Kinematic patterns of phonetic convergence

描述（由申请人提供）：人类语音通常是说话者之间的自发交互，但是用于观察对形成语言的声音至关重要的潜在语音运动的现有技术大多限于对单个说话者的高度受控的研究。在这个提议中，我们开创了一种新的方法，首次支持两个面对面的谈话者同时直接观察语音清晰度，并将其应用于 研究他们在交谈中相互作用时发生的相互适应。从以前的工作中可以知道，当说话者彼此匡威时，他们通常会调整他们的说话模式。当这种调整是在增加相似性的方向上时，这种效果被称为说话人对齐或语音收敛。到目前为止，这种现象主要是通过分析对话录音（包括听众的主观评级）来研究的，但作为这种音频基础的语音发音器官的熟练动作还没有得到研究。这种新的方法，利用两个同步的电磁发音计（EMA）系统，将首次提供直接观察语音收敛的运动学方面。由于这种趋同是促进交流和建立说话者之间的社会距离的基本手段，因此对其操作的基线知识对于在其未能按预期操作时提出补救措施非常重要，例如持续的外国口音。作为一个实际应用，该建议将比较运动学收敛的程度之间观察到的英语母语者对，发现一个本地和一个非母语的混合对之间。这将导致外国口音的发音方面的理解，并建议改进语音补救和第二语言教学的方法的可能性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Human speech is typically a spontaneous interaction between talkers, but existing techniques for observing the underlying speech movements crucial for shaping the sounds of language are mostly limited to highly controlled studies of single speakers. In this proposal we pioneer a new approach that for the first time supports simultaneous direct observation of speech articulation by two face-to-face talkers, and apply it to studying the mutual adaptation that occurs between them as they interact in conversation. It is known from previous work that when speakers converse with one another, they typically make adjustments in their patterns of speech. When such adjustments are in the direction of increased similarity, the effect is known as speaker alignment or phonetic convergence. Until now this phenomenon has been studied primarily through the analysis of conversational audio recordings (including subjective ratings by listeners), but the skilled movements of the speech articulators that underlie such audio have not been accessible. This new approach, exploiting two synchronized electromagnetic articulometer (EMA) systems, will for the first time provide direct observation of the kinematic aspects of phonetic convergence. Because such convergence is a fundamental means of facilitating communication and establishing social distance between speakers, baseline knowledge of its operation is important for suggesting remedies when it fails to operate as expected, as for example with persistent foreign accent. As a practical application this proposal will compare the extent of kinematic convergence observed between pairs of native English speakers, to that found between mixed pairs with one native and one non-native speaker. This will lead to improved understanding of the articulatory aspects of foreign accent, and suggest possibilities for improving methods of speech remediation and second language instruction.