EAPSI:Analyzing the Interaction of Written-Language Complexity and Speech Duration to Understand the Effects of Literacy on Spoken Language

先前的研究发现，英语中一个声音的拼写方式与该声音的持续时间之间存在联系。对于tic、click和clique，最后的/k/音在click中比tic长，在clique中更长。儿童是从成人的语言中自然习得这些模式，还是通过识字的过程发展而来，这一点还有待确定。这个问题在英语中很难测试：发音相似但仅在特定发音上不同的单词在识字前的儿童中并不广为人知。然而，这种影响可能是由书面语言的复杂性相对于一种语言的书写系统，而不仅仅是由字母。因此，这种影响可能存在于没有字母的语言中。日语有一个基于字符的书写系统。它也有大量的单词，这些单词的发音与识字前的儿童相似，但书写方式不同，复杂程度不同。PI将与日本科比城市外国语大学的Montserrat Sanz博士合作，收集日语使用者的语音数据，以确定与书面语言复杂性相关的持续时间差异是否也存在于英语以外的语言中。如果是这样的话，可以比较识字前的日本儿童和识字的成年人的言语模式，以确定这种效果是否受到识字的影响。这项研究可能会导致低成本，非侵入性技术的发展，使用语音数据来检测儿童的阅读或发育障碍。研究发现，正字法和英语中的语音持续时间之间的相关性：单词结尾辅音的持续时间是其正字法表示中使用的字母数量的函数。这种效应在英语之外还没有被研究过，但可能是受到相对于语言正字法的正字法复杂性的影响，而不仅仅是语音突出的字母。如果是这样的话，类似的效果应该存在于字母以外的其他语言中。PI将收集日语使用者的语音数据，并分析语音持续时间作为汉字拼写复杂性的函数。如果日本表现出类似的持续时间模式，从日本的识字（包括识字前）的各个阶段的儿童和识字的成年人的语音数据进行比较，以确定这些持续时间的影响是自然获得或通过识字发展。这项研究可以通过分析儿童的语言来测试儿童的阅读和发育障碍。这个奖项属于东亚和太平洋夏季研究所计划，支持美国研究生的夏季研究，由NSF和日本科学促进会共同资助。

Previous research has found a link in English between how a sound is spelled and the duration of that sound. For tic, click, and clique, the final /k/ sound is longer in click versus tic, and longer still in clique. It has yet to be determined if children acquire these patterns naturally from adults' speech or if this develops through the process of becoming literate. This question is difficult to test in English: words that sound similar but vary only in the spelling of specific sounds are not widely known to preliterate children. However, this effect may be influenced by written-language complexity relative to a language's writing system rather than just by alphabetic letters. Thus, this effect could be present in languages without alphabets. Japanese has a character-based writing system. It also has a larger number of words that have similar pronunciations known to preliterate children but are written differently with varying levels of complexity. Working with Dr. Montserrat Sanz of Kobe City University of Foreign Studies in Japan, the PI will collect speech data from Japanese speakers to determine if durational differences linked to written-language complexity are also present in languages other than English. If this is the case, speech patterns from preliterate Japanese children and literate adults can be compared to determine if this effect is influenced by literacy. This research can lead to the development of low-cost, non-invasive technologies that use speech data to detect reading or developmental disorders in children.Research has found a correlation between orthography and speech duration in English: the duration of a word-final consonant is a function of the number of letters used in its orthographic representation. This effect has not been studied outside of English but may be influenced by orthographic complexity relative to a language's orthography rather than just phonologically-salient letters. If this is the case, a similar effect should be present in languages with orthographies other than alphabets. The PI will collect speech data from Japanese speakers and analyze speech duration as a function of orthographic complexity of kanji. If Japanese exhibits similar durational patterns, speech data from Japanese children of various stages of literacy (including preliterate) and literate adults will be compared to determine whether these durational effects are acquired naturally or develop through literacy. This research can lead to techniques to test for reading and developmental disorders in children through analyses of their speechThis award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.