Acoustic and perceptual correlates of emphasis in Arabic

尽管阿拉伯语作为世界主要语言之一很重要，但它并没有成为很多语音研究的主题。该项目旨在通过关注阿拉伯语的一个独特特征——强调，对阿拉伯语的描述和分析做出贡献。重音是闪族语言（如阿拉伯语和希伯来语）的一个显著特征，它指的是一组辅音，在声道后部有二次收缩，在牙齿/牙槽区有一次收缩。重音的特点不仅限于重音辅音本身，还可以扩展到相邻的音段。在语言学项目和国际科学与工程办公室的支持下，Allard Jongman博士将对重点进行详细的声学和感知调查。声学分析将包括各种辅音和元音的测量。然后，感知实验将评估重读辅音和相邻元音对强调感知的相对贡献。这项研究将记录并加强对阿拉伯语发音结构的理解。这个项目将检查由不同的说话者产生的大量刺激物，从而可以评估性别和方言的差异。此外，传播的对称或不对称性质，随着与重音距离的增加而减少的程度，以及潜在阻塞段的特征将对音韵学理论产生重大影响。这项研究将使语言学家能够测试关于阿拉伯语发音结构的许多方面的假设，除了强调之外，该项目的整套录音可以通过网络数据库获得。阿拉伯语教师也可以利用这些数据编制教材，提供有关阿拉伯语独特方面的详细信息。这个项目更广泛的影响包括本科生和研究生参与语言学研究的机会。这项研究也将成为与约旦几所大学合作的开始。因此，这个项目将促进国际合作，希望这种合作最终发展成为一种伙伴关系，师生之间的交流，并最终促进更好的文化理解。

Despite its importance as one of the world's major languages, Arabic has not been the topic of much phonetic research. This project aims to contribute to the description and analysis of Arabic by focusing on one of its unique features - emphasis. Emphasis is a distinctive feature of Semitic languages such as Arabic and Hebrew that refers to a group of consonants produced with a secondary constriction in the posterior vocal tract and a primary constriction typically in the dental/alveolar region. The characteristics of emphasis are not confined to emphatic consonants themselves but can spread to adjacent segments as well. With support from the Linguistics Program and the Office of International Science & Engineering, Dr. Allard Jongman will conduct a detailed acoustic and perceptual investigation of emphasis. Acoustic analysis will include a variety of measurements of both consonants and vowels. Perception experiments will then evaluate the relative contribution of the emphatic consonant and adjacent vowels to the perception of emphasis. This research will document and enhance an understanding of the sound structure of Arabic. This project will examine a sizeable number of stimuli produced by a number of different speakers, thereby allowing for an assessment of differences in gender and dialect. In addition, the symmetrical or asymmetrical nature of the spread, the extent to which it diminishes as the distance from the emphatic increases, and the characteristics of potential blocking segments will have significant implications for phonological theory. This research will enable linguists to test hypotheses on many aspects of the sound structure of Arabic in addition to emphasis, with the complete set of audio recordings from the project available through a web-based database. These data can also be used by Arabic language teachers to develop teaching materials that provide detailed information about unique aspects of the Arabic language. The broader impact of this project includes opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to participate in linguistic research. This research will also be the start of a collaboration with several universities in Jordan. As such, this project will foster international cooperation, with the hope that this collaboration will eventually develop into a partnership, an exchange between faculty and students, and ultimately contribute to better cultural understanding.