Syllable production within and across languages

描述（由申请人提供）：音节是口语从生到死的基本单位，但它在当前语言产生或口语理论中的地位相当有问题。关于音节是否在单词记忆中表现出来这一基本问题，目前还没有达成共识。此外，音节所扮演的角色在世界各地的语言中似乎差别很大。这个项目的目的是在我们对语言产生的理解的核心方面提供一个多管齐下的攻击。该方法包括在台湾、西班牙和美国的地点进行协调实验，为英语、西班牙语和普通话提供可比较的证据，并对音节的学习和使用进行计算机建模。尽管不同语言的音节谜题答案不太可能是统一的，但这个项目试图找出超越每种语言特定故事的一般原则。音节在语言产生理论中的地位是至关重要的，因为音节在使言语成为可能的过程中起着核心作用。误解音节的理论、计算模型和治疗干预在非常真实的意义上是“无法说话”。该项目将阐明包含音节角色变化的单词生成语言通用模型的前景，并将为世界上三种主要语言指定语言特定过程模型。后一种建议将为语音生成的计算模型、语音合成软件和治疗干预（包括失语症康复和语言治疗）提供所需的那种特异性。与公共卫生的相关性：音节是一种熟悉的语言单位，但它在说话的动态过程中的作用尚未得到很好的理解。深入了解语言库的这一方面对于理解发展性和获得性语言障碍及其最有效的治疗至关重要。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The syllable is a prime unit of spoken language from cradle to grave, but its status in the current theory of language production or speaking is quite problematic. There is no consensus on the fundamental question of whether syllables are represented in word memory. In addition, the role played by syllables appears to vary widely across the world's languages. The aim of this project is to provide a multi-pronged attack on this significant weakness in a core aspect of our understanding of language production. The approach includes coordinated experimentation at sites in Taiwan, Spain, and the United States to provide comparable evidence for English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese, and computer modelling of the learning and use of syllables. Although the answer to the syllable puzzle is unlikely to be uniform across languages, this project seeks to identify general principles that transcend the particular story for each language. Addressing the status of the syllable in language production theory is critical because of the syllable's central role in making speech possible. Theories, computational models, and therapeutic interventions that misconstrue the syllable are in a very real sense "unable to speak". The project will clarify the prospect for a language general model of word production that encompasses variation in the roles syllables play, and will also specify language specific process models for three of the world's major languages. The latter proposals will provide the kind of specificity needed in computational models of speech production, in speech synthesis software, and in therapeutic interventions including aphasia rehabilitation and speech therapy. Relevance to Public Health: The syllable is a familiar unit of language but its role in the dynamic process of speaking is not well understood. A deeper knowledge of this aspect of the language repertoire is crucial to understanding both developmental and acquired language disorders and to their most effective treatment.