variability. Such findings were not observed for nPVI-C. These results suggest that syllable rate and speech rhythm (at least, vowel duration variability) are stable phonetic features of multiethnolectal Zurich German, since the relationship between these features and the perception of multiethnolectal speech was observed in both read and spontaneous speech.
Rhythmic variability in Swiss German dialects
2012
Speech rhythm can be measured acoustically in terms of durational characteristics of consonantal and vocalic intervals. The present paper investigated how acoustically measurable rhythm varies across dialects of Swiss German. Rhythmic measurements (% ...
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2017
The present study compares the acoustic realization of Saterland Frisian, Low German, and High German vowels by trilingual speakers in the Saterland. The Saterland is a rural municipality in northwestern Germany. It offers the unique opportunity to study trilingualism with languages that differ both by their vowel inventories and by external factors, such as their social status and the autonomy of their speech communities. The objective of the study was to examine whether the trilingual speakers differ in their acoustic realizations of vowel categories shared by the three languages and whether those differences can be interpreted as effects of either the differences in the vowel systems or of external factors. Monophthongs produced in a /hVt/ frame revealed that High German vowels show the most divergent realizations in terms of vowel duration and formant frequencies, whereas Saterland Frisian and Low German vowels show small differences. These findings suggest that vowels of different languages are likely to share the same phonological space when the speech communities largely overlap, as is the case with Saterland Frisian and Low German, but may resist convergence if at least one language is shared with a larger, monolingual speech community, as is the case with High German.
Rhythmic variability between speakers: Articulatory, prosodic, and linguistic factors
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2015
Between-speaker variability of acoustically measurable speech rhythm [%V, ΔV(ln), ΔC(ln), and Δpeak(ln)] was investigated when within-speaker variability of (a) articulation rate and (b) linguistic structural characteristics was introduced. To study (a), 12 speakers of Standard German read seven lexically identical sentences under five different intended tempo conditions (very slow, slow, normal, fast, very fast). To study (b), 16 speakers of Zurich Swiss German produced 16 spontaneous utterances each (256 in total) for which transcripts were made and then read by all speakers (4096 sentences; 16 speaker × 256 sentences). Between-speaker variability was tested using analysis of variance with repeated measures on within-speaker factors. Results revealed strong and consistent between-speaker variability while within-speaker variability as a function of articulation rate and linguistic characteristics was typically not significant. It was concluded that between-speaker variability of a...
Interplay of sociolinguistic factors in rhythmic variation in a minority French dialect
Speech Prosody 2016, 2016
A contact setting often limits speakers’ possibilities to practice the minority language in an array of contexts and thus affects its stylistic and sociolinguistic variation. This paper examines rhythmic variation in read and spontaneous speech samples from speakers of minority Ontario French (Canada). Rate, nPVI-V, VarcoV, %V and the CC model are used to examine the extent of sociolinguistic variation in the dataset and test the hypotheses of convergence to English and of sociolinguistic discontinuity. Age, gender and speaking style each appear to be significant factors, without showing interaction. Females and older speakers showed a more syllable-timed pattern than males and younger participants. In spontaneous speech, all speakers had a less syllable-timed rhythmicity, despite a faster rate. Overall, speakers did not converge to English.
2019
Since the turn of the millennium, the emergence of so-called (multi-)ethnolects has been observed in different cities of German-speaking Switzerland. This way of speaking differs significantly from traditional Swiss German dialects. However, a sociophonetic investigation of these varieties is lacking for the time being. The present study provides an acoustic analysis of plosive voicing in two groups of Zurich German speakers. Traditional Swiss German dialects are reported to show a contrast between two categories of homorganic plosives (fortis vs. lenis) which is based on closure duration, but not on voicing. We compared the proportion of voicing in lenis plosives of 20 speakers with a multicultural and of 10 speakers with a monocultural background. Our results support the view that multicultural speakers of Zurich German do indeed use voiced lenis plosives as a sociophonetic marker, whereas monocultural speakers adhere to the traditional fortis-lenis pattern.
Speech Rhythm Production In A Multilingual Setting
مجلة الأكاديمية للدراسات الاجتماعية والإنسانية
Algerian learners majoring in English as a foreign language have already been exposed to a second standard language, French, early in their learning curriculum, in addition to their mother tongue, dialectal Arabic. This multilingual profile of Algeria has been proved to affect different aspects of English acquisition mainly in the area of phonetics and phonology. However, studies dealing with the influence of the previously linguistic systems on the production of L3 speech rhythm are very scant. Therefore, the present study is conducted to classify the interlanguage rhythm and to find out whether it is conceived as a stress-timed vs. syllable-timed dichotomy or as a continuum. Audio recordings of 63 third year Algerian EFL students at Mentouri Brothers University, Constantine were segmented into vowels and consonants' sequences, and their derived rhythm metrics (%V and ∆C) were calculated using PRAAT, speech analysis software. The results of the two measured rhythm metrics yield that the informants' speech rhythm is rather 'intermediate' , merging a stress-timed ∆C and a syllable-timed %V. Accordingly, this study reveals that crosslinguistic interference in the area of phonology touches not only segments but also speech rhythm.
Quantification of Speech Rhythm in Norwegian as a Second Language
Working Papers in Linguistics, 2009
This paper looks into the question of how to quantify rhythm in Norwegian spoken as a second language by speakers from different language backgrounds. The speech material for this study was taken from existing recordings from the Language Encounters project and consisted of sentences read by natives arul speakers from six different Lis. Measurements of syllable durations arui speech rate were made. Seven different metrics were calculated and used in a discriminant analysis. For the five utterances investigated, statistical classification was to a large degree in congruence with LI group membership. The results therefore suggest that L2 productions differed rhythmically from Norwegian spoken as LI.
An investigation of speech rhythm in London English
Lingua
Recent work on London English has found innovation in inner city areas, most likely as the outcome of dialect contact. These innovations are shared by speakers of different ethnic backgrounds, and have been identified as features of Multicultural London English (MLE). This study examines whether syllable-timing is a feature of MLE, as work on rhythm shows that dialect and language contact may lead to varieties of English becoming more syllable-timed. Narratives as told by teenagers of different ethnic backgrounds and elderly speakers were segmented by forced phonemic alignment and measurements of vocalic normalized Pairwise Variability Index (nPVI), as an indicator of rhythmic patterns, were calculated. The results revealed that young speakers of non-Anglo background were significantly more syllable-timed than young Anglo speakers and the inner-London speakers were more syllable timed than the outer London speakers. Additionally, there was a correlation between articulation rate and nPVI for the non-Anglo speakers: speakers with a high vocalic articulation rate were more syllable-timed. Changes in the duration of particular diphthongs and schwa may have influenced the overall speech rhythm. The relatively low nPVI for all speaker groups may also indicate London's status as a center of linguistic innovation due to long-standing migration.
Rhythm and Vowel Quality in Accents of English
Research in Language, 2010
This paper will examine rhythmic differences among native and non-native accents of English, and report on a pilot experiment investigating a hypothesized interaction between rhythm and vowel quality. A new metric, % SteadyState, an acoustic measure that quantifies the purity of vowels, appears to capture rhythmic differences that have been reported among various native and non-native accents of English. In the tradition of other recently developed rhythm metrics, these findings suggest a link between rhythm and segmental phonology. Additionally, the perspective gained from this study may be beneficial to learners whose goal is native-like vowel quality, offering an understanding of the dynamic properties of English vowels.