EAPSI:Analyzing the Interaction of Written-Language Complexity and Speech Duration to Understand the Effects of Literacy on Spoken Language

此前的研究发现，英语中一个声音的拼写方式与该声音的持续时间之间存在联系。对于tic、Click和CLIQUE，最后的/k/声音在CLICK中比TIC长，在CLIQUE中也更长。儿童是从成年人的语言中自然获得这些模式，还是通过识字的过程发展起来的，这一点还有待确定。这个问题很难用英语来测试：那些听起来相似但只在特定发音的拼写上不同的单词对未识字的儿童来说并不广为人知。然而，这种影响可能会受到相对于一种语言书写系统的书面语言复杂性的影响，而不仅仅是受到字母的影响。因此，这种效应可能出现在没有字母表的语言中。日语有一种基于字符的书写系统。它也有更多的单词，这些单词的发音相似，但书写方式不同，复杂程度各不相同。PI将与日本神户市外国语大学的蒙特塞拉特·桑兹博士合作，收集说日语的人的语音数据，以确定与书面语言复杂性有关的时长差异是否也存在于英语以外的语言中。如果是这样的话，可以比较未识字的日本儿童和识字的成年人的言语模式，以确定这种效果是否受到识字的影响。这项研究可能会导致低成本、非侵入性的技术的发展，这些技术利用语音数据来检测儿童的阅读或发育障碍。研究发现，英语中正字法和语音时长之间存在相关性：词尾辅音的时长是其正字法表示中使用的字母数量的函数。这一效应在英语之外还没有被研究过，但可能会受到相对于一种语言的拼写的拼写复杂性的影响，而不仅仅是语音上突出的字母。如果是这样的话，在非字母的拼写语言中也应该出现类似的效果。PI将从说日语的人那里收集语音数据，并分析语音时长作为汉字拼写复杂性的函数。如果日语表现出类似的持续时间模式，来自不同识字阶段(包括识字前)的日本儿童和识字成年人的语音数据将被比较，以确定这些持续影响是自然获得的，还是通过识字发展而来的。这项研究可以通过分析儿童的言语来测试他们的阅读和发育障碍的技术这个奖项由东亚和太平洋暑期学院项目资助一名美国研究生的暑期研究，由NSF和日本科学促进会共同资助。

Previous research has found a link in English between how a sound is spelled and the duration of that sound. For tic, click, and clique, the final /k/ sound is longer in click versus tic, and longer still in clique. It has yet to be determined if children acquire these patterns naturally from adults' speech or if this develops through the process of becoming literate. This question is difficult to test in English: words that sound similar but vary only in the spelling of specific sounds are not widely known to preliterate children. However, this effect may be influenced by written-language complexity relative to a language's writing system rather than just by alphabetic letters. Thus, this effect could be present in languages without alphabets. Japanese has a character-based writing system. It also has a larger number of words that have similar pronunciations known to preliterate children but are written differently with varying levels of complexity. Working with Dr. Montserrat Sanz of Kobe City University of Foreign Studies in Japan, the PI will collect speech data from Japanese speakers to determine if durational differences linked to written-language complexity are also present in languages other than English. If this is the case, speech patterns from preliterate Japanese children and literate adults can be compared to determine if this effect is influenced by literacy. This research can lead to the development of low-cost, non-invasive technologies that use speech data to detect reading or developmental disorders in children.Research has found a correlation between orthography and speech duration in English: the duration of a word-final consonant is a function of the number of letters used in its orthographic representation. This effect has not been studied outside of English but may be influenced by orthographic complexity relative to a language's orthography rather than just phonologically-salient letters. If this is the case, a similar effect should be present in languages with orthographies other than alphabets. The PI will collect speech data from Japanese speakers and analyze speech duration as a function of orthographic complexity of kanji. If Japanese exhibits similar durational patterns, speech data from Japanese children of various stages of literacy (including preliterate) and literate adults will be compared to determine whether these durational effects are acquired naturally or develop through literacy. This research can lead to techniques to test for reading and developmental disorders in children through analyses of their speechThis award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.