Doctoral Dissertation Research: The role of tongue position in voicing contrasts in cross-linguistic contexts

在美国，有许多因素导致说多种语言的人接触。许多美国人以双语或多种语言为母语，还有许多人把各种语言作为第二语言来学习。此外，来自其他国家的不同语言的人来到美国后也会学习英语。学习和使用多种语言的一个重要组成部分是建立适合每种语言的声音类别。许多语言使用相似的发音，但它们的实际发音方式因语言而异。这项研究将有助于我们理解不同语言的说话者如何通过动态舌头运动来促进其语言的声音对比。通过了解不同语言之间舌头动力学的差异，第二语言学习者、教师和语言治疗师可以更详细地了解母语和目标语之间的语音差异，即使两者在语音上看起来相似。本研究重点研究不同语言之间相似的声音是如何发音不同的。例如，在英语中，单词‘Dog’开头的辅音(‘d’)与葡萄牙语中的‘d’相似(例如‘dados’)，但仔细研究这两种语言时，会发现‘d’的发音不同。葡萄牙语的‘d’是发音的，这意味着当舌头在嘴里收缩时，声带在振动，而英语的‘d’在舌头收缩时通常不发声。虽然声带的振动可以通过声学分析来推断，但这项研究目前的问题是，为了产生声学差异，可以使用什么发音调整来区分不同语言之间相似声音的产生。可以使用超声波成像来观察口腔中的关节，揭示舌头如何移动来调整口腔的形状。例如，我们可以看到英语‘d’和葡萄牙语‘d’的舌头位置是如何不同的，这可能有助于我们理解在这个动态系统中发音是如何实现的。这项研究首先关注不同语言中浊音目标(如英语或葡萄牙语中的‘d’)在听觉和发音方面的比较；其次，通过比较英语、德语、(巴西)葡萄牙语、韩语、印地语和泰语这六种不同的语言，研究舌位如何反映不同的发音对比系统。用来解决这一问题的发音、声学和理论方法可以扩展到本研究涵盖的六种语言之外。不同语言的综合结果可以应用于第二语言学习，对不同语言之间的辅音发音进行更详细的描述。

There are many factors that cause speakers of multiple languages to be in contact in the United States. Many Americans are natively bilingual or multilingual speakers and many others study various languages as a second language. Also, speakers of different languages from other countries learn English when they come to the US. An important component of learning and using multiple languages is establishing the sound categories that are appropriate to each of the languages. Many languages use similar sounds, but how they are actually pronounced varies from language to language. This research will contribute to our understanding of how speakers of different languages facilitate their language's sound contrasts through dynamic tongue movement. By understanding the difference in tongue dynamics across languages, second language learners, instructors, and speech therapists can have a more detailed understanding of the phonetic differences between one's native language and target language, even when the two seem phonologically similar.This research focuses on how similar sounds across languages are articulated differently. For example, the consonant at the beginning of the word 'dog' in English ('d'), is similar to 'd' in Portuguese (e.g. 'dados'), but differences in the production of 'd' emerge when the two languages are examined closely. Portuguese 'd' is phonated, which means the vocal folds are vibrating while the tongue is constricted in the mouth to produce this sound, whereas English 'd' is often not phonated during tongue constriction. While the vibration of the vocal folds can be inferred through acoustic analysis, this current research asks what articulatory adjustments may be used in order to produce the acoustic differences that distinguish the production of similar sounds across languages. Articulations in the mouth can be observed using ultrasound imaging, revealing how the tongue moves to adjust the shape of the mouth. For example, we can see how the tongue position of English 'd' is different from that of Portuguese 'd', which may help us understand how phonation is achieved within this dynamic system. This study first focuses on how the phonetic target of voiced stops (such as the 'd' of English or Portuguese) in different languages compares acoustically and articulatorily, and second, how tongue position reflects different systems of voicing contrast by comparing six different languages: English, German, (Brazilian) Portuguese, Korean, Hindi, and Thai. The articulatory, acoustic and theoretical methods used to address this issue can be extended beyond the six languages covered in this study. The collective results in different languages can be applied to second language learning, with a more detailed account of consonant articulation across languages.