The paper introduces the Estonian Adolescent Speech Corpus and explores the developmental changes... more The paper introduces the Estonian Adolescent Speech Corpus and explores the developmental changes in speech production based on acoustic characteristics of fundamental frequency (F0), formant frequencies, and speech tempo as a function of age and gender. Age- and gender-related anatomic changes in adolescence have implications for speech acoustics: a sudden drop of F0 at puberty in boys, and an almost gradual decrease of the acoustic vowels space. In parallel with anatomic changes, the development of the speech motor system is manifested as the increase of speaking rate. The analysis of fundamental frequency (F0) shows that in both male and female speakers, the F0 decreases gradually at the age from 9 to 12 years, then in males F0 drops ca by 100 Hz at the age of 12–15 due to puberty voice change, and becomes stable at the age of 15–18; in female speakers, a gradual decrease of F0 continues till the age 18. The formant frequencies of vowels decrease gradually from 10 to 15 years in ...
This study explores the production of Estonian vowel categories by second-language (L2) speakers ... more This study explores the production of Estonian vowel categories by second-language (L2) speakers of Estonian whose native language (L1) is Japanese. The Estonian vowel system includes nine vowels whereas Japanese has only five. The results by six native Japanese and ten native Estonian subjects when reading Estonian target words in sentence show that Japanese subjects were successful in production of Estonian vowels which assimilate well to the corresponding Japanese vowels (/i/, /e/, /o/) and faced difficulties in discrimination of vowel contrasts involving single-category assimilation (Estonian /ü/, /ö/, /õ/, /u/ to Japanese /u/).
Korpus sisaldab eesti emakeelega eakate keelejuhtide (vanuses 60+ aastat) spontaanset kõnet. Eesm... more Korpus sisaldab eesti emakeelega eakate keelejuhtide (vanuses 60+ aastat) spontaanset kõnet. Eesmärgiks on salvestada 100 naise ja 100 mehe kõnenäiteid, kuni 30 minutit igalt keelejuhilt ja transkribeerida vähemalt 20 minutit kõnet igalt keelejuhilt. Seisuga 31.12.2020 on kogutud ja transkribeeritud 100 naise ja 47 mehe kõnesalvestused.
The Estonian quantity system involves three contrastive patterns referred to as short (Q1), long ... more The Estonian quantity system involves three contrastive patterns referred to as short (Q1), long (Q2) and overlong (Q3) quantity degrees. Our previous studies have shown that for L2 learners the distinction between Q2 and Q3 is a difficult task in both production and perception. While Q1 and Q2 structures are always distinguished in the orthography, this is not the case in most Q2 and Q3 words excluding the words with plosives between first and second syllable vowels (see examples later in the text). Thus, the orthography might be the reason for the use of the same L2 production pattern for both Q2 and Q3. The current paper studies the role of L2 orthographic input on the L2 production of Estonian quantity degrees by two groups of subjects with different language backgrounds: Finnish and Russian. The material used in the study involves word structures with and without orthographic manifestation of quantity contrasts. The results confirm the role of Estonian orthography on the L2 pro...
This dataset contains the segmental durations, F0 measurements and formant values F1-F3 from the ... more This dataset contains the segmental durations, F0 measurements and formant values F1-F3 from the vowels in 1-4 syllable words in Meadow Mari, a Finno-Ugric language. 8 native speakers read a list of 100 sentences, each containing two test words. The results are published in Lehiste, I., Teras, P., Help, T., Lippus, P., Meister, E., Pajusalu, K., & Viitso, T.-R. (2005). Meadow Mari prosody. Tallinn: Teaduste Akadeemia Kirjastus. Retrieved from http://kirj.ee/public/va_lu/Meadow%20Mari%20Prosody.pdf
Eesti ja soome-ugri keeleteaduse ajakiri. Journal of Estonian and Finno-Ugric Linguistics
We studied the articulatory and temporal properties of Estonian palatalization by Russian L1 Esto... more We studied the articulatory and temporal properties of Estonian palatalization by Russian L1 Estonian L2 speakers and compared the results to Estonian native speakers. The tongue movement of 24 Russian L1 and 21 Estonian L1 speakers were recorded with an electromagnetic articulograph. The speakers articulated phonologically contrastive word pairs and i-stemmed nouns where the final consonant was palatalized. Previous research has shown that palatalization is generally realized by raising the tongue dorsum towards the hard palate. Consequently, the tongue becomes more anterior and wider. This rising of the tongue also lengthens the duration of the segments. The results showed that Russian L1 speakers’ tongue dorsum was higher and more anterior when palatalizing consonants and the subsequent vowels. Compared to native speakers, their tongue was retracted and lower. Russian L1 speakers’ duration of palatalized consonants and the vowels that preceded them were significantly shorter than...
Estonian Foreign Accent Corpus includes speech recoridngs of non-native Estonian speech. Among sp... more Estonian Foreign Accent Corpus includes speech recoridngs of non-native Estonian speech. Among speakers different first language backgrounds are represented: Russian (50 speakers), Finnish (30), German (15), French (12), Italian (4), Spanish (4), English (4), Lithuanian (3), Danish (2), Dutch (2), Slovak (2), Japanese (1), Latvian (1), Polish (1), Portuguese (1), Swedish (1). For the reference material a subset of native Estonian speakers (10 male, 10 female) has been recorded, as well. The final target will be 200 speakers. The corpus includes some spontaneous speech (subject’s self-introduction and description of three pictures), 136 isolated sentences (including main phonological features of Estonian - all vowels and consonats in different quantity oppositions, palatalisation, etc), and two short passages; ca 25 minutes of speech per speaker.
Background Bulbar involvement is a term used in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that refers t... more Background Bulbar involvement is a term used in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that refers to motor neuron impairment in the corticobulbar area of the brainstem, which produces a dysfunction of speech and swallowing. One of the earliest symptoms of bulbar involvement is voice deterioration characterized by grossly defective articulation; extremely slow, laborious speech; marked hypernasality; and severe harshness. Bulbar involvement requires well-timed and carefully coordinated interventions. Therefore, early detection is crucial to improving the quality of life and lengthening the life expectancy of patients with ALS who present with this dysfunction. Recent research efforts have focused on voice analysis to capture bulbar involvement. Objective The main objective of this paper was (1) to design a methodology for diagnosing bulbar involvement efficiently through the acoustic parameters of uttered vowels in Spanish, and (2) to demonstrate that the performance of the automated d...
The few known palatographic studies on Estonian consonants date back to the 1970s, and no researc... more The few known palatographic studies on Estonian consonants date back to the 1970s, and no research in articulatory phonetics has been practised throughout the following four decades. Recently, the Estonian EPG corpus was recorded using a contemporary EPG system. In the paper we introduce first results on contemporary palatography patterns of Estonian sonorants and compare these to results from Arvo Eek’s seminal studies in the 1970s.
The paper introduces the Estonian Adolescent Speech Corpus and explores the developmental changes... more The paper introduces the Estonian Adolescent Speech Corpus and explores the developmental changes in speech production based on acoustic characteristics of fundamental frequency (F0), formant frequencies, and speech tempo as a function of age and gender. Age- and gender-related anatomic changes in adolescence have implications for speech acoustics: a sudden drop of F0 at puberty in boys, and an almost gradual decrease of the acoustic vowels space. In parallel with anatomic changes, the development of the speech motor system is manifested as the increase of speaking rate. The analysis of fundamental frequency (F0) shows that in both male and female speakers, the F0 decreases gradually at the age from 9 to 12 years, then in males F0 drops ca by 100 Hz at the age of 12–15 due to puberty voice change, and becomes stable at the age of 15–18; in female speakers, a gradual decrease of F0 continues till the age 18. The formant frequencies of vowels decrease gradually from 10 to 15 years in ...
This study explores the production of Estonian vowel categories by second-language (L2) speakers ... more This study explores the production of Estonian vowel categories by second-language (L2) speakers of Estonian whose native language (L1) is Japanese. The Estonian vowel system includes nine vowels whereas Japanese has only five. The results by six native Japanese and ten native Estonian subjects when reading Estonian target words in sentence show that Japanese subjects were successful in production of Estonian vowels which assimilate well to the corresponding Japanese vowels (/i/, /e/, /o/) and faced difficulties in discrimination of vowel contrasts involving single-category assimilation (Estonian /ü/, /ö/, /õ/, /u/ to Japanese /u/).
Korpus sisaldab eesti emakeelega eakate keelejuhtide (vanuses 60+ aastat) spontaanset kõnet. Eesm... more Korpus sisaldab eesti emakeelega eakate keelejuhtide (vanuses 60+ aastat) spontaanset kõnet. Eesmärgiks on salvestada 100 naise ja 100 mehe kõnenäiteid, kuni 30 minutit igalt keelejuhilt ja transkribeerida vähemalt 20 minutit kõnet igalt keelejuhilt. Seisuga 31.12.2020 on kogutud ja transkribeeritud 100 naise ja 47 mehe kõnesalvestused.
The Estonian quantity system involves three contrastive patterns referred to as short (Q1), long ... more The Estonian quantity system involves three contrastive patterns referred to as short (Q1), long (Q2) and overlong (Q3) quantity degrees. Our previous studies have shown that for L2 learners the distinction between Q2 and Q3 is a difficult task in both production and perception. While Q1 and Q2 structures are always distinguished in the orthography, this is not the case in most Q2 and Q3 words excluding the words with plosives between first and second syllable vowels (see examples later in the text). Thus, the orthography might be the reason for the use of the same L2 production pattern for both Q2 and Q3. The current paper studies the role of L2 orthographic input on the L2 production of Estonian quantity degrees by two groups of subjects with different language backgrounds: Finnish and Russian. The material used in the study involves word structures with and without orthographic manifestation of quantity contrasts. The results confirm the role of Estonian orthography on the L2 pro...
This dataset contains the segmental durations, F0 measurements and formant values F1-F3 from the ... more This dataset contains the segmental durations, F0 measurements and formant values F1-F3 from the vowels in 1-4 syllable words in Meadow Mari, a Finno-Ugric language. 8 native speakers read a list of 100 sentences, each containing two test words. The results are published in Lehiste, I., Teras, P., Help, T., Lippus, P., Meister, E., Pajusalu, K., & Viitso, T.-R. (2005). Meadow Mari prosody. Tallinn: Teaduste Akadeemia Kirjastus. Retrieved from http://kirj.ee/public/va_lu/Meadow%20Mari%20Prosody.pdf
Eesti ja soome-ugri keeleteaduse ajakiri. Journal of Estonian and Finno-Ugric Linguistics
We studied the articulatory and temporal properties of Estonian palatalization by Russian L1 Esto... more We studied the articulatory and temporal properties of Estonian palatalization by Russian L1 Estonian L2 speakers and compared the results to Estonian native speakers. The tongue movement of 24 Russian L1 and 21 Estonian L1 speakers were recorded with an electromagnetic articulograph. The speakers articulated phonologically contrastive word pairs and i-stemmed nouns where the final consonant was palatalized. Previous research has shown that palatalization is generally realized by raising the tongue dorsum towards the hard palate. Consequently, the tongue becomes more anterior and wider. This rising of the tongue also lengthens the duration of the segments. The results showed that Russian L1 speakers’ tongue dorsum was higher and more anterior when palatalizing consonants and the subsequent vowels. Compared to native speakers, their tongue was retracted and lower. Russian L1 speakers’ duration of palatalized consonants and the vowels that preceded them were significantly shorter than...
Estonian Foreign Accent Corpus includes speech recoridngs of non-native Estonian speech. Among sp... more Estonian Foreign Accent Corpus includes speech recoridngs of non-native Estonian speech. Among speakers different first language backgrounds are represented: Russian (50 speakers), Finnish (30), German (15), French (12), Italian (4), Spanish (4), English (4), Lithuanian (3), Danish (2), Dutch (2), Slovak (2), Japanese (1), Latvian (1), Polish (1), Portuguese (1), Swedish (1). For the reference material a subset of native Estonian speakers (10 male, 10 female) has been recorded, as well. The final target will be 200 speakers. The corpus includes some spontaneous speech (subject’s self-introduction and description of three pictures), 136 isolated sentences (including main phonological features of Estonian - all vowels and consonats in different quantity oppositions, palatalisation, etc), and two short passages; ca 25 minutes of speech per speaker.
Background Bulbar involvement is a term used in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that refers t... more Background Bulbar involvement is a term used in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that refers to motor neuron impairment in the corticobulbar area of the brainstem, which produces a dysfunction of speech and swallowing. One of the earliest symptoms of bulbar involvement is voice deterioration characterized by grossly defective articulation; extremely slow, laborious speech; marked hypernasality; and severe harshness. Bulbar involvement requires well-timed and carefully coordinated interventions. Therefore, early detection is crucial to improving the quality of life and lengthening the life expectancy of patients with ALS who present with this dysfunction. Recent research efforts have focused on voice analysis to capture bulbar involvement. Objective The main objective of this paper was (1) to design a methodology for diagnosing bulbar involvement efficiently through the acoustic parameters of uttered vowels in Spanish, and (2) to demonstrate that the performance of the automated d...
The few known palatographic studies on Estonian consonants date back to the 1970s, and no researc... more The few known palatographic studies on Estonian consonants date back to the 1970s, and no research in articulatory phonetics has been practised throughout the following four decades. Recently, the Estonian EPG corpus was recorded using a contemporary EPG system. In the paper we introduce first results on contemporary palatography patterns of Estonian sonorants and compare these to results from Arvo Eek’s seminal studies in the 1970s.
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