Collaborative Research: Prosodic Analysis and Visualization of Phonetic Samples for Improved Understanding of Stress and Intonation

节奏和语调是发音的重要组成部分。虽然不同语言在节奏和语调模式上有一些基本的相似之处，但也有一些有趣的差异。其中一些差异与语言中单词的结构方式有关，例如，单词是简短的还是由许多子部分组成。这个项目调查和记录了未被记录在案的语言的节奏和语调，或韵律系统，以更好地理解人类如何调节音调运动(即语调)和音段持续时间(即元音和辅音的长度)。该项目使用存档的和新的录音来实现音调和时长的声学测量和可视化，创建了一个可以挖掘的数据库，用于研究韵律与其他领域的相互作用，如音节、单词、音步、韵律词、韵律短语和语调单位。该项目包括对Aaniiih Nakoda学院的研究生和本科生的培训。调查人员挖掘本族语者产生的单词、短语和连接语音的存档录音或新录音，以改进和理解用于分析的形态复杂语言的韵律系统。他们通过团队为此目的开发的软件来陈述他们的发现。这个项目的一个主要产品是一个数据库，其中包含不同韵律领域的语音分析，例如音节或单词。这些材料将通过在线网络服务提供，对于致力于分析和表现具有显著音高和时长调整的其他语言的研究人员将很有用。该软件包括自我发音检查功能，允许用户在复制母语人士的音调和持续时间值时收听、重复和检查准确性。这一功能将被用来了解这种公开的输入对第二语言发音习得的影响程度。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Rhythm and intonation are important part of pronunciation. While there are some basic similarities in rhythm and intonation patterns across languages, there are also interesting differences. Some of these differences are linked to the way words are structured in languages, for example, are the words short or are they composed of many sub-parts. This project investigates and documents the rhythm and intonation, or prosodic system, of under-documented languages to better understand how humans modulate pitch movement (i.e. intonation) and segmental duration (i.e. the length of vowels and consonants). The project uses archived and new recordings to arrive at acoustic measurements and visualizations of pitch and duration, creating a database that can be mined for the study of the interplay of prosody and other domains such as the syllable, word, foot, prosodic word, prosodic phrase, and intonation unit. The project includes training for graduate students and undergraduate students from Aaniiih Nakoda College.The investigators mine archived recordings or new recordings of words, phrases and connected speech produced by native speakers to improve and understand the prosodic system of the morphologically complex languages for analysis. They represent their findings through the software in development by the team for this purpose. A major product of this project is a database with phonetic analyses across different prosodic domains, e.g, the syllable or word. These materials will be made available through an online webservice and will be useful for researchers working to analyze and represent other languages with significant modulations of pitch and duration. The software includes a self-pronunciation check feature allowing the user to listen, repeat, and check accuracy in reproducing the pitch and duration values of native speakers. This feature will be used to understand how well such overt input impacts second language pronunciation acquisition.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.