Acoustic-phonetic variability in infant- and adult-directed speech in young parents

这个计划中的项目调查了典型的语音相关性和性别特定角色之间的潜在关系——在这里，在婴儿的主要照顾者的功能中。这项研究的重点并不仅仅在于婴儿指向性言语，而是特别关注作为主要照顾者对成人指向性言语的潜在影响。通过对德国和瑞典这方面的考察，可以进行跨语言和跨文化的分析。此外，瑞典特别令人感兴趣，因为自1970年代以来，瑞典在性别平等和家庭与工作的兼容性方面在欧洲处于领先地位。因此，传统性别角色的不断变化将反映在这一分析中。此外，长期以来关于作为主要照顾者对语言清晰度性别差异的潜在影响因素的争论将得到解决。将对30名德国和瑞典母亲以及30名德国和瑞典父亲的朗读和自发讲话进行录音。参与者应休至少四个月的育婴假，并在此期间担任婴儿的主要照顾者。将在四个时间点（孩子出生前、育婴假期间（2个时间点）和育婴假后）对婴儿和成人导向的言语进行录音。此外，一个由10名德国和10名瑞典父亲组成的对照组，他们没有休育儿假，将成为分析的一部分。所研究的清晰语音的语音关联包括音段持续时间的时间方面和元音空间的频谱参数，实现发声对比和说话基频的调制。所选择的参数是针对在婴儿指向性言语和性别特异性变异中通常发现的方面。该项目的目的可细分为两个主要目标：a)调查父亲（和母亲）在婴儿指向语中提高语言清晰度的变化，以及育儿假持续时间的可能影响；b)在育婴假期间，甚至在育婴假之后，父亲清晰言语的语音相关性也会发生潜在的变化（导致性别差异的减少）。

The proposed project investigates the potential relationship between typical phonetic correlates of careful speech and gender-specific roles - here, in the function of a primary caregiver of an infant. The focus of the study does not lie solely on infant-directed speech, but in particular on the potential impact of being the primary caregiver on adult-directed speech. By investigating this aspect in Germany and Sweden cross-linguistic and cross-cultural analyses can be made. Furthermore, Sweden is particularly interesting due to its leading position in gender equality and the compatibility of family and work in Europe since the 1970s. Thus, the ongoing change of the conventional gender roles will be reflected in this analysis. Moreover, the longstanding debate on the potential influencing factors of being the primary caregiver on gender-specific differences in clarity of speech will be addressed. Acoustic recordings of read and spontaneous speech of 30 German and Swedish mothers and 30 German and Swedish fathers will be carried out. The participants should be on parental leave for at least four month and be the primary caregiver for the infant during this time. Recordings of both infant- and adult-directed speech will be made at four time points (before the birth of the child, during parental leave (2 time points) and after parental leave). In addition, a control group of 10 German and 10 Swedish fathers that are not on parental leave will be part of the analysis. The investigated phonetic correlates of clear speech comprise the temporal aspect of segment durations and the spectral parameters acoustic vowel space, realization of sibilant contrast and modulation of speaking fundamental frequency. The chosen parameters are oriented on aspects typically found in infant-directed speech and gender-specific variability. The aims of the project are subdivided into two main objectives: a) the investigation of a change towards an enhancement of speech clarity in infant-directed speech in fathers (and mothers), and a possible effect of the duration of parental leave; and b) the potential change in the fathers phonetic correlates of clear speech also in adult-directed speech (resulting in a decrease in gender-specific differences), during, or even after parental leave.