In this paper we investigate the spectral properties of vowels in a Northern Australian language,... more In this paper we investigate the spectral properties of vowels in a Northern Australian language, Kunwinjku. The language illustrates typical vowel dispersion patterns of other languages of the region, and of 5-vowel languages in general. The spectral ...
Vowel transition duration is often claimed to be one of the important cues to place of articulati... more Vowel transition duration is often claimed to be one of the important cues to place of articulation in nasals. Nasal murmur also differs in duration depending on place of articulation. The duration of nasal murmur and vowel transitions in different VNC and VN ...
Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 2019
Bininj Kunwok (BKw), a language spoken in Northern Australia, restricts the degree of anticipator... more Bininj Kunwok (BKw), a language spoken in Northern Australia, restricts the degree of anticipatory nasalization, as suggested by previous aerodynamic and acoustic analyses (Butcher 1999). The current study uses aerodynamic measurements of speech to investigate patterns of nasalization and nasal articulation in Bininj Kunwok to compare with Australian languages more generally. The role of nasal coarticulation in ensuring language compre-hensibility a key question in phonetics research today is explored. Nasal aerodynamics is measured in intervocalic, word-medial nasals in the speech of five female speakers of BKw and data are analyzed using Smoothing Spline Analysis of Variance (SSANOVA) and Functional Data Analysis averaging techniques. Results show that in a VNV sequence there is very little anticipatory vowel nasalization with no restriction on carryover nasalization for a following vowel. The maximum peak nasal flow is delayed until the oral release of a nasal for coronal articul...
Abstract The Big Australian Speech Corpus project incorporates the strategic goals of 30 Chief In... more Abstract The Big Australian Speech Corpus project incorporates the strategic goals of 30 Chief Investigators from various speech science areas. Speech from 1000 geographically and socially diverse speakers is being recorded using a uniform and automated protocol plus standardized hardware and software to produce a widely applicable and extensible database–AusTalk.
International journal of language & communication disorders / Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists, Jan 7, 2015
The nature of speech disorders in individuals with Down Syndrome (DS) remains controversial despi... more The nature of speech disorders in individuals with Down Syndrome (DS) remains controversial despite various explanations put forth in the literature to account for the observed speech profiles. A high level of word production inconsistency in children with DS has led researchers to query whether the inconsistency continues into adolescence, and if the inconsistency stems from inconsistent phonological disorder (IPD) or childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Of the studies that have been published, most suggest that the speech profile of individuals with DS is delayed, while a few recent studies suggest a combination of delayed and disordered patterns. However, no studies have explored the nature of word production inconsistency in this population, and the relationship between word production inconsistency, receptive vocabulary and severity of speech disorder. To investigate in a pilot study the extent of word production inconsistency in adolescents with DS and to examine the correlation...
The phonetic correlates of intervocalic stop articulations were investigated in a northern Austra... more The phonetic correlates of intervocalic stop articulations were investigated in a northern Australian Language, Bininj Gun-Wok. Closure duration, VOT, and intra-oral pressure were measured. Results indicate that although the contrast is chiefly cued by duration differences, there are clear differences in intra-oral pressure, suggesting a more complex contrast than one based on duration alone.
... of Melbourne, Australia 2 Department of Speech Pathology & Audiology, Flinders Univer... more ... of Melbourne, Australia 2 Department of Speech Pathology & Audiology, Flinders University, Australia dloakes@unimelb.edu.au, andy.butcher@flinders.edu ... This idea is further supported by Flack's analysis of laterals in Australian languages (including Warlpiri) [9], where it was ...
The phonetic correlates of intervocalic stop articulations were investigated in a northern Austra... more The phonetic correlates of intervocalic stop articulations were investigated in a northern Australian Language, Bininj Gun-Wok. Closure duration, VOT, and intra-oral pressure were measured. Results indicate that although the contrast is chiefly cued by duration differences, there are clear differences in intra-oral pressure, suggesting a more complex contrast than one based on duration alone.
Basilectal varieties of Australian Aboriginal English (AAE), which are heavily influenced by the ... more Basilectal varieties of Australian Aboriginal English (AAE), which are heavily influenced by the indigenous substrate, may have a very restricted set of vowels compared to Standard Australian English (SAE). A comparison of the vowels of a small group of acrolectal AAE speakers with those of the standard accent suggests that even in varieties with the same set of phonemes as SAE, speakers are using a somewhat smaller phonetic vowel space. The lower boundaries of the AAE and indigenous language spaces are very similar and, whereas the SAE vowel space represents an expansion in all directions compared with the indigenous space, the AAE space represents an expansion in an 'upward' (lower F1) direction only. Within their respective spaces, the relative positions of the monophthongs are quite similar in SAE and AAE. Diphthong trajectories are also similar, except that some have shorter trajectories (more centralised second targets) in AAE. Most of the differences there are can be ...
Indigenous Australian languages typically have small vowel inventories. In this paper we investig... more Indigenous Australian languages typically have small vowel inventories. In this paper we investigate the effects of prosodic structure in highlighting paradigmatic contrasts among vowels in three languages: Kayardild, Dalabon, and Mayali (Bininj Gun-wok). Our results suggest that all three languages illustrate the principal of sufficient rather than maximal dispersion. However in some cases, vowel targets are sharpened in phrase-final position,
Various assertions have been made from time to time in the literature about possible regional dif... more Various assertions have been made from time to time in the literature about possible regional differences in the pronunciation of Australian English vowels. However, apart from a number of excellent studies of New South Wales speakers, we have very little recent data from other states to substantiate such assertions. This study presents formant frequency data from a group of >
ABSTRACT This study investigates duration and spectral properties of the stop burst for /p t ʈ c ... more ABSTRACT This study investigates duration and spectral properties of the stop burst for /p t ʈ c k/, the five oral stops of Pitjantjatjara, a language of Central Australia. We focus on stressed vs. unstressed syllables, with stressed syllables also being word-initial in Pitjantjatjara. Notably, the contrast between the apico-alveolar /t/ and the medial apico-postalveolar (retroflex) /ʈ/ is neutralized in initial position, which is the stressed position. We label this neutralized apical /T/, and show that the stop burst for this prosodically prominent apical has an even higher spectral center of gravity than either of its non-neutralized counterparts. By contrast, the velar /k/ shows a lower spectral center of gravity in stressed position. We suggest that this reflects an enhancement of the feature [grave], with the apical being “lighter” and the velar being “darker” under stress (the bilabial and the palatal show relatively few spectral effects, due to acoustic and coarticulatory considerations respectively). However, the stressed apical /T/ does not have a longer stop burst duration in initial position, a result that is contrary to the other stop bursts examined here, and which goes against expected patterns of prosodic strengthening. We suggest that this is because a phonetic feature, short [burst duration], is an important cue to apical consonant identity in a system with many places of articulation.
In this paper we investigate the spectral properties of vowels in a Northern Australian language,... more In this paper we investigate the spectral properties of vowels in a Northern Australian language, Kunwinjku. The language illustrates typical vowel dispersion patterns of other languages of the region, and of 5-vowel languages in general. The spectral ...
Vowel transition duration is often claimed to be one of the important cues to place of articulati... more Vowel transition duration is often claimed to be one of the important cues to place of articulation in nasals. Nasal murmur also differs in duration depending on place of articulation. The duration of nasal murmur and vowel transitions in different VNC and VN ...
Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 2019
Bininj Kunwok (BKw), a language spoken in Northern Australia, restricts the degree of anticipator... more Bininj Kunwok (BKw), a language spoken in Northern Australia, restricts the degree of anticipatory nasalization, as suggested by previous aerodynamic and acoustic analyses (Butcher 1999). The current study uses aerodynamic measurements of speech to investigate patterns of nasalization and nasal articulation in Bininj Kunwok to compare with Australian languages more generally. The role of nasal coarticulation in ensuring language compre-hensibility a key question in phonetics research today is explored. Nasal aerodynamics is measured in intervocalic, word-medial nasals in the speech of five female speakers of BKw and data are analyzed using Smoothing Spline Analysis of Variance (SSANOVA) and Functional Data Analysis averaging techniques. Results show that in a VNV sequence there is very little anticipatory vowel nasalization with no restriction on carryover nasalization for a following vowel. The maximum peak nasal flow is delayed until the oral release of a nasal for coronal articul...
Abstract The Big Australian Speech Corpus project incorporates the strategic goals of 30 Chief In... more Abstract The Big Australian Speech Corpus project incorporates the strategic goals of 30 Chief Investigators from various speech science areas. Speech from 1000 geographically and socially diverse speakers is being recorded using a uniform and automated protocol plus standardized hardware and software to produce a widely applicable and extensible database–AusTalk.
International journal of language & communication disorders / Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists, Jan 7, 2015
The nature of speech disorders in individuals with Down Syndrome (DS) remains controversial despi... more The nature of speech disorders in individuals with Down Syndrome (DS) remains controversial despite various explanations put forth in the literature to account for the observed speech profiles. A high level of word production inconsistency in children with DS has led researchers to query whether the inconsistency continues into adolescence, and if the inconsistency stems from inconsistent phonological disorder (IPD) or childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Of the studies that have been published, most suggest that the speech profile of individuals with DS is delayed, while a few recent studies suggest a combination of delayed and disordered patterns. However, no studies have explored the nature of word production inconsistency in this population, and the relationship between word production inconsistency, receptive vocabulary and severity of speech disorder. To investigate in a pilot study the extent of word production inconsistency in adolescents with DS and to examine the correlation...
The phonetic correlates of intervocalic stop articulations were investigated in a northern Austra... more The phonetic correlates of intervocalic stop articulations were investigated in a northern Australian Language, Bininj Gun-Wok. Closure duration, VOT, and intra-oral pressure were measured. Results indicate that although the contrast is chiefly cued by duration differences, there are clear differences in intra-oral pressure, suggesting a more complex contrast than one based on duration alone.
... of Melbourne, Australia 2 Department of Speech Pathology & Audiology, Flinders Univer... more ... of Melbourne, Australia 2 Department of Speech Pathology & Audiology, Flinders University, Australia dloakes@unimelb.edu.au, andy.butcher@flinders.edu ... This idea is further supported by Flack's analysis of laterals in Australian languages (including Warlpiri) [9], where it was ...
The phonetic correlates of intervocalic stop articulations were investigated in a northern Austra... more The phonetic correlates of intervocalic stop articulations were investigated in a northern Australian Language, Bininj Gun-Wok. Closure duration, VOT, and intra-oral pressure were measured. Results indicate that although the contrast is chiefly cued by duration differences, there are clear differences in intra-oral pressure, suggesting a more complex contrast than one based on duration alone.
Basilectal varieties of Australian Aboriginal English (AAE), which are heavily influenced by the ... more Basilectal varieties of Australian Aboriginal English (AAE), which are heavily influenced by the indigenous substrate, may have a very restricted set of vowels compared to Standard Australian English (SAE). A comparison of the vowels of a small group of acrolectal AAE speakers with those of the standard accent suggests that even in varieties with the same set of phonemes as SAE, speakers are using a somewhat smaller phonetic vowel space. The lower boundaries of the AAE and indigenous language spaces are very similar and, whereas the SAE vowel space represents an expansion in all directions compared with the indigenous space, the AAE space represents an expansion in an 'upward' (lower F1) direction only. Within their respective spaces, the relative positions of the monophthongs are quite similar in SAE and AAE. Diphthong trajectories are also similar, except that some have shorter trajectories (more centralised second targets) in AAE. Most of the differences there are can be ...
Indigenous Australian languages typically have small vowel inventories. In this paper we investig... more Indigenous Australian languages typically have small vowel inventories. In this paper we investigate the effects of prosodic structure in highlighting paradigmatic contrasts among vowels in three languages: Kayardild, Dalabon, and Mayali (Bininj Gun-wok). Our results suggest that all three languages illustrate the principal of sufficient rather than maximal dispersion. However in some cases, vowel targets are sharpened in phrase-final position,
Various assertions have been made from time to time in the literature about possible regional dif... more Various assertions have been made from time to time in the literature about possible regional differences in the pronunciation of Australian English vowels. However, apart from a number of excellent studies of New South Wales speakers, we have very little recent data from other states to substantiate such assertions. This study presents formant frequency data from a group of >
ABSTRACT This study investigates duration and spectral properties of the stop burst for /p t ʈ c ... more ABSTRACT This study investigates duration and spectral properties of the stop burst for /p t ʈ c k/, the five oral stops of Pitjantjatjara, a language of Central Australia. We focus on stressed vs. unstressed syllables, with stressed syllables also being word-initial in Pitjantjatjara. Notably, the contrast between the apico-alveolar /t/ and the medial apico-postalveolar (retroflex) /ʈ/ is neutralized in initial position, which is the stressed position. We label this neutralized apical /T/, and show that the stop burst for this prosodically prominent apical has an even higher spectral center of gravity than either of its non-neutralized counterparts. By contrast, the velar /k/ shows a lower spectral center of gravity in stressed position. We suggest that this reflects an enhancement of the feature [grave], with the apical being “lighter” and the velar being “darker” under stress (the bilabial and the palatal show relatively few spectral effects, due to acoustic and coarticulatory considerations respectively). However, the stressed apical /T/ does not have a longer stop burst duration in initial position, a result that is contrary to the other stop bursts examined here, and which goes against expected patterns of prosodic strengthening. We suggest that this is because a phonetic feature, short [burst duration], is an important cue to apical consonant identity in a system with many places of articulation.
Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association, 2011
The Big Australian Speech Corpus project incorporates the strategic goals of 30 Chief Investigato... more The Big Australian Speech Corpus project incorporates the strategic goals of 30 Chief Investigators from various speech science areas. Speech from 1000 geographically and socially diverse speakers is being recorded using a uniform and automated protocol plus standardized hardware and software to produce a widely applicable and extensible database – AusTalk. Here we describe the project's major components and organization; share the lessons learnt from difficulties and challenges; and present the results achieved so far.
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Papers by Andy Butcher