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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...
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Role of Schwa in Word Stress Perception
Juránková, Martina ; Červinková Poesová, Kristýna (advisor) ; Bojarová, Marie (referee)
The aim of this bachelor thesis is to assess the role of schwa as the main representative of vowel reduction in the perception of English word stress. The research tool will be a perception test consisting of three groups of three to five syllable words. The individual categories will be differentiated from each other by the position of the sound schwa placed either before or after the syllable carrying the primary stress or it will not occur near the stressed syllable at all. Three groups of participants (Czech primary-school, secondary-school and university students) will be asked to mark the main stress in selected items. We hypothesize that the identification of stressed parts will be facilitated by the presence of schwa in the immediate vicinity of stressed syllables.
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The duration of stressed and unstressed vowels in Spanish
Berkovcová, Zuzana ; Skarnitzl, Radek (advisor) ; Šturm, Pavel (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to examine the issue of acoustic correlates of word stress in Spanish. The literature reviewed shows conflicting opinions among scholars engaged in this subject. Most of them traditionally consider intensity or fundamental frequency changes as determining features of prominent vowels, whereas duration is regarded as playing a minor role. The core of this thesis is to be found in the research that deals with the way duration behaves with both Spanish stressed and unstressed vowels analyzed in three different speech styles. Recordings of four Castilian Spanish native speakers were made, featuring two-syllable and three-syllable words which were analyzed with various positions of stressed vowels. On the whole, the results showed trends of major duration of stressed vowels in comparison with unstressed ones only in three-syllable words. No significant differences were observed in two-syllable words. No direct link between duration of stressed and unstressed vowels and each specific speech style could be established either, due to unequal values measured in two-syllable and three-syllable words. Key words: word stress, acoustic correlates, duration, speech styles, Spanish
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Syllable nucleus duration as a signal of foreign accent by L2 Russian speakers of Czech
Pinchuk, Oleksandr ; Zíková, Magdalena (advisor) ; Confortiová, Helena (referee)
The bachelor thesis 'Syllable nucleus duration as a signal of foreign accent by L2 Rus- sian speakers of Czech' focuses on realization of word accent in the Czech speeches of Russian native speakers. Through comparison of the duration values of syllable nuclei in selected words among Czech and Russian speakers, we tried to find a possible link between the vowel duration and perception of the Russian realization of accent as a marked one. This thesis consists of a theoretical and a practical part. In the theoretical part, which has been worked out on the basis of the professional literature studied, we deal with factors affecting the syllable accent and function of vowel duration in Russian and Czech. The practical part is de- voted to analysis of audio recordings, which comprises selection of words for instrumental analysis, manual segmentation of phones in selected words and processing of data on vowel duration. Based on the results obtained, we further compared the duration of vowels among Czech vs. Russian speakers, depending on position of the vowel in a word, phonological length of the vowels and the syllable accent. The realization of selected words among Russian speakers was confronted with the results of a perceptual test. Analysis of the audio recordings showed that the syllable nucleus...
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The duration of stressed and unstressed vowels in English speakers of Spanish
Kubánková, Eliška ; Skarnitzl, Radek (advisor) ; Šaldová, Pavlína (referee)
The thesis discusses the topic of word stress in Spanish and its acoustic correlates. The fact that studies in the last decades have shown conflicting opinions regarding the subject demonstrates the complexity of the phenomenon. Stress is not only language-specific, but also bound to context. When acquiring a second language, speakers have the tendency to transmit the phonetic and phonological system of their mother tongue to the target language. The aim of the thesis is to examine the acoustic correlate of duration in the Spanish of English speakers, considering the impact of language transfer. Twelve English speakers were recorded speaking Spanish. The duration of vowels in both stressed and unstressed syllables was measured in disyllabic, trisyllabic and quadrisyllabic words with different positions of the stressed syllable. The results indicated variation across stress schemes. Overall, a longer duration of the vowel in stressed syllable was found in disyllabic and trisyllabic oxytone words, and in quadrisyllabic paroxytone words. In trisyllabic paroxytone and proparoxytone words, the relative difference of vowel durations between stressed and unstressed syllables was less significant, likely due to the tendency of final syllable lengthening, which was recorded in all word types. No significant...
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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...
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