|
|
Relationship between the strength of Czech accent and the duration of vowels before obstruents
Fejlová, Dita ; Skarnitzl, Radek (advisor) ; Tichý, Ondřej (referee)
This bachelor thesis aims to inspect the presence or absence of a feature called pre- fortis shortening in English spoken by Czechs. The term denotes the shortening of a vowel preceding a voiceless obstruent. This feature is known to appear in various languages like Russian, French, Italian; indeed, Matthew Chen even suggests it is language-universal. In English the feature is very prominent and because it affects speech perception, it is even considered a primary indicator of the voicing of the following obstruent. A study included in this thesis examines the extent to which 12 female speakers of Czech English, sorted into 3 categories according to their proficiency in pronunciation, mark the distinction between words like "bet" and "bed" by vowel shortening. The study does not exploit minimal pairs like these, but vowel-obstruent sequences taken from long read passages of BBC news. The the fortis/lenis character of the final obstruent contained in these sequences is a discerning parameter which always separates the data into two groups, the vowel durations of which are then compared. Statistical analysis of the data showed that contrary to the expectations, speakers with native-like pronunciation were not the ones who displayed the most massive usage of pre-fortis shortening. Possible reasons for...
|
|
|
Phone durations in multi-syllable words with Czech analogues in Czech English
Růžek, Jan ; Volín, Jan (advisor) ; Skarnitzl, Radek (referee)
This diploma thesis examines the foreign accent of Czech speakers in English. We focus on the factor of phone duration, which relates to both segmental and prosodic levels of phonetic description and is one of the correlates of prosodic prominence and speech rhythm. 84 words were selected from the texts avaible in the Prague Phonetic Corpus that have analogues in the loanword lexicon of Czech. Pronunciations of these words by native speakers (professional radio reporters) were compared with productions by Czech university students. The students were recorded prior to atteding a course in English phonetics. Based on our observations of durational patterns, we infer some plausible tendencies to be expected in Czech production of English. As durational interference from Czech into English has up to this date been a relatively unresearch domain, the present study adopts a qualitative research methodology. Keywords: Duration, Foreign Accent, Czech English, Interference 6
|
|
|
Swedish vowels from a Czech speaker's perspective
Janíčková, Anna ; Štajnerová, Petra (advisor) ; Skarnitzl, Radek (referee)
This graduation thesis deals with Swedish vowels from the perspective of the Czech language. The main aim is to describe the Swedish vowel system with regards to speakers of Swedish whose native language is Czech. Introduction to the segmental systems of both languages, as well as comparison of the acoustic and articulatory vowel characteristics, build a theoretical background for the empirical section, which consists of our own research. It verifies hypotheses based on differences between the Czech and the Swedish vowel systems, and analysis of variance compares frequency data of the Swedish vowels spoken by native Czechs to those spoken by native Swedes. The results create a basis for general recommendations concerning vowel pronunciation in Swedish as a second language.
|
|
|
Spanish vowels in Czech students' interlanguage
Černikovská, Štěpánka ; Čermák, Petr (advisor) ; Zajícová, Lenka (referee) ; Skarnitzl, Radek (referee)
(English) The dissertation explores the vowel system of Czech L3 Spanish, focusing on three facets of its architecture: vowel quality (following SLM by Flege 1995, 1999, 2003), vowel quantity and vocalic sequences between words. Preliminary studies (Čechová 2013, 2014) suggest that there might be some evidence for the Mechanism of Equivalence in Czech L3 Spanish, since the vowel spaces of both languages consist of the same categories, with different phonetic realizations. Hence, the more similar the sounds are, the harder it is to capture the relevant difference, necessary to attain native-like pronunciation. Vowel quantity, being traditionally associated with the phonological feature of length in Czech (Palková 1994), is not present in Spanish, and compensating for that property, some Czech speakers tend to pronounce accented syllables with extraordinarily longer durations. Finally, vowel sequences in Spanish are usually subjetct to resyllabification, whereas Czech prefers glottalization to keep morphemes of words separated. These predictions were tested in 22 university Czech students with advanced level of Spanish (C1-C1). Subsequent analysis revealed consistent inclination towards L1 in terms of vowel quality, in less extent in vowel quantity, and although the prevalecent strategy for majority...
|
|
|
Parametric synthesis and perceptual verification of Czech trills
Koppová, Martina ; Skarnitzl, Radek (advisor) ; Machač, Pavel (referee)
There is a parametric description of American English sounds suitable for parametric synthesis using high-level parametres in the HLSyn system, upon which the Stevens and Bickley system was created as the type of synthesis based on Denis Klatt's formant synthesis and combining the aspects of formant and articulatory synthesis. The aim of this work was to create a parametric description of Czech vibrants, i. e. /r/ and /ř/, synthesize these sounds and examine whether they are considered natural or not in a perception test. The perception test has shown that it is possible to synthesize the simple vibrant /r/ without any problems; the synthesis was based on modification of sounded alveolar explosive parametres and the modification was perceived as natural. However, the fricative vibrant /ř/ proved to be too complicated to be synthesized and even though we tried to follow its development according to real data it was still perceived as unnatural.
|
|
|
Acoustic properties of word stress in read Czech English
Liska, Jan ; Volín, Jan (advisor) ; Skarnitzl, Radek (referee)
key words: Czech English, foreign accent, word stress, word accent, stressed syllable, duration, f0, acoustic cues. This study investigates the acoustic properties of word stress in Czech English. The notion of foreign accent is introduced and its drawbacks are presented. Further on the various influences on the perceived degree, or strength, of foreign accent are discussed. Faulty realization of word stress is identified as one of the factors that contribute to unintelligibility of non-native speech (Benrabah, 1997; Hahn, 2004; Cutler, 1984). In Chapter 2 we compare the results of studies that used speakers of a variety of languages and form a basic theory on the acquisition of acoustic cues to word stress. We are mostly interested in f0 and duration. This theory, based on the feature hypothesis (McAllister et al., 2002 in Lee, Guion & Harada, 2006), states that languages that have a similar stress system to that of English (Dutch, Arabic) use their native cues to signal word stress, while non-contrastive languages (Vietnamese, Czech) prefer cue/s that are phonologically active on segmental level in their native language. Speakers of Vietnamese, a tone language, were found to prefer f0 over duration (Nguyen, 2003), so for Czech, a language that uses phonological vowel duration, it is expected that...
|
|
|
Sociophonetic study of substitutional glottalization in native English speakers
Klánová, Aneta ; Skarnitzl, Radek (advisor) ; Tichý, Ondřej (referee)
The glottal stop, previously labelled as a heavily stigmatized feature of British English pronunciation, has become widely spread across all social classes and the majority of British dialects. Young females are believed to be instrumental in leading the spread and causing the social re-evaluation of the feature. The aim of the present study is to analyze the occurrence of T-glottaling in the speech of British English speakers in relation to sociolinguistic factors, primarily age, gender and speaking style. The theoretical part provides a description of the linguistic and social aspects of T-glottaling. Particular attention is paid to the role of social factors in the process of language change. In addition, a brief overview of previous research is presented. The material for the empirical part of this study consists of 32 recordings of British English speakers. The analysis of the results reveals that gender, age and speaking style play a significant role in the frequency of occurrence of the glottal stop. Young females are shown to be the leaders of the spread of T-glottaling, which leads to the assumption that the language change is still in progress.
|
|
|
Therapeutical procedures based on acoustic and communicative material
Bečvářová, Jana ; Volín, Jan (advisor) ; Skarnitzl, Radek (referee)
The aim of this thesis was to explain therapeutic possibilities of sound in all its connections. Sound is described in relation to several disciplines. Initially, sound is presented as an acoustic and psychoacoustic phenomenon, followed by characterization of physiology of auditory system and findings from psychology of music. The focus of the thesis is anchored in the chapter dedicated to healing and corrective effects of sound - the music therapy. After short history context is presented, the characteristics and analysis of contemporary situation are discussed. Several types of sound - noise, music and sound of speech - are studied in their positive as well as negative influence on psychic and physical health of human. Current research is represented by selection of relevant papers (n=9) which are assessed by the criterion of credibility and rigidness of methodology. This aspect is also perceived as an essential one for the future research in the area of sound effect on human psychic and physical health.
|
|
|
Comparison of some spectral and temporal characteristics of German fricatives [x] and [ç] and Czech fricative [x] and their reflection in perception
Sedláčková, Petra ; Machač, Pavel (advisor) ; Skarnitzl, Radek (referee)
The aim of this diploma thesis is to analyze some of the acoustic characteristics of German fricatives [x] and [ ] and Czech fricative [x]. These sounds will be described and compared partly on the basis of spectral qualities of their noise, expressed by the so-called spectral moments (see chap. 3), and partly on the basis of their temporal characteristics. We assume to find a co-articulatory influence of the preceding vowel on the spectral characteristics of a fricative. We further assume that potential differences in values of the spectral moments, which can be, to a certain extent, considered an acoustic correlation of the place of articulation, can demonstrate a slightly different place of articulation of Czech and German velar fricatives. Using a perception test, we will attempt to explore a possible relation of German "Ich-laut" in the speech of German students of Czech to spectral mean values. The spectral moment measurements along with the perception test results may be found useful in teaching German as a second language for improving one's pronunciation. In practise, it can lead to an improvement in accepting a foreign speaker as an efficient user of the language.
|
|
|
The tempo of speech in theatrical Czech during two periods separated by several decades
Bartošová, Petra ; Palková, Zdenka (advisor) ; Skarnitzl, Radek (referee)
The diploma thesis deals with the issue of speech rate. The theoretical part briefly describes the investigation of speech tempo. It defines the types of tempo examined in this study (articulation rate and modified speaking rate) and factors that influence the tempo of speech. The practical part of the thesis aims to ascertain whether speech rate on the stage has increased and whether it is influenced by the type of text (monologue, dialogue, monological dialogue). The material consists of four theatre productions (Lakomec from 1972 and 2004 and Naši furianti from 1979 and 2006). Therefore we do not investigate gradual changes within the given periods, but instead compare two pairs of productions of the same dramatic text, realized with a time interval of approximately 30 years. A linear mixed-effects model was used as the main method for statistical evaluation of results gathered by measuring the speech rate. The results show that neither articulation rate nor modified speaking rate changed significantly in the observed productions. Differences with some statistical significance were obtained for comparison of tempo in texts of differing type, specifically in texts of different line lengths. The results relate especially to articulation rate, lesser to modified speaking rate.
|
guest ::
